Experience the best of Saint Joseph Parish

Saint Joseph is a rural parish on the east coast of Barbados, facing the Atlantic rather than the calm Caribbean. Long swells break against huge mushroom-shaped coral boulders at Bathsheba, the parish's best-known village, and the Soup Bowl, a reef break just offshore, is the island's most famous surf break. Currents are strong, so most people paddle in the rock pools or simply watch the waves.

Inland, ridges and gullies of the Scotland District fall steeply towards the sea, with small farms and fields of sugar cane. The Andromeda Botanic Gardens at Bathsheba hold palms, orchids and bamboo on a hillside above the coast. Bridgetown, the capital, is a drive across the island, and the calmer west-coast beaches lie beyond it.

Bajan cooking is built on flying fish and cou-cou, a cornmeal and okra dish, which together are the national dish, and Bathsheba has long been a fishing village. Dry weather lasts from December to May, while June to November is wetter and more humid. The Atlantic side is breezier and cooler than the west coast all year.