My carnival story began on September 5, 2022 at the West Indian Day Parade. I’d never imagined I’d be on the Parkway, in costume. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this experience was transformative. I’ve not been the same since.

Fellow masqueraders asked it I was going to Miami the next month or Trinidad in February. I’d not planned on either and soon, both were out of reach from a financial standpoint. If I’m honest, carnival chasing is like chasing a runner’s high. Opting into Trinidad Carnival is a competitive sport in and of itself. I failed to jump on an $800+ airfare and days later, that window of opportunity has come and gone.

But what about Tobago Carnival?

It was spring of 2023 and I’d seen a few people on Instagram who’d gone the previous year and recommended it. It was still pretty new, just having celebrated its third successful year. Trinidad, it’s not, but carnival is barely a new concept for the smaller of the two twin islands. Outstanding, experienced designers and section leaders? White sand and crystalline water beaches? Costumes at a fraction of the price? Count me in!, I thought.

Planning

Flights

Let’s just get one of the biggest considerations out of the way. One of the major differences between Trinidad and Tobago is that, like many of the smaller Eastern Caribbean islands, there were few to no direct flights to Tobago from New York. I’ve been to Trinidad and always wanted to go to Tobago, but it involved a layover in or 3 hour ferry ride from Trinidad. Going in, I was prepared for two long traveling days coming and leaving Tobago.

My flights to Trinidad and later, to Tobago, were via Caribbean Airlines, my first time flying with them. Currently, it’s the only major airline with flights between Trinidad and Tobago. It’s about a 15-20 minute flight on a propeller plane. Soon after arriving in Trinidad, we learned that our flight got bumped up an hour and change. We had time to freshen up, mill around the duty free shops, and taste test the Trini KFC in the airport (if you’re wondering Jamaica KFC was a hard act to follow, so this one comes in a close second!)

Flights between the two islands are frequent, though they added many more flights in anticipation of the carnival rush. Still, some people arrived to the airport for stand-by. That’s to say, this is not like Trinidad Carnival, where if you wait a few days, you’re effectively priced out of flights. The flight back to New York’s JFK was with JetBlue, in case you’re wondering, and I did use points to purchase it. The roundtrip flights between Trinidad and Tobago were $60.

Accommodation

Lush foliage at Carolina Point

The second most important consideration was the accommodation. Again, this is a huge to do with Trinidad Carnival: if not booked super early (like, nearly a year ahead early!), the possibility of having affordable lodging near Port of Spain dwindles with each passing day. Want to stay in Couva or Point Fortin – or Tobago – or a $1,000/night stay in town (not joking)? Sure. Tobago was much less in that respect. In fact, if you start in the spring or early summer, you may actually get analysis paralysis due to the choices and price ranges.

The objective of my travel was to participate in carnival, so my largest consideration was accessibility to the j’ouvert and mas routes. J’ouvert has been in Crown Point and mas in Scarborough in their inaugural year. I assumed they’d stay the same and booked based on that.

We selected Carolina Point Resort in Crown Point, situated a five minute walk from the beach, food, and nightlife, and about a 15 minute walk from the airport. As it turns out, the official routes weren’t released until after I’d booked my lodging, with both events held in Scarborough this year.

My biggest concern, aside from picking up my costume, is how I’d get to j’ouvert at the crack of dawn. Ever the New Yorker, it’s odd for me to be away from the sort of 24/7 transportation I’m accustomed to. Not wanting to rely on a taxi at that time of night, we quickly realized we would need to rent a car.

Getting Around

After some research, we settled on O’Neil Rent-A-Car, which came highly recommended and was a short walk from the airport. Having some experience driving in the region (well, Stefan does, at least 😀), the road conditions were surprisingly decent, overall. That said, a smaller car is ideal to navigate narrow roads. If you stay in Crown Point or Scarborough, unless you’re touring the island, a car rental may not be necessary. Despite planning to, I never did quite demystify the public transportation situation there.

REGISTRATION for J’ouvert and Mas Bands

After years of lurking on IG accounts and websites, I’m familiar with Trini mas bands, though far less so with j’ouvert bands. One important lesson I learned from this experience – which maybe should be obvious – was to concern yourself less with the costume and more with the reviews and reputation of the band. While some of the bands featured in both Tobago J’ouvert and pretty mas are new, most are established mas producers and designers from Trinidad, New York, and Atlanta. I registered with Fog Angels in the section designed by Anya Elias and powered by Atlanta-basedEntice Mas.

After eyeing a gorgeous, shimmering lavender bodysuit, I jumped to register with Baego Jouvert. What jumped out at me was not only the design, but that they had sizes that went above large. After reading one too many “Ah Doh Have” carnival stories (IYKYK!), I’m always cautiously enthusiastic after registering with a band. You can imagine my trepidation while awaiting costume distribution schedules.

Costume Distribution

J’ouvert

The first hiccup happened just days out from my trip. I was contacted via WhatsApp (this is a tremendously useful app to have while traveling in the Caribbean, by the way) to inform me that the costume I’d selected wasn’t going to be produced due to too few registrations. They asked me to select another costume – from Dirty Medics’ inventory, who they were collaborating with. Disappointed, I selected the red and white bodysuit and assured it shouldn’t be an issue.

The second factor that made me nervous was that by the day of my flight, a distribution schedule still hadn’t been released. Again, I asked and was reassured. J’ouvert was on the 28th and by the 25th, I still hadn’t received an update. I reached out and was told that the distribution was to be held at Anchors Bar in Mt. Irvine, a 20 minute drive from my hotel. I’m one of those people who will be lining up 20 minutes before the mas camp opens because I like to be prepared. Noon that day rolled around and I didn’t see anybody else waiting.

