Just at the Side of the Road!

We were driving to Matelot River in the north eastern tip of the Caribbean island of Trinidad and I just happened to stumble upon a new beach we had never been to before! Now, granted that there are many beaches on this main road all the way to our destination, this was an unknown one we had never been to before called Missions Bay. We did not stay long but stopped for a while to explore and take it all in with its amazingly colored waters, clean sands and peculiar signs!

The first thing we saw was the dilapidated and peeling sign that just barely legibly said "Welcome to Missions Bay". It was even off kilter and leaning to the side, pieces of its writing were missing but that mattered not as the blue hued crashing waves called to us in the distance! We could see it peeking over the horizon of sand as you will see, the color was excitingly blue!

There were many trees that provided shade in the lovely sun including coconut and almond trees, both quite ubiquitous Trinidadian beach trees. The coconut palm is a given but the almond trees as well are always there to provide large spanned spaces of shade as well as some of their fruits. The sands looked very clean and well kept and the place was empty except for one man who also stopped off along the roadway to take a look.

There was a volleyball net on the sands as well, something I never really see in Trini beaches and so this was a first! And you know I have been to most of them! I could just imagine the fun patrons may have during peak hours. I have to say that we were here on a work day during work hours and that is why it was empty.

The ocean was so brightly colored and shining sun did its best to showcase this. The waves were not that calm but would have been good enough to bathe in if we were here for that purpose. We sat for a while taking in the sounds and the breeze in the shade of a tree and the vibes were immaculate.

There seemed to be an area where people hang out and make their fires to cook on the beach. This is a Trinidadian thing where they love to come out on the river or the beach and cook here, drink and have a merry time called "Liming"! Any event can be a "Lime" and it means hanging out.

The right side of the beach was very interesting with lots of rocks and a thick treeline where the coast terminated and so did the sands of the beach.

There was a beach house perched on the hill in the same area that had interesting architecture with huge windows that would be awesome for its breathtaking views especially in the evenings when the sun would be setting!

The right side had even more beach houses perched on the hills higher up and I could just imagine the amazing views that they would boast of, especially of the colors of Trinidad's north coast waters with they almost icy blue hues.

This side also seemed to terminate with a cliff with thick vegetation and rocks. The color of the sands seemed to match the that of the rocks which made sense I guess and complemented the color of the waters really well. These views really made me want to take a dip but we had an hour's drive again to our destination and getting side tracked would waste precious daylight as a road trip like this would render us returning at nightfall!

There was this peculiar sign that was one of the largest I had ever seen warning of high voltage submarine cables and to not indulge in anchoring or trawling of any kind. I'm sure the local boating community would be aware of this but I wondered what would happen to the visiting folk who would not be able to see the sign!

As I mentioned prior, we could not stay long due to the length of the drive which was at this point 4 hours in from where we live and so I had to reluctantly get up from the lovely sands and say goodbye to Missions Bay! It will definitely not be a permanent affair as we will return to pay a proper visit and to sample the waters and more of the immaculate vibes the beach has to offer. Thanks a lot for coming along, Cheers!