Nov 3rd – Shell Beach St Barts

St Barts is one of the most expensive places in the Caribbean, so there's not many activities here that don't cost you any money here – the beach is one of them. So, today I coaxed Tracy onto the nearest beach to Gustavia – Shell Beach, just a 15 minute walk or so from where the tender drops you off.

As you might be able to tell from its name, Shell Beach is made up of little shells rather than the powdery white sand of St Barts' other, more famous beaches, but as the taxi drivers were quoting €30 for the 5-10 minute trip over the hill to St Jean beach, we decided that shells were much better than sand.

Given Tracy's tanophobia, we were grateful that it had clouded over, but we still covered ourselves in high factor suncream and UV swimwear that left just a 6 inch gap of pale leg uncovered, before we ventured into the milky turquoise waters. It was lovely just to float in the warm sea and be buffeted by the gentle waves.

Whether you're a billionaire or a pauper in exclusive St Barts, the sea's the same for everyone.