Tobago’s Rocky Point resort faces unresolved approvals and habitat concerns

Tobago’s proposed 200-room Rocky Point resort still awaits final planning approvals despite receiving environmental clearance in April, according to Guardian reporting published on 10 October. The project in south-west Tobago remains contested over its potential effects on turtle habitat, while Marriott International says it has no agreement for the site.

The latest account distinguishes the environmental permission already granted to Superior Hotels from decisions still outstanding. It also records a difference between the regulator’s earlier description of a Marriott-branded development and Marriott’s current position, leaving the proposed resort’s operating arrangement unresolved.

What Rocky Point’s environmental clearance covers

An official Gazette notice records that environmental clearance was issued to Superior Hotels on 28 April 2026. The project description includes a 200-room hotel, bungalows, villas, private residences and associated facilities on 11.99 hectares at Rocky Point, Mt. Irvine. That decision is an earlier milestone, rather than a new October approval.

In its 4 May announcement, the Environmental Management Authority identified the permission as CEC6451/2022. The regulator said the approval supported investment and economic growth while maintaining environmental oversight. Those were its stated objectives for the decision, rather than measured results from an operating resort.

The EMA’s May release called the proposal a Marriott-branded hotel and resort. Marriott told the Guardian it was not involved in the proposed Rocky Point development and had executed no agreement with Superior Hotels for the site. The earlier branding description should consequently not be read as confirmation of a signed operator agreement.

Tourism investment and the competing proposal

Government agency Eteck invited expressions of interest for the site in 2021, according to the Guardian. Superior Hotels ultimately won and received a 99-year lease. Rene Seepersadsingh, first vice-president of the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association, described private investment as part of efforts to upgrade the island’s tourism offering.

One prominent critic, Rocky Point Foundation founding member Duane Kenny, has his own connection to that competition: his group also submitted an expression of interest. A former hotel manager who owns tourism-related businesses, Kenny described an alternative small eco-resort with nature trails, turtle watching and a museum displaying Amerindian artefacts.

Kenny also questioned whether a 200-room hotel could achieve sustainable occupancy in Tobago. That is his assessment of the commercial prospects; the Guardian report supplies no occupancy dataset or financial model establishing whether this particular resort would succeed or fail.

Turtle nesting habitat and clearance conditions

Michelle Cazabon-Mannette, an environmental biologist and director of SpeSeas, told the Guardian that more than 100 people submitted written objections during environmental assessment. She described subsequent design changes as minor and considers the certificate’s approximately 20 pages of mitigation measures insufficient.

Her concerns centre partly on coastal vegetation. She says trees help protect the beach against erosion and provide shade important to nesting hawksbill and leatherback turtles. “At Back Bay, the shade keeps the sand cool,” she told the Guardian, warning that vegetation removal could harm that habitat.

Cazabon-Mannette also warned about sediment runoff reaching the reef. The developer has promised silt fences during construction, according to the Guardian, while Kenny questions their reliability. These are concerns about potential impacts and proposed safeguards, rather than evidence of damage already caused by the development.

Cazabon-Mannette acknowledged that the designs supporting the clearance were conceptual and that Superior Hotels had said they were not final. Asked about environmentalists’ concerns, company chairman John Aboud forwarded the Guardian the clearance certificate without further comment.

Kirkland Brathwaite, principal of environmental and project management firm Katalyst Solutions, offered a different assessment. He told the Guardian that monitoring requirements become more stringent in environmentally sensitive areas and considers compliance with clearance conditions sufficient to address impacts. His assessment does not settle the critics’ concerns about the scale of development.

Community tourism and the decisions still pending

The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute has promoted community-based tourism in Speyside, elsewhere in Tobago. Its senior technical officer Dylis McDonald described such projects as generally small-scale and rooted in residents’ plans, with conservation and restoration often central to the enterprises. That provides an alternative model, without demonstrating equivalent income from a different scheme at Rocky Point.

The outstanding planning decisions and final design remain material uncertainties. The Guardian’s October report establishes neither a construction start nor an opening date. Its current account leaves the project with environmental clearance, continuing disagreement over safeguards and scale, and Marriott’s explicit statement that it has no agreement for the site.