My phone doesn’t have international calling, so the helpful bartender, who was familiar with the band, made a call…and was only able to leave a message. Sigh. Stefan’s phone, however, did work and he was able to get in touch with somebody…who told him that distribution was at the Chill Out Bar, a short walk from the hotel.

I admit, my patience had been worn. Once there, it became clear that Dirty Medics were the umbrella band for Baego Jouvert . The young lady who had communicated with Stefan apologized profusely for the miscommunication. As it turns out, they too had sold out of the red bodysuit, so I had to settle for a t-shirt. She gave me a few extra goodies as a consolation and we were on our way. I was more committed to the experience, though a pretty bodysuit would have been great for future fetes.

yellow and fuchsia frontline carnival costume

A frontline Fog Angels costume on display at Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort

Pretty Mas

Fortunately, the pretty mas band distribution ran much more smoothly. We did show up a day early to discover that distribution was only for one particular section. We had to return the following day, which was no big deal. The distribution was at the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort, which overlooked the sea, nestled away at the end of a series of roads leading through a country club. Upon our return, the entire process took less than an hour. The hotel had a lobby with comfortable couches, lemon water, and a fan blowing the warm, tropical air, so it wasn’t a bad spot to relax in for a while. The Entice band leader was friendly and helpful, explaining how to put in each part of the costume.

The costume itself looked good. My only gripe is that the panty was almost comically tight at the hip, so I had to employ Stefan’s assistance to shimmy it on. I had a beige bra that I brought, so I swapped mine out with the costume bra for a bit more coverage and support, to avoid a peek-a-boo. Overall, the costume wasn’t too difficult to put on and the “armor” of emerald jewels really brought the look together. Stefan commented that this was his favorite so far. The backpacks were being delivered from nearby and arrived 20-30 minutes after we did. It was a frontline costume and backpack. The backpack was pretty impressive and my favorite one to this day.

On the Road

Jouvert package? Check. Carnival costume? Check. I should add that only I would be partaking. Stefan and I joke that he is a “carnival husband,” kind of like a “dance parent” or “soccer mom.” With the harder aspects out of the way, the only real hard part left would be waking up at the crack of dawn. I may be a morning person, but not a crack of dawn person. Carnival day is easy-peasy, as I’m up anyway by then. Let the festivities begin!

A moko jumbie glides through the crowd on j’ouvert morning

J’ouvert

Being early to events is my chronic illness. Even if I leave late, somehow, I’m always the first one to arrive. J’ouvert morning was not different. When I don’t see other event goers, I get nervous, and it took a while for others to begin arriving. Then the crowds arrived, then the music and drink trucks cued up. Dirty Medics and Fog Angels were on the road together.

One slight disappointment is that while we were to begin before dawn, once there, officials told us that we’d need to wait until about 5:00am to begin our procession: once the sun had already begun to rise. No problem. The drinks were flowing, the music was waking everybody up, though I suspect many had never actually gone to bed the night before. Cue the moko jumbies and fire breathers, and we were soon pushing off.

Another detail both Stefan and I found slightly odd was that — both days — the police made their way through the crowds in their vehicles and also made the DJ lower the music at one point, as we were passing a hospital. Though there were ropes separating us from spectators, storming was not a problem and the roadside had a slight hill, where Stefan and others were able to walk alongside the festivities.

Stefan and his dutty ways at Tobago J’ouvert

One thing I was a disappointed in was that it didn’t appear as though paint and powder were given to all revelers — I sure didn’t get any. As a result, I didn’t get very dirty, though others clearly did. It would probably surprise you to know who did get very dirty. As we turned to enter town, the number of fire breathers masquerading as devils seemed to have grown. I’d found Stefan, who was a couple yards behind me. Suddenly, he was “jumped” by two girls dressed as devils, who smeared oil and charcoal all over him. It was a riot. I’d wished I’d gotten that moment on video.

Overall, including my distribution issues, I’d give my experience 7/10.

On the road representing the Titivay section of Fog Angels

Mas

As always, we were among the first to arrive. The carnival was supposed to begin at 11:00am. Looking around, I could quickly tell the intense heat we were feeling wasn’t just a matter of me being a Northeasterner, as evidenced by hordes of revellers taking cover under a food vendor’s tent. Sweated up before I even touched road, the minutes of anticipation dragged.

It was a collective release in more ways than one when the caravan of trucks finally turned onto Claude Noel Highway just after 1:00. The rum was on deck, DJ Jel was on the truck, and the fog machines were turned up (yes, Fog Angels roll like that!) Like J’ouvert, Scarborough PD was insistent that we lower the music when passing the hospital (though, in the distance, I swore I could see the staff and patients spectating!)

You know what they say about time flying by when you’re having fun? This characterized my Tobago road experience. I wanted more! Once criticism I later hear from spectators is that they felt the bands were too spaced out from each other. For example, Iconic Mas was in front or in back of us – I forget – but were a good half mile apart. From the spectator perspective, there was a lack of continuity with long gaps when no bands were passing.

Overall, it’s not Trinidad, but nothing is and it shouldn’t aspire to be. It does have a vibe all its own, and is interesting to see it develop and grow. With that, if you’ve missed the boat on Trinidad 2026, go see about Tobago. I’m thinking about returning for 2025.

Overall, I’d give my experience 9/10.

Thinking about going? October 24-26, 2025 are the main carnival dates, which fetes and events leading up to and proceeding it.