Building a week that leaves room for the island to happen

Ask anyone who has been here about their favourite day and you will usually hear about something unplanned — a beach someone mentioned, a boat that had a spare seat, a long lunch that took over the afternoon.

That is not an argument against planning. It is an argument for leaving gaps, and for booking the few things that genuinely need it.

One thing a day

This is the single most useful piece of planning advice for a small tropical island, and the one most visitors ignore on their first trip.

Why it works:

• Distances take longer than they look. The roads wind, the hills are steep, and a short distance on a map is a real drive
• Heat is tiring in a way you underestimate for the first few days
• Things run at their own pace, so a morning activity often becomes a morning-and-a-bit
• The gaps are where the good stuff happens — the conversation, the recommendation, the detour

A day with one planned activity and an open afternoon feels generous. A day with three feels like work, and you came here to stop doing that.

The few things worth booking

Small island, limited capacity — so a handful of things genuinely do fill up, particularly in the busier months:

• Boat trips and sailing days, which run with small numbers
• Diving, especially if you need equipment or certification
• Popular restaurants on weekend evenings
• Anything during a festival period, when the whole island is busy
• A hire car in the high season

Book those, leave everything else open. Almost nothing else on this island requires a reservation, and treating it as though it does costs you the flexibility that makes the trip.

A shape that works for a week

Not an itinerary — a shape:

1. Day one: arrive, stay local, swim, sleep early
2. Day two: get your bearings near where you are staying, find your places
3. Day three: the first proper outing, whatever appeals — coast or interior
4. Day four: nothing. Deliberately
5. Day five: the thing you booked, the boat or the dive
6. Day six: follow up on whatever you have been told about since arriving
7. Day seven: return to your favourite thing from the week

Day four is not a waste. It is the day that makes days five, six and seven better, and it is also usually the day people end up describing afterwards.

Day six is the important structural one — by then you will have been given three or four suggestions by people who live here, and leaving space for them is the whole point of not filling the week in advance.

Getting around while you do it

• Local buses are cheap, frequent on main routes, and an experience in themselves
• Taxis are straightforward with the fare agreed first
• Hiring a car gives real freedom, though the roads demand attention and a local permit is usually required
• Walking works well within an area and less well between them

A reasonable approach for a week: buses and taxis mostly, with a hire car for one or two days when you want the interior or the far end of the island. That gives you freedom where it matters without a car sitting unused outside while you are on a beach.

The one rule

If someone who lives here tells you about somewhere, go. The suggestion you get on day two is almost always better than the plan you made in advance, and following it is the difference between seeing an island and spending time on one.

Frequently asked questions