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South Trinidad is in many ways the backbone of Trinidad. The oil which has (literally) fuelled Trinidad and Tobago’s rise as the most developed country in the Caribbean, comes from here; and the fight for workers’ rights began here back in the 1930s. The “black power” movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, also had its origins in the south. Although the pace of life is hectic in some parts, the south generally cannot compete with the hustle and bustle of the north. Southerners are laid back, and everything from the landscape to the way businesses operate reflects that.

South Trinidad — the South or the Southland — covers everything south of a line drawn across the island from San Fernando. In fact, Port of Spain thinks of anything beyond San Fernando as Deep South and inconceivably distant.

San Fernando, the island’s second largest town, is busy and crowded and in some ways the economic backbone of the country. Out in the countryside you can taste some of the best Indian cuisine on the island, and enjoy beaches with glass-like water in the west and good surfing in the east. There are mud volcanoes, the Pitch Lake, and eco-reserves.

But then you are suddenly face to face with some massive industrial operation: oil at Guayaguayare, natural gas liquefication and export at Point Fortin, aluminium smelters taking shape on the west coast near La Brea, all with various downstream operations attached. Trinidad and Tobago has by far the largest resources of crude oil and natural gas in the Caribbean, and is busily monetising them. The big Point Lisas industrial estate a few miles north of San Fernando has already made the country a world leader in methanol and ammonia. Southerners like people to understand that San Fernando is the country’s "industrial capital”.

Getting around

Getting around South Trinidad really means having your own vehicle. Public transport is tricky, and becomes more so the further south you go: it usually means changing vehicles several times. Reaching San Fernando is not a problem.

Comfortable air-conditioned buses run from Port of Spain to King’s Wharf (call 652-3705 for information about schedules and availability). Green-band maxis (identified by the green stripe on the sides of the vehicle) and route taxis also link Port of Spain and San Fernando, departing from City Gate and King’s Wharf. Black-band
maxis run from San Fernando to Princes Town, Rio Claro and Moruga. Brown-band maxis ply the San Fernando-Point Fortin and San Fernando-Siparia routes.

The maxi hub is The Stand, in the car park parallel to Chancery Lane in San Fernando (walk down High Street or from the San Fernando General Hospital to find it). Route taxis bound for Point Fortin, Oropouche/Rousillac, La Brea, and Point Fortin also start from here.

Within San Fernando, the way to get around is on foot or by using route taxis, which basically circle the San Fernando Hill and can be hailed from any point along their route. Few private taxis operate in the south outside San Fernando and environs. Even route taxis become scarcer the further south you go, so if you are not driving yourself, arrange in advance with a private taxi or tour company for hassle-free sight-seeing.

A note to drivers: even locals get lost in San Fernando, with its often confusing one-way systems and signage, so don’t be afraid to ask for directions.
 

Where to go, What to See

San Fernando

Trinidad’s second city is the commercial centre for the energy-based industries located in the south-west of the island. It was built around a hill known as Naparima to the Amerindians, overlooking a sheltered bay in the Gulf of Paria. The landmark Naparima hill has been quarried to a level outcrop which is now a hiking park. An elevated rocky plateau remains, from which there are fabulous views of the surrounding area. The town has spread in all directions. The Pointe-à-Pierre refinery is just north of San Fernando.

• Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust: A wildfowl sanctuary around a lake within the refinery lands. The Trust protects endangered waterfowl and introduces other birds back to the wild. There is a resource and learning centre. Daily tours. Book in advance.
• San Fernando Hill: What’s left of the quarried hill remains a landmark around which all roads circle. Reach the summit from Circular Road. From here, there’s a spectacular view of Trinidad’s Northern Range, extending to the offshore islands and further west to Venezuela. There are visitor facilities, picnic huts and a children’s play area. 
• Devil’s Woodyard: Mud volcanoes are constantly bubbling in an area east of Princes Town, further evidence of subterranean activity related to oil and gas fields of south Trinidad. A major mud flow in 1997 covered part of Piparo village.

