More than four decades ago, the attraction of Cyril Bay lay in the stark white pebbles that characterised its beach. Hikers and those boating it to the beach always left with a pebble or two as a souvenir to the unique beauty of this spot. The return climb uphill would not have permitted more to be toted in backpacks.
This was the novelty of the area when neighbouring beaches within La Vache Bay were composed of bare sand, with a minor scattering of brown and white pebbles in sheltered pockets below overhangs. Fast-forward to the present, elders in Maracas and Las Cuevas communities will tell you that this was a thing of the past, long before high seas altered the popular gravelly beach into one of sand. Frank, a seasoned fisherman in the area, commented on the epoch that is typical of our coastlines.
“The gravel is still out there in the sea. That will not go far. In time, the water will return them to shore.
” “Before the time when the white gravel composed the beach, the beach was as it is now, and just as it was back then, boats will be able to now reach up to the waterfall to fill water.” popular: A finger of stone called Fishing Rock that is a convenient spot to cast lines into the rich fishing grounds of Cyril Bay. Cyril Bay was highly prized as the best beach within La Vache on Trinidad’s North Coast.
What made it so special was the amazing whiteness of the compacted pebbles. An added bonus was a convenient finger of stone where rock fishermen cast their li.