The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago hosts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. For many, the smaller island of Tobago with its reefs and beaches is the primary destination. Trinidad has its own share of famous landmarks, including religious sites from both the Christian and Hindu traditions, and a major venue for another religion of sorts in the nation: cricket. While Trinidad and Tobago is a relatively prosperous and stable nation, the U.S. State Department cautions visitors to be wary of a high crime rate in Port of Spain and to avoid lingering in scenic areas after dark.
Religious Landmarks
- Trinidad's Temple in the Sea, a Hindu temple on an artificial island off the western coast near Waterloo, draws visitors both because of the wonder of a temple seemingly floating on the sea and its back story. An Indian laborer, Swedass Sadhu, built the original temple after being jailed for building another temple on a sugar company's land. Nature weathered the temple, and the locals restored it in 1994. Other religious landmarks of note include Port of Spain's cross-shaped Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral, built to resemble London's Westminster Hall. The Mount Saint Benedict monastery in northern Trinidad also is noteworthy as the oldest monastery in the Caribbean and is home to a guesthouse that serves afternoon tea.
Natural Landmarks
- Several of Trinidad and Tobago's landmarks are ideal for nature-lovers. The Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad's Northern Range covers about 1,500 acres and is a spot to view many of the 450 types of birds and 617 types of butterflies that call the island home. Also in the Northern Mountain Range is Trinidad's largest cave system open to visitors, the Aripo Caves.Birdwatchers can be similarly entertained at Bird of Paradise Island, a mile-long isle off northeastern Tobago. While there, you also can visit Crusoe's Cave, a cavern heralded as the shelter to the fictional marooned mariner Robinson Crusoe. Visitors more interested in aquatic life can visit Tobago's Buccoo Reef, which includes the placid Nylon Pool, and the Angel Reef off northwestern Tobago, home to a 12-foot-high brain coral.
Forts, Monuments and Buildings
- Tobago's coast is dotted with the remains of several forts from its colonial days, and Fort King George, built in the 1770s and named for Britain's King George III, is the best preserved. The cliff-side fort houses cannons, a prison, barracks, a museum and art center and presents ocean views. In Port of Spain on Trinidad, noteworthy landmarks include the ornate Magnificent Seven row of buildings in Queen's Park Savannah and the speaker's corner in Woodford Square, a site where locals discuss and debate issues of the day. Trinidad's Orange Field also is the site of an 85-foot statue of the Hindu deity Hanuman Murti, the largest of its type outside of India.
Sports Landmarks
- The people of Trinidad and Tobago love cricket, and as such, the nation boasts the Caribbean's largest cricket ground, the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. The grass-turf stadium can accommodate about 25,000 spectators, and visitors can watch matches with the mountain landscape in the background. Of course, you can watch cricket matches on a smaller scale -- or even try your hand at a game yourself -- at one of the many cricket grounds spread across both islands.Port of Spain also is home to Hasely Crawford Stadium, named after the nation's first Olympic gold medalist. The stadium, which seats 23,000, hosts matches of the nation's other sports obsession -- soccer (known as football, locally) -- as well as track and field competitions, tennis matches, boxing bouts, car shows and a number of other sporting and leisure events throughout the year.
