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Travel and Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Trinidad and Tobago.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 3: Reconsider Travel
- Time Difference
- UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
- Currency
- Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD)
- Climate
- Both Trinidad and Tobago lie deep in the tropics but are cooled by the marine environment and the prevailing northeast trade winds. Because of its constant exposure to trade winds, Tobago is cooler than Trinidad. Rainfall is moderate to heavy with an annual average of 82.7 inches but is subject to considerable regional and year-to-year variations. Days are warm, but evening temperatures are cooler. The seasonal variation does not exceed 5°F. The mean year-round temperature for the country at 8 a.m. is about 77°F; at 2 p.m. it is about 86°F. Humidity averages about 86% at 8 a.m. and about 65% at 2 p.m. A dry season, more clearly defined than in most West Indian islands, lasts from January through mid-May; a short interruption of the rainy season also usually occurs in September. In most of the country no month is entirely dry, but during the rainy season the monthly precipitation is three to four times greater than in the dry season. Although the country lies slightly south of the hurricane track, violent local storms sometimes occur. In 1962, Hurricane Flora devastated Tobago, and tropical storm Alma crossed Trinidad in 1974. Both events are considered highly unusual.
- Ethnic Groups
- East Indian (a local term - primarily immigrants from northern India) 40.3%, black 39.5%, mixed 18.4%, white 0.6%, Chinese and other 1.2%
- National Holiday
- Independence Day, 31 August (1962)
- Geographic Coordinates
- 11 00 N, 61 00 W
- Location
- Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
- Airports
- 6
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Tobago — The Nature Island
Tobago occupies a different world from its larger sibling. Arriving by air, the contrast is immediate: where the flight path to Piarco International Airport in Trinidad passes over the urban sprawl and industrial infrastructure of a working capital city, the approach to Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson International Airport in Tobago reveals an island of intense green hills, white sand beaches, clear turquoise water, and small villages nestled among coconut groves. The pace slows, the noise drops, and the air carries the scent of sea and forest rather than city.
The island is approximately forty-three kilometers long and eleven kilometers wide at its broadest point. Its southwestern tip, centered on Crown Point, is the hub of tourism, with the airport, the major hotels, several of the most popular beaches, and the infrastructure needed for comfortable tourist visits. As you move northeast along the island's length, the population thins, the roads narrow, and the landscape grows wilder and more dramatic until the northeastern tip near Charlottesville and Speyside feels genuinely remote.
Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
Medical care is significantly below U.S. standards for treatment of serious injuries and illness, with limited access to supplies and medications. While care at some private facilities is better than at most public health facilities, patients may be expected to prove their ability to pay before assistance is given, even if emergency care is needed. Patients requiring blood transfusions are expected to arrange for at least the same amount to be donated on their behalf.