Let life’s stresses melt away on a breezy island whose rocky coastline is dotted with bays, beaches, and friendly Caribbean fishing villages. Inland is a bird-watching paradise of hillside rainforests punctuated by waterfalls. Horseback ride hills and beaches. Golf, hike, bike, fish, swim, sunbathe, kayak, dive, snorkel, and windsurf. Take the family on a boat tour. Barbecue freshly caught fish on isolated beaches or poolside with your family or new island vacation rental friends. Plus experience Tobago’s smiling, laidback culture by liming (hanging out) with the locals near your money-saving Tobago vacation rental villa, lodge, house, cottage, cabin, apartment, or studio flat.

Have a cooling rum punch after landing at Crown Point International Airport (TAB) on Tobago’s southwest tip. Crown Point is minutes from Buccoo Reef’s Nylon Pool, Bon Accord, Pigeon Point, Mt. Irvine Bay, Black Rock, Plymouth, Le Coteaux, and Concordia. Chat with handicraft vendors and sample curry crab and dumplings around the beaches and resort hotels between Pigeon Point, Store Bay, and Canoe Bay. Then be thankful that your money-saving Tobago vacation rental puts you near quiet beaches and friendly fishing villages where you can buy the fresh catch of the day to barbecue.

Scarborough, Tobago’s capital and largest town, is the dock for the ferry from Port of Spain, Trinidad. When cruise ships dock, vendors come alive selling coconut sugar cakes, sesame benne balls, and handicrafts near Milford Road Esplanade. Tobago has annual boating events and regattas. But protected yacht and sailboat anchorages are over an hour away in the northeast at Charlotteville, near the beautiful beaches of Pirate’s Bay and Man O’ War Bay. Private boat tours, often arranged via vacation rental contacts, are family favorites that can include snorkeling and barbecues on deserted beaches. Besides Scarborough’s shopping and restaurants, visit Fort King George, the Botanical Garden, and the Tobago Museum.

A money-saving Tobago vacation rental near Castara’s fishing village is midway between Crown Point and Charlotteville’s rocky, frigate bird nesting areas. Lime around Englishman’s Bay and nearby beaches. Watch goats and chickens wander as you chat at the fishing village. Savor the slow pace. Back home on your vacation rental verandah, relax with tropical garden fruits, 50 hummingbird species, and exotic bird songs. Then take the family to waterfalls and rainforests.

Legally protected as an essential watershed since 1776, hike and bird-watch with guides in the Tobago Forest Reserve. The cascades and swimmable pools of 175-foot Argyle Waterfall are near Roxborough and the beaches of King’s Bay, an area amenable to sugarcane, fruit trees, cocoa, and coconut plantations. The tiny Tobago Cocoa Estate offers early morning drop-in tours, and rum and chocolate tasting.