50+ Pictures of Barbados to Inspire You to Visit

A picture tells a thousand words. This statement is never truer than when considering a vacation to the Caribbean. Each island has its own geography, history and culture so despite their proximity, the Caribbean islands can vary greatly. We returned from our March break vacation with hundreds of incredible pictures of Barbados.

We’re going to share more than 50 pictures of Barbados that will convince you that you have to visit this beautiful Caribbean island.

I’ve wanted to visit Barbados since I was five years old and my parents visited (without me!). They returned home with a beautiful doll and amazing pictures of this incredible Caribbean island.  

It’s those pictures of Barbados that stayed in my mind when we were planning our next spring break excursion with the kids. We weren’t disappointed!

Barbados is small and easy to explore. The island is filled with lush vegetation, playful critters and a majestic shoreline that edges both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. More importantly, the Bajan people are some of the nicest we’ve ever met.

Just as my mom’s pictures of Barbados encouraged me to visit, I hope our pictures can convince you that this should be your next couple or family vacation!!

Barbados is filled with …

• Ocean vistas
• Incredible sunsets
• Majestic signs of rock erosion
• Mysterious caves
• Beautiful beaches
• Underwater shipwrecks
• Serene underwater sea life
• Curious monkeys, ghost crabs, birds and other adorable creatures
• Historic architecture
• And so much more!

Pictures of Barbados: From North to South and East to West, It’s a Beautiful Country!

Majestic Coastal Scenery

With almost 60 miles or 100 km of coastline, Barbados has some of the most varied coastal scenery we’ve ever seen.

Wandering along this amazing coastline, you’ll find long beaches of soft sand bordering the Caribbean Sea on the west coast.

In the north you’ll experience rough waters and cliffs as the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean.

As you explore the east coast you’ll be amazed by beautiful waves crashing against massive rocks.

While we did visit Carlisle Bay along Barbados’ south coast, there is more variety to be seen so we absolutely plan to explore the south coast more on our next visit to the island.

Incredible Sunsets

There’s nothing quite like watching the sunset over the Caribbean Sea. The incredible colours … pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows … are forever bright and beautiful. Every evening the sunsets seem to change with each and every one more memorable.

Water Views

Along with amazing coastal views, Barbados is blessed with beautiful views of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

As you near the coast from any direction, you’re faced with incredible distant water views that are a photographer’s dream.

Due to the small size of the island (only 34km (21mi) long and 24km (15mi) wide) these amazing views are also visible when exploring many areas of inland Barbados.

Mysterious Caves

My parents visited Barbados when I was a little girl and one photo I always remember is a photo of my mom standing at the opening of an incredible sea cave. I absolutely wanted to visit this location for some amazing photos and we weren’t disappointed. These mysterious caves, carved by nature, are stunning!

Serene Underwater Sea Life

Some of our most beautiful pictures of Barbados are photos taken of the amazing sea life living on the west coast. We explored on a catamaran but the beautiful of Barbados sea life is that you can also see a lot in many areas just off the shoreline.

Unique Rock Features

The waves of the Atlantic have pounded against large rocks along the shore for years. In the process, Barbados has been left with stunning mushroom shaped rocks due to erosion caused by the salt water waves.

Do you need more beautiful pictures of Barbados to convince you to visit?? Here they are!

Beautiful Beaches

We stayed in a beautiful condo on Alleynes Bay on the west coast so many of our photos come from Alleynes beach.

We also explored many other beaches and they’re all amazing and beautiful in their own way. We found each beach had its own character and unique features and views so when you take pictures in Barbados, make sure to wander to a variety of areas.

Even if you think they’ll be the same, you might be surprised.

Underwater Shipwrecks

Amazingly, the shipwrecks on the west coast of Barbados are not far from shore. They also aren’t very deep. It is incredible to float above and with a waterproof camera you’ll get amazing shots!

You’ll see colourful fish and sea creatures attached to the ship as well as, of course, historic and mysterious ships. T

The location that we visited in Carlisle Bay had three different shipwrecks that could be explored but I’m sure there are more around the coast.

Bright Caribbean Colours

Ever since our visit, when I think of Barbados I think of bright beautiful colours. These Caribbean colours are deep, bright and truly amazing.

As you explore Barbados, you never know where you’re going to see wonderful colours to brighten your day.

Historic Architecture

Barbados has an incredible history. It was inhabited by its indigenous people prior to being discovered by a Portuguese explorer en route to Brazil in the 1500s. He named the island Los Barbados, meaning “the bearded ones”, likely due to beard like vegetation that grew on the island.

In 1625 the English landed on Barbados shores and had the first European settlement on the island. Sugar cane cultivation began in the mid 1600s and the land was divided into large plantation estates.

By the mid 1600s, Barbados had more trade for England than all other English colonies combined. Incredibly, by the 1700s, Bridgetown was one of the three largest English cities in the Americas (the other two were Boston, Mass. and Port Royal, Jamaica).

In the late 1600s, St. Joseph Parish Church was built. It is said to have one of the most magnificent views of all the Barbados’ churches as it overlooks Barbados’ Scotland District and beautiful the east coast of the island. Unfortunately due to damage caused by land slippage, earth tremors and tropical storm in 2010, St. Joseph Parish Church closed its doors in 2011.

Barbados’ Parliament Building has been in place since the 1870s. In 1998, Barbados chose ten National Heroes which are included in the Museum of Parliament. In 2011, the Parliament Buildings were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Incredibly, in 1884 Barbados asked to be considered to be added to Canadian Confederation. Coming from a Canadian family, that would have been awesome!!!

Barbados negotiated its independence from Britain in 1966 and became a member of the British Commonwealth similar to Canada and Australia.

Adorable Caribbean Critters

Barbados is not only filled with beautiful sea life, the island is also filled with cute and fun critters. Just a short distance from our villa we met curious green monkeys, sneaky ghost crabs and cute sea birds.

The monkeys clearly had a home near our resort. We’d see them in the morning wandering around the grounds.

At all times of day we saw ghost crabs hiding in the sand.

We saw many kinds of birds in Barbados but the ones that struck me the most were three sea birds. They reminded me so much of my three kiddos, just hanging out.

We were able to see many of these sights on our catamaran excursion and our guided tour around Barbados but those aren’t necessary.

Our upcoming article about the best locations for photography in Barbados is sure to give some pointers on how to capture some wonderful pictures of Barbados because you know you’ll be visiting!!

You might also be interested in our seven one day itineraries to help you make the most of your visit to Barbados, however long you’ll be on the island.

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