What should a first-time traveler see in Trinidad and Tobago beyond the obvious highlights?

The reason for that 1776 ordinance is the strangest fact in Caribbean conservation history: the nomination dossier records that it was passed for the purpose of "attracting frequent showers of rain". The reserve covers 3,958 hectares — 9,780 acres — of tropical rainforest on an island of about 316 km², roughly 122 square miles. Its ridge peaks at 604 m, nearly 1,982 feet, with lower montane forest above 244 m and xerophytic forest on the southern slopes.

The biological inventory in the dossier is specific. It counts 210 bird species in the reserve, with about 31% of nesting birds endemic; 12 to 16 mammal species; 24 non-poisonous snake species; and 16 lizard species, including an ocellated gecko found nowhere else. The rare, endemic White-tailed Sabrewing hummingbird was declared an Environmentally Sensitive Species in 2005 and has been recovering since populations fell after Hurricane Flora in 1963. The reserve is managed by the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment under the Tobago House of Assembly, with qualified foresters guiding visitors, and receives about 15,000 eco-tourists a year. Tobago's fauna is continental in origin because the island was joined to South America about 1 million years ago.

Trinidad's answer to that is a wetland. Caroni Swamp was designated a Ramsar site on 8 July 2005, covering 8,398.1 hectares — about 20,752 acres — of which 5,996 hectares is mangrove swamp. Its listing records 20 endangered bird species, naming the scarlet ibis, comb duck, white-tailed kite, snail kite and the peregrine falcon, which it describes as severely threatened.

Trinidad and Tobago has 0 World Heritage properties despite all of this. The country ratified the Convention on 16 February 2005 — its States Parties page also carries a news item dated 4 April 2005 announcing the ratification, so the page gives two different 2005 dates — and placed 3 sites on its Tentative List in 2011: the Banwari Trace Archaeological Site, the La Brea Pitch Lake and the Main Ridge Forest Reserve. All three are still waiting, which means none of them carries World Heritage visitor pressure.

• Tobago's ridge — 9,780 acres with a 1,982-foot high point and guided access through qualified foresters; this is the half-day that justifies crossing to Tobago.
• Caroni, Trinidad — 20,752 acres of wetland with roosting scarlet ibis; the mangrove core alone is 14,816 acres.
• La Brea and Banwari Trace — The other two nominated sites, in southwest Trinidad; neither is a developed attraction, which is the point.

Getting between the two islands is a scheduled operation. The International Trade Administration's commercial guide, last published on 26 March 2024, records that Trinidad and Tobago has 2 international airports, with a daily ferry between Port of Spain and Scarborough plus multiple daily flights. That is adequate but not flexible, and a Main Ridge day has to fit a crossing on both sides. In the reserve itself, visitor guiding is by qualified foresters rather than self-directed, and the dossier notes that Caribbean tropical rainforest has declined by about 90%, which is the context for how tightly the remaining reserve is managed. Caroni's listing records that past reclamation attempts modified the swamp and that seasonal cultivation continues on its landward fringe, so the wetland edge is a working landscape.

For the Arima Valley, the dry season and the oilbird colony, see the Trinidad and Tobago when-to-visit answer; the food answer covers the Caroni fishery and the practical business of eating here.