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Sandwiched between the Hilton Barbados Resort on its left and Radisson Hotel (with its own Pier etc.) on its right, is Graves End Beach, a.k.a. Pebbles Beach.

 

Once home to the Pebbles Beach Bar and the Hot Pot, this stretch of beach is still popular with visitors and locals alike.  It is an active area.  It gives on to ‘Aquatic Gap’ and thence to the main road, turning right toward Garrison Hill and the Barbados Defence Force headquarters and Hastings Main Road; and left towards Bridgetown and the Port via Bay Street.

Aquatic Gap is a close, and houses small inns and commercial premises. It is on this Gap that you will find the entrance to Radisson. Passing this and following the curve you will see the beach on your right.  Much further along you will pass the Hilton mini-roundabout before reaching the Hilton Parking Area and Booth,

and the entrance to the Resort itself.

Graves End Beach is what I call my “No Go Zone” or Exit Area.  A place where you go when it is all over.  A place where, when those decisions have been made, you go to release the pressure.

The water here, the current/tide, sea swells and, importantly, the sea bed are very dissimilar from my other Zones.

It has a certain density that is undefinable.  I sometimes wonder if it has anything to do with the nearby electricity company. 🙂  For a long time there was a ‘hot pot’ here.  A man made area where the hot water from the electric company created a veritable hot-tub effect which soothed our aching muscles and joints.  This operation was moved to another beach more than 35 years ago. Yet the water there and the one here are as different as chalk and cheese.  Perhaps it is the reefs and something to do with current flow or sediment.

In any case it is well loved for sea-bathing, diving, snorkeling, swimming, surfing etc.   As I said, this area is active.

Graves End or Pebbles is also home to the Barbados Cruising Club and Dipper’s Bar (named for our first Prime Minister).

It is my “no go zone” area.  It is not far from the Military Cemetery where my grandfather was laid to rest.  It is also where I had my very first experience of tropical waters and the Sea.