Veranda Tamarin Hotel and Spa

Veranda Tamarin Hotel & Spa sits on the western coast at Tamarin Bay, a surf beach that has long attracted the island's small but committed community of wave riders and stands apart from the flat-water lagoon resorts that dominate the rest of the coast. The bay is sheltered by the Rempart mountain, the river estuary creates a sandbar break, and the consistent south-westerly swells produce left-handers that are the best on the island. The hotel is correspondingly relaxed and active in character: surf lessons are offered daily, stand-up paddleboarding in the calmer bay sections is popular, and the dolphin-watching excursions that depart from Tamarin Bay jetty each morning — pods of spinner dolphins are resident in the bay year-round — are among the island's most reliable wildlife experiences. Rooms are in a contemporary tropical style, many with sea views over the bay. The restaurant at Veranda Tamarin leans on the local fishing community for its raw materials: the catch comes from the bay, the herbs from the kitchen garden, and the rum from the nearby Medine distillery. Tamarin village itself has a genuine surf-town character — board rental shops, open-air rum bars, and the most relaxed atmosphere of any coastal community on the island. Veranda Tamarin captures that character honestly.