Mmm that is a bit tricky with 4-11 year olds as I would normally say a trip to the East Coast which is beautiful, but without knowing your children it is hard to say if they would enjoy the drive or find it too long in the car.

I wonder if you will have seen the turtles on your travels at any other island?. It may be an idea to go to somewhere like Alleynes Bay where you can hire sunloungers and you can get food and drink and hire snorkels and life vests and swim and see the turtles. May be a little too far for the 4 yr old. It is a nice beach though and seeing the turtles I am sure would be great for your children.

Also take a look at this online book it shows a lot of the main attractions in Barbados and other things may take your fancy too

barbadosinanutshell.com

Try Atlantis Submarine.

http://barbados.atlantissubmarines.com/

We have done a few cruises and stopped at the same places with a child and I would recommend the following:-

Tortola - Worth taking the ferry to Virgin Gorda - either yourself on the ferry or on one of the organised tours. This is a wonderful place, a little walking involved to get to the actual beach area but well worth it! Tortola is only a small place if not so you could just get off the cruise ship on one off the "safari style trucks" available at the quayside and take a trip to the beach. These go backwards and forwards all day.

St Martin - The best thing to do here is shop, shop, shop!!!

St Kitts - Again, I would take an organised tour and go to Nevis - you take a catamaran trip, some snorkelling, a barbecue style lunch on the beach and plenty of time to go for a wander or spend time on the beach. If you want to go around St Kitts I would probably just take a taxi from the quayside - they will show you all the highlights and you can choose how long you want to be.

Guadeloupe - We ended up here on a Sunday - everything was closed! This was a beach day for us - but a very good beach day!

Barbados - There is so much to do, you have to come back for a holiday to appreciate it all! We first came on a cruise ship 15 years ago, and have been back every year for the last nine! With the children, I would recommend the Harrisons Caves - this would take a couple of hours - a quick tour shows you most of the island and there are some great places to stop for lunch!

From experience the children really don't want to leave the ship - they are so busy with activities etc you have to tear them away! Enjoy your trip!

Having been to Barbados just recently for me Bathsheba was the most stunning part of the trip for me and I think the kids would enjoy the trip there. I think you would totally be missing something if you didn't go to Bathsheba on the East Coast. I would grab a cab from the dock and go directly to Bathsheba and spend some time there. You'll notice that you'll be climbing up, up, up as you get closer to Bathsheba where you will see a stunning vista of the beach at one point then you start the descent "down", down, down...this is the exhilarating part of the trip...I think the kids would like this as the road down is really steep and twisty...good scary fun...just like a roller coast...auuughhh. This is not a swimming beach however the kids will probably see surfers here and there is a part where it is calm and there are little natural pools amongst the rocks that are like little hot tubs. After seeing this beach once and only having about 1/2 to stay here I would recommend staying for quite some time and exploring around the rocks and the town. There is a nice little bar by the beach called Dina's...refreshments and lunch perhaps...a nice grassie area and picnic benches as well. I love this spot. FYI a bus leaves Bathsheba every hour on the hour and goes directly back to Bridgetown. So it would cost you a whopping $5 US for your family to take the bus back to Bridgetown...this is a nice option if you want to stay in Bathsheba for a while as not sure if there would always be taxi's waiting there. Google photos of Bathsheba and you'll see what I mean it is gorgeous. You can easily work something else into the excursion to Bathsheba if you like but makes sure to save enough time for Bathsheba...it really deserves some time. I was disappointed that we ran out of time and couldn't spend some time exploring the area. I am amazed that three people I have spoken with that went to Barbados and they didn't even see the East Coast....that's a mistake in my books.

PS If you do go to Bathsheba...there is also Andromeda Gardens very close to Bathsheba if your family is interested in gardening....sorry I missed this too. As another poster said above there is a lot to see in Barbados.

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