Marakeet Bay, where have you been all my life?

One wondrous Saturday Morning a couple of weeks ago, my friends and I decided to do a scout for our hiking club, Hikers United to the little known beach, Marakeet / Maraqueet Bay / Balata Bay off the North Coast of Trinidad. I was absolutely shocked, this place has been here all my life and this is the first time I was visiting it! Wow! This spot was absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to visit again. I need to edit my list of Top 3 North Coast beaches in Trinidad, this one surely needs to be on that list 🙂 … maybe I need a top 4 North Coast beaches instead.

Marakeet Bay is located in the quiet village of Marakeet on the North Coast of Trinidad 💦The turn off for this trail is about 5 minutes before you reach to Maracas Bay and unless you have a 4 wheel drive, it is best that you park at the bottom of the incline 🌄The hike is about 2.5 km long and it took us 1 hr 24 mins from the start of the trail to the beach and 40 mins on our return leg (we stopped and took pictures on our way to the beach, hence we took almost twice the time to get there than on the return leg) 📸

I must admit, this trail is not the most beautiful but it is worth it in the end. At the start, you walk along the roadway for about 10 to 15 minutes and then you begin to follow the trail into the forested areas. Along the roadway you get a birds eye view of Maracas Bay (it was awesome to see Maracas from this vantage point). 💧🌴

When the road ends, you walk through an area covered with mango trees and then into a more overgrown area before the trail clears again 🌲 🌳

The main issue I had with the trail was that there are some parts that are covered in razor grass (all of us had cuts on our hands even though we wore long-sleeve tops and long pants). I think next time, I will also wear gloves maybe. But a little razor grass will not stop me from visiting Marakeet again❗️❗️

When you are almost to the beach, you reach the area with the balata trees (you are basically at the end of the hike at this point). The trail was also mostly flat with just a slight downhill as you are nearing the beach and it has some ribbons showing that you are on the right track. Just a note, you enter the bay on you have to walk around a rock (getting wet in the water) to get to the other side of the bay where there is more space 🌳 🌴💦 We were told there is another way to enter the bay on the wider side however, it is a much steeper descent involving rope 🧗🏿‍♀️ 🧗🏿 Our rating for this hike is about 5 / 10 in terms of difficulty.

Why do I like Marakeet Bay? Marakeet Bay reminded me about Pichon Cove when I first visited there in 2016, the water was clear and there were many seashells and pretty rocks and stones on the beach as opposed to the sand you see on beaches like Maracas and Las Cuevas 😍 🥰 (I think I am in love😂) Secondly, because you have to hike to this location and there is no access road, it is unlikely that you will find many other persons there on any given day. Thirdly the water is calm and clear as there are some rocks just off the shore which help the waves to break and allows the beach to remain somewhat sheltered. It reminds me of Cyril Bay or Forest Point.

Final thoughts: Wear longs sleeve tops and pants even maybe some gloves because there are many patches of razor grass. DO not leave any litter. Do not take balata from the trees (this is a serious issue). It is a beautiful spot, enjoy it BUT TAKE YOUR LITTER WITH YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE! 😐 😑

Be sure to follow me on IG @cellyhikes and the team that I hike with @Hikers United on IG and FB, we will be taking a group to Maraqueet Bay very soon.😚

Much Love

Celly