Experience the best of Diamond Valley

Diamond Valley sits in the parish of St Philip, on the south-east side of Barbados, a coral-limestone island roughly 34 kilometres long and the easternmost of the Caribbean islands. Crane Beach, a wide beach of pale sand backed by cliffs, lies on this coast. The land is gently rolling, with sugar-cane fields, gullies cut into the limestone, and villages of painted wooden chattel houses. Calm beaches face the Caribbean Sea along the west coast, while the Atlantic side to the east is rougher, with strong surf and rocky headlands.

Across the island lie Bridgetown and its Garrison, a World Heritage site of colonial buildings, and Harrison's Cave, a limestone cave with streams and waterfalls. Gun Hill Signal Station looks out across the countryside, the Morgan Lewis windmill recalls the sugar industry, and Bathsheba on the east coast is known for its giant boulders and surf.

Barbados cooks around flying fish and cou-cou, a dish of cornmeal and okra, and rum has been distilled on the island since the seventeenth century. Fish fries and rum shops are the social heart of many villages. The dry season from December to May is the sunniest, while June to November is wetter and warmer.