South-west

Once you leave San Fernando head further south, driving can become challenging as the roads are winding and narrow and not always in good repair. If you have an adventurous streak, you will enjoy chance encounters in neighbourhood bars and shops, and exploring the beaches on Trinidad’s south coast. Your route will frequently take you through forest clearings where pumps rhythmically bring oil out of the ground to small tank farms.

Take the Siparia-Erin Road past Palmiste through Debe, Penal, Siparia and oilfields around Los Bajos and Palo Seco to the sea at Erin. Stop at the cluster of food huts in Debe for fried Indian savouries: doubles, phulorie balls, sahina (fritters of bhaji), cachowri (chickpea fritters), all served with tangy chutneys or pepper sauces.

Go east to Princes Town and then south to Moruga fishing village where Columbus’s arrival is re-enacted by the villagers at the beginning of August, on the holiday now designated Emancipation Day (formerly observed as Discovery Day). Quinam Bay, south on the Penal Coora Road from Siparia, is a popular spot for “curry duck limes.” Siparia is the home of Machel Montano and his Xtatik music band.

If you follow the coastal road from San Fernando, you will come to La Brea, Trinidad’s Pitch Lake. Guided tours are available from the onsite visitor centre. Fyzabad in the heart of oil country, is the site of Labour Day observances every June 19. It was the location of oil riots in the 1930s which were significant to the birth of unions for oilworkers.

The Southern Main Road continues through the Cedros peninsula to Trinidad’s toe at Icacos. Deposits from silt-rich river currents off South America is adding land to Icacos,  where the mooring for schooners now lies among vegetation some hundred metres inland.

Good bathing beaches can be found at Granville, Cedros Bay, Columbus Bay, Erin and Los Iros.

More:

• Moruga: This fishing village is also the home of obeah — native healing and magic — as practised by Papa Neezar. In August, there’s the commemoration of the arrival of Columbus’s caravels: Pinta, Niña and Santa Maria.
• Oropouche Lagoon: Wetlands around Mosquito Creek. The cremation site here is called the Shore of Peace. Much birdlife and roosting scarlet ibis can be seen here.
  
• Erin: Look across this south coast bay to the looming bulk of Venezuela. The beach is very fine silt into which you may sink to your knees in some places. Calm but silt-laden waters.
• Cedros Point: Walk out on Trinidad’s widest beach when the tide is out. Behold vast vistas across beach and sea to the Venezuelan Main.

South-east

North Manzanilla is a sheltered beach watered by the L’Ebranche River. The main road from Sangre Grande takes you to the Manzanilla beach facility and a new development featuring the Calypso Inn beach resort, with restaurant and bar. Head south through coconut plantations for miles of flat sandy coast. Just inland, the Nariva Swamp sustains a world where howler monkeys, manatees and anacondas can still be found. Here's some more of what the southeast has to offer:

• Manzanilla Beach: This is miles of windy and wave-washed sandy beach seen through gracefully bent coconut palms. Be careful of unseen currents. There are good picnic spots, too. The plantation is private property: take nothing, leave only footprints. There’s a wide estuary where the Nariva River enters the sea.
• Nariva Swamp: You need a permit to visit. This can be arranged through a tour operator. Go by boat or kayak through the swamp into the Bush Bush Sanctuary, a protected wetland reserve. Three kinds of mangrove give way to palm marshes and hardwood forest on the Bush Bush “island.” Manatees are difficult to detect in the tannin-dark water, but look for red howler and capuchin monkeys, anaconda, caiman and a newly released population of blue and gold macaws.
• Mayaro: Past the headland and St Joseph Village, another long sandy palm-fringed beach. Dig for chip-chip, small triangular-shaped molluscs in myriad colours: Steam a pailful for soup or cocktails. Be careful of riptides — currents generated by wave action against a long beach. Fishing villages and busier developments can be found further south.
• Galeota Point: Trinidad’s south-east tip is occupied by tank farms for oil companies. Beyond Galeota, Guayaguayare is another protected sandy beach on the south coast.