Cheap flights to Trinidad and Tobago from the US and Canada are scarce, although flights from the East Coast are considerably less expensive than from other areas. American Airlines runs daily flights from most US and Canadian cities connecting through Miami and San Juan to T&T. Air Canada flies direct to Trinidad from Toronto three times a week. You can also buy an Air Canada ticket from Toronto to Tobago, but you'll have to switch to LIAT in Barbados (weekends only). BWIA offers daily flights at competitive prices from New York and Miami.

The vast majority of British and Irish residents visiting Trinidad and Tobago are on a package tour. Monarch Airlines' (tickets available through tour operator Golden Caribbean tel 01293/881079) fares start at £357 for rainy June, escalating to £689 for the popular Christmas season. British Airways flies direct to Tobago from the UK once a week on Saturdays, departing from London, Gatwick. BWIA has daily flights from London Heathrow to Piarco, Trinidad. Transfers to Tobago on frequent daily BWIA flights can be arranged, and are included in the fare to the smaller isle.

There are no direct flights from Australia or New Zealand ; you'll need to go through a gateway in the US or Canada.

Of the scores of shipping companies that peddle all-inclusive cruises , few include Trinidad and Tobago on their itineraries, and each line routes only a couple of ships per year through the islands, so be prepared for inflexible dates of travel. Two companies that stop in T&T are Holland America and Windjammer (tel 1-800/327-2601, ).