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Martin's BayMartin's Bay is an attractive, secluded, unspoilt bay in the small town of Bath in the parish of St. John, on the East Coast of Barbados. Some nearby places of interest are Andromeda Botanical Gardens to the north, and St. Margaret's Church.
A vibrant fishing village, Martin's Bay in Barbados lies to the south of Bathsheba and houses an active fishing community whose daily catches of seafood supply the local village bar and restaurant. Indeed, Martin's Bay in Barbados has an enviable reputation for serving some of the most outstanding cuisine on the island, its speciality dishes including freshly netted fish and lobster.
Swaying coconut palms overlook the large beach at Martin's Bay in Barbados, with gentle sea breezes making it the perfect spot for a picnic. The sea is generally considered safe for swimming and snorkelling if you keep close to the shoreline, where a huge coral reef offers you protection and calmer waters. As with many parts of the east coast of Barbados, however, if you venture further into the sea the powerful waves possess strong currents and undertows that make swimming more hazardous.
There is a children's play area at the Martin's Bay beach, and several small inlets created by the rocks blocking the tides provide wonderful areas where all ages can safely enjoy paddling and swimming. For those of you who prefer to stay dry, Martin's Bay is also a brilliant setting for photographers and artists, the better opportunities being in the early evening when the colours and hues of the twilight sky are simply breathtaking.
Although Martin's Bay is close to Bathsheba with its superb surf and championship 'Soup Bowl' surfing location, Martin's Bay on the east coast of Barbados has unreliable waves, particularly in summer when the surf is usually quite flat. However, the good news for novice surfers is that due to its unpredictability the area is unlikely to be crowded, even when the surf is good. Always exercise caution though, and go surfing with a few others if you can, as the hazards at Martin's Bay include riptides, large rocks and various problems that can arise from being isolated.
A particularly prominent figure in the Martin's Bay area was the former Member of Parliament for St. John and Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable David Thompson, whose untimely death in October 2010 had a profound impact on the inhabitants of this small fishing village. He had been a frequent visitor to the area and had acquired a beach house there. An article in the Barbados Daily Nation Newspaper offered a poignant reflection of how the people in Martin's Bay's in Barbados were grieving their late Prime Minister and friend: "The village transformed into a picture of grief… the locals had an affinity with him and saw him as a centrepiece of their community. His sense of community and belonging, which he shared with them, was remembered. Around the Tavern was where the regulars wanted to be… they sat at tables, hardly speaking above a whisper… at the beachfront more than a dozen fishers were throwing their lines into the sea… Even the sea was unresponsive, giving up only a token fish to one man on the seashore by the time the climbing moon had cast its silver hue over the water".
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