Sailing in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada

The Grenadines are the beautiful islands in between Saint Vincent and Grenada.   They make up part of the island of St Vincent and the Grenadines and the islands north of Grenada although neither the island of St Vincent or Grenada are part of the Grenadine islands. The terminology can be confusing because from a national naming perspective, the Grenadines are part of the country name, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.   Technically however, the Grenadine islands north of the Martinique Channel belong to St. Vincent and the Grenadines while the islands south of the channel belong to Grenada.

Still confused? You should be because the geography and the politics don’t match. Ok one more time. The islands between St. Vincent and Grenada are called the Grenadines. St Vincent politically owns the north half and Grenada owns the southern half. The dividing line is called the Martinique Channel (which has nothing to do with the island of Martinique – that is about 100 miles north past St Lucia). The dividing line is a horizontal between Petit St. Vincent and Petit Martinique and passing just to the north of Carriacou.

Grenada is comprised of the main island Grenada, as well as the dependencies Carriacou and Petite Martinique and smaller islