As a tourist who is not familiar with where you are and does not have a car, a taxi is a very welcome sight. How many times have I been lugging a heavy load of groceries back to my vacation rental and almost wanted to kiss the taxi driver who stopped me and “rescued” me?
At the same time, approaching a taxi and getting into it is a bit scary. We’ve all heard too many stories of bad taxi rides not to be at least a little scared for our safety at the hands of a strange driver. And I don’t know about you, but the driver’s announcement of the fee I owe at my destination has caught my attention more than once.
Taxis in Barbados are almost always a safe and reliable means of getting around the 14-by-21-mile island. However, just as cultures differ around the world, dealing with taxi drivers also differs. In fact, taxis are a culture unto themselves wherever you go. This is what you need to know in Barbados:
1. Barbados taxis are not metered. Avoid unpleasant surprises by asking the amount of your ticket prior to you get into a taxi. Most drivers are honest; some are not. You can’t tell which is which, so ask the fare at your destination before you step foot in the taxi.
2. Make sure you are dealing with a legitimate licensed taxi. Valid taxis have a blue license plate with a number preceded by the letter Z. Do not confuse legitimate taxis with another form of transport in Barbados, “route vans”, also called ZR vans because their plates start with those letters. These are minibuses that operate on high-density fixed routes around the island and stop frequently for passengers.
3. Do not negotiate the price. Negotiation is not part of the culture in Barbados. Perhaps the island is too English to haggle; Barbados was an English colony until the 1950s and didn’t gain full independence until the late 1960s, so the sensibility is quite English. Street vendors don’t haggle either.
4. Be clear about where you are going, although Barbados addresses are rarely on the “123 Main Street” line. More often than not you will tell your driver that you are going to “Mrs. Smith’s house, two doors down from the fish market at Bank Hall Cross Roads”.
5. Ask your driver for advice. Your driver can offer you a wealth of information, so involve him (or, very rarely, its) in conversation. English is the language of Barbados (although the accent can take time to get used to). Ask your driver what he thinks of the island, where he recommends you go dancing on a Friday night, the best place to eat as a family on the beach, the busiest (or most secluded) beaches, etc., etc.
6. If you find a driver you particularly like, get their phone number and re-engage their services. You may even want to hire him for a half day to give you a special tour of the island. (Remember to ask the price in advance). Nobody knows the island better than the taxi drivers and many of them have personality, which will make your trips especially fun.
7. Tip your driver. Most of the taxi drivers in Barbados work independently, just one man and his car. Respect that this is your livelihood and remember to tip ten to fifteen percent.
Barbados is a wonderfully safe and particularly diverse island, with different topographies, ecosystems, and even two very different bodies of water surrounding it: the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Armed with knowledge of taxi culture, hop in and discover why Barbados is called “The Jewel of the Caribbean.”
