Sailing Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
We always propose making your first charter experience the BVI. Why? Easy navigation, limited reefs along sailing routes, lots to do, lots of support, great anchorages and beach bars. And we keep going back to the BVI for the same reasons.
BUT consider Grenada for your second and beyond sailing vacations. Grenada is a 3-hour flight south of Miami. That’s 30 minutes more than Miami to the BVI. So it’s an easy flight and we found the flight price to be similar if not less expensive than the BVI.
I snapped this screenshot inflight on returning to Miami showing the relative distances.
Why Grenada ? Less crowded, longer sailing distances, awesome villages, beaches and beach bars, scuba and snorkeling, 15 knots trade winds friendly people. All in all, Grenada is not to be missed as a multi-visit sailing destination in this lifetime.
Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau Island, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
What we really mean when we say Grenada is the two countries of Grenada and St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Grenada includes the Island of Grenada and a few islands to the north – Ronde Island, Petit Martinique, and Carriacao. St Vincent & The Grenadines include St. Vincent and a dozen or more islands to the south including Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Tobago Cays, Mayreau, Petit St. Vincent, and Union Island.
There are several ways to sail the Grenada/Grenadines areas: A one-way drop of starting in St. Vincent or even the farther island to the north of St. Lucia and ending in St. Georges, Grenada OR you can start in St Georges, Grenada and sail north then returning to St. Georges. The one-way drop-off option whereby you start in St Vincent or St Lucia costs a little more to have the boat delivered back north but it does create a great trip as the wind angle for most of the trip will be a beam reach or broad reach on your port. We don’t recommend doing a one-way drop off whereby starting in Grenada and sailing north as this will mostly be close hauling all the way with many tacks making your time unrealistic.
You can also start in St. Lucia or St. Vincent and sail south then return to your starting destination. Typically, when one does this route, however, leave out sailing all the way down to St. Georges in Grenada. The time reward is not worth the extra 60-mile round trip sailing to return back up to the Grenadines. This is because it is a long sail down the western side of Grenada with not a lot of stopping options. In this case, it is best to not go farther south than Carriacao or consider staying in the St. Vincent & the Grenadines area to avoid the hassle of border crossings with immigration between the two countries.
Grenada and St. Vincent & The Grenadines Geopolitical Border
For this trip, we started and ended in St. Georges Grenada. The town of St. Georges is lively with many great restaurants and well-stocked grocery stores. Most charter companies go out of Port Louis Marina which is in St. Georges. Port Louis is an immaculately kept marina with crystal-clean bathrooms and showers. A fun bar and a very nice restaurant are also in the marina. The grocery store is a 10-minute taxi ride or you can rent a car for a day to visit some of the local attractions and pick up groceries. Car rental was inexpensive at about $US40 per day with a $US10 local license fee.
We drove to Allendale Falls which I would recommend. The falls aren’t too impressive by my home country of New Zealand standards but the drive there through the neighborhoods and out to the country is worth it. At the falls there are several vendors where you can start to take advantage of the local spices of the “Spice Island”
Allendale Falls, Grenada
Leaving St. Georges, Grenada you can stop slightly north of St Georges at Molinere Point where the underwater Sculpture Garden is, or slightly farther north at Halifax Bay. However, there are limited mooring ball spaces so usually it is best to not rely on the availability and leave the Underwater Sculpture Garden until the last day. Thus the typical first day is leaving early and getting up to either Ronde Island (20 nm) (the bay in the northwest provides good anchorage) or all the way to Sandy Island on Carriacao (32 nm). I recommend Ronde Island as it is a gorgeous mostly deserted island with only a few houses at the south end while the anchorage in the northwest is delightful protected clear water for swimming and good holding in the sand for anchoring through the night.
Ronde Island, Grenada
Our Beneteau 46.1 came with an Anchor Bridle and this was a good opportunity to use it and show it off. An anchor bridle is used to take shock load from waves away from the windlass winch and distribute the load to the cleats at the bow of the boat. Usually, it is made of a stretch nylon type rope and many times for a small section the top will wind around a rubber flex section to absorb additional shock load. Using a bridle will also reduce rubbing noise at night.
At the end of the bridle, there is a chain hook that will hook to the chain. Once you have let out enough anchor rode, attach the bridle hook to the chain and then let out more chain while the bridle pays out with the chain. Once the chain on the boat side of the chain hook goes sufficiently loose, then the bridle begins to do its work of taking the load.
Using an Anchor Bridle
Carriacou
Next, you want to get to Sandy Island on the southwest end of Carriacou. Sandy Island is a thin small island with sand and palm trees. The snorkeling at the east end is spectacular. There are many mooring balls at Sandy Island but you can also anchor as well. Mooring balls were $EC40. ($EC2.3 = $US1). Sandy Island is a definite stop and good for relaxing beach time – don’t miss the snorkeling, 🤿 however.
Sandy Island, Grenada
The island in the background below is Carriacou – it is a short dinghy ride from your anchorage at Sandy Island where you can find a few some good restaurants. Paradise Beach club is one such.
Paradise Beach Club, Carriacou
When heading north into the Grenadines, you will need to clear out of Grenada and you can do this at Tyrrel Bay on the south end of Carriacou. The best way to do this is to dinghy over to Hillsborough and take a taxi to the customs office in Terrel Bay. Alternatively, you can take your boat around to Tyrell Bay but you will lose time in doing that. The customs office is on the far southeast side of Tyrrel Bay. Do note however that taxi’s do tend to be expensive.
Carriacou
Look for this sign to find the Customs office in South of Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
Once you check out of customs in Grenada (at Tyrrel Bay) you must leave the country within 24 hours. We elected to spend the night at Anse La Roche at the northwest end of Carriacou. Here there is a tiny little beach bar run by Tim. Tim and his family will set up an amazing beach BBQ for you. Having stuffed ourselves on local Lobster, jerk Chicken, fish, and a Lambi seafood platter with a loose hand with the drinks the bill was $US60 each. That was a deal considering the ambience and the quality (and quantity). Highly recommended. Call Tim on +1-473-415-3488 to set up your BBQ and to see if he is open.
Canouan Island
Our next stop was Canouan Island where we elected to “clear in” to the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Many people check into Union Island but we wanted to get a little farther north and visit Canouan. We stayed in the super luxury high-end Marina resort at Sandy Lane. This is a must. The marina is beyond clean and amazing. In the bathrooms, you could eat off the floor. The showers are high-pressure and clean. There is a great French Bakery and gourmet grocery store. Also on the property are several restaurants and a great beach br called Scruffy’s. We had dinner at Shenanigans Restaurant which was superb. Prices are reasonable and similar to US restaurants and sometimes a little less. Shenanigans also has a pool to cool down and is also right on the sandy beach for a sea swim.
Canouan also has a Soho house on the beach at Charlestown Bay. Non-members are allowed to use the facility which is appointed very well with a great bar, restaurant, friendly staff, and an idyllic setting overlooking the beach and is a great place for sunset. You can also anchor in Charlestown Bay as it is very protected. However, being on a boat without a generator, we elected to stay 2 nights in the Canouan Sandy Lane marina.
You can rent golf carts to tour around the island but note that the north side of Canouan is privately owned so there is no entrance without a reservation. People are welcome but you need a reservation.
