Erin Bay, Trinidad.

This driving trail started in Iere Village just outside Princes’ Town at 10.28187°N and -61.33815°W. The first stop on this “southern getaway” was on the San Fernando waterfront at 10.27939°N and -61.47141°W. From here you get great views of Farallon Rock and the old cruise boat called the “Southern Elegance.”
Good Historical records of Farallon Rock and its residents date back to 1869 when English Novelist, Historian, Priest and University Professor Charles Kingsley came to Trinidad and travelled from what is now called Port-of-Spain to San Fernando. Kingsley would write, “I saw, some quarter of a mile out at sea, a single stack of rock, which is said to have been joined to the mainland in the memory of the fathers of this generation; and on shore, composed, I am told, of the same rock, that hill of San Fernando, which forms a beacon by sea and land for many a mile around”. This would later come to be known as Farallon Rock.
There was once a very “grand residence” on Farallon Rock where the very elite of San Fernando used to frequent. The last family to use Farallon Rock as their private residence was the Mokunds up to the 1970’s. Prior to the Mokunds the island was owned by the Synes. Historical records indicate that the Synes became very wealthy through the entrepreneurship of the family patriarch Asgaralli Syne who established a private bus service from Siparia to San Fernando and later to St. James. Syne Village in Siparia is named for this family. The Synes bought Farallon Rock from another prominent family, the Gittens. Historical records indicate that the Gittens owned a dental practice along what is now Pointe-a-Pierre Road and they spent weekends on the island. They were also involved in quarrying activity on the San Fernando Hill. This quarrying activity only ended in 1976.
The residence on Farallon Rock was built by the Hobson Family in the 1920’s. Leonard Manning Hobson was a very prominent Attorney at Law who would later become the Mayor of San Fernando. The mainland residence of the Hobsons is now the home of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (O.W.T.U.) along Circular Road in San Fernando.
The driving trek then continued toward Erin Bay 10.0740°N and -61.6566°W. Erin Bay is largely a fishing community. The second largest employer in this remote southern community is Erin Farms, a meat processing and packaging facility. There you can get very good produce at “factory prices.”
Erin Bay is great for walking. Be aware that there are a lot of stray dogs that can be aggressive toward outsiders. When the tide is low the beach is transformed into a mud flat. You get great views of the Venezuelan coastline from here. I didn’t do it today but I am sure that along the beach you could walk as far West as Islote Bay and East as far as Frank Bay and Los Iros bay very easily. That might be worth the adventure. Anthropologist J. Walter Fewkes published a paper in the American Anthropologist called “Prehistoric Objects from A Shell-Heap at Erin Bay, Trinidad.” This gives quite a lot of history of this very remote but extremely interesting place. You might also consider exploring the tiny St. Francis Roman Catholic Church perched atop a small bluff in Erin. It is located at 10.07519°N and -61.65662°W.
Happy Trails...