The south of Tobago is the more heavily developed and populated part of the island with the majority of the hotels, car rental companies, restaurants, and craft shops.
Geologically it is a flat coral and limestone plateau and the main beaches here - Store Bay and Pigeon Point - have powder-fine white sands. The island's airport at Crown Point is almost at the western tip.
Store Bay
Just two minutes from the airport, is a small beach with calm, clear, blue-green water and a sandy bottom, located between the Crown Point Hotel and the Coco Reef Resort. Behind the beach are a number of food stalls and a craft village selling a range of batik, jewellery and leather goods. Boatmen offer deep sea fishing and morning trips out to the reefs in glass-bottomed boats.
Pigeon Point
Pigeon Point is the most photographed place on the island with glittering sands set off against a backdrop of coconut palms and almond shade trees. Out at sea Buccoo Reef protects the calm, clear turquoise water of Bon Accord Lagoon. It's certainly a beautiful spot and the calm sea is perfect for children. Don't expect to have the beaches around Pigeon Point to yourself: it is a popular excursion for escapees from the all-inclusives and visiting cruise ships.
Buccoo Reef
Buccoo Reef is Tobago's most accessible coral reef, stretching all the way from Pigeon Point to Buccoo Bay. It is home to 40 species of hard and soft coral, and is rich in marine life, from tiny jewel fish to reef sharks and barracuda. In the past the coral has been damaged by the dragging anchors of the glass-bottomed boats, though the boats are now supposed to anchor only on dead coral.
Trips to Buccoo Reef usually include the Coral Gardens then a stop to bathe in the Nylon Pool. Here a large sand-spit within the lagoon creates a pool of shallow water which is luxuriously heated by the sun.
Scarborough
Scarborough is the largest town, with nearly half the island's population. There is a pleasant, well-labelled Botanical Garden displaying local brightly flowering trees and flora amid broad sweeps of lawn.
Nearby an orchid house displays most of Trinidad & Tobago's indigenous species. Scarborough market is an excellent place to examine Tobago's exotic fruit and vegetables and enjoy the stall holders' sales patter.
Fort King George, set high on Scarborough Hill, gives a vantage point over the whole town. Founded by the British in 1777 as a barracks and parade ground, it was later captured by the French then changed hands many times, as did the island itself.