WATER GENTLY lapping at the shore, beautiful white sand clinging to your toes and nothing but blue skies and warm sun.
Truly this is paradise and this is what you will find at Browne’s Beach, Brandon’s Beach and Batt’s Rock in St Michael.
What you will not find is Sargassum seaweed; that encroaching brown, smelly mass that has covered east and south coast beaches and turned them into sights of horror.
At Brandon’s, Adrian Medford said if he ever came across such a sight as has been seen along some south coast beaches, he would not hesitate.
“If I were to come to a beach and see that, I would turn back and go to another beach,” he said.
Medford was born here but has lived overseas for the past 20 years. He said Browne’s Beach and Brandon’s were among the best beaches in Barbados.
George Smith said the Sargassum was nature taking its course but agreed something still had to be done. He said Brandon’s Beach never had a problem with it, however, and due to this, more people were visiting there.
“None was never ’bout here – you can come and tek a nice sea bath and enjoy the sand with no Sargassum. ’Pon a weekend more [people] coming in too to get away, as that seaweed does smell stink,” he said. Tourist numbers were also on the rise in the area, especially around Weiser’s on the Bay, he said.
On Browne’s Beach, beach chair vendor Lester “Lala” David aka Scarfman, said there was some seaweed around Harbour Lights but for the most part, it was crystal clear.
“We got people who come from all the way over at Mullins and at the Crane [in St Philip] coming here cause here is the cleanest beach. People does come out here every day, we does be comfortable here,” he said.
Visitors Wendell and Donna Mingo said they were referred to Brandon’s when they asked for a good beach to frequent. Donna said she had been to Brandon’s before a few years ago and it was nice then and remained so now.
“I remember seeing seaweed floating in when I was coming in on the ship . . . but I like the blue water here,” she said.
A beachgoer, who did not disclose her name, said Brandon’s Beach was the only one she went to and she did not like the Sargassum seaweed. She said it had once been at Brandon’s but had quickly cleared up.
At Batt’s Rock, the campers of Camp Aquarius were frolicking in the waves and in the park. Director Michael Young gave his thoughts on the seaweed.
“If it is so proliferate, then what is causing it? The current and the wind taking it more to the windward side of the island so you won’t see it here but if we as a camp had to deal with it, we would – once it is safe,” he said.
Young said they had already shown the campers the seaweed and actually taken them through it in order to give them some understanding so they would not be afraid of it but it just so happened there was none along their home turf, Browne’s Beach, or at Batt’s Rock, where they were that day. He said the phenomena would change how people acted.
“If you have areas where people congregate and there is a situation which would then prevent that, they will go somewhere else,” he said.
Young was of the belief that one day the Sargassum would disappear from Barbados as it had come; it was just a matter of time.
Ramond Carrington and friends were also relaxing on Batt’s Rock Beach. He said it was very beautiful and he was glad the seaweed was not there. One of his friends, who was not identified, said she knew there were efforts to get rid of the seaweed out by Sandals Resort in Dover where “it does smell so bad.”
