Mayaro is the name of a bay, a county, and a group of villages in southeastern Trinidad and Tobago.

Mayaro Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the island of Trinidad in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The beach which lines this bay, Mayaro Beach is a popular destination for holidays, long weekends, and it is one of the traditional places to spend the Easter holidays. The shore is lined with holiday homes. An almost uninterupted line of coconut trees (Cocos nucifera) line the shore, testimony to the days when most of the area consisted of coconut plantations.

The "Mayaro District" was the first area of settlement on the east coast. Many estates were granted to French planters who settled Trinidad in the late eighteenth century. No roads crossed the island and the area was only accessible by steamer until the late nineteenth century. The name Mayaro is applied to several villages along the coast. The county of Mayaro occupies a large area of southwestern Trinidad, but the name is usually only applied to the coastal strip.

Along this strip a number of villages exist to which the name Mayaro is generally applied. From north to south these are: St. Joseph, Beau Sejour, Plaisance (often called Pierreville), Beaumont, St. Ann's, Radix, Ste. Marguerite, Lagon Doux, Grand Lagoon and Lagon Palmiste. Beyond that are several small villages and then the town of Guayaguayare.

Mayaro falls under the jurisdication of the Rio Claro-Mayaro Regional Corporation. Until 1990 it was administered together with the neighbouring county of Nariva by the Nariva-Mayaro County Council. Mayaro also associated with oil production - most Trinidad's oil and natural gas production comes from offshore oil fields to the east of Mayaro. The major producer is bpTT, together with BHP Billiton. Onshore oil production is under the control of Petrotrin, although considerable area has been farmed out to small independent oil producers.

References

• Anthony, Michael. 2002. Where's Mayaro? Sunday Express 14 July 2002. [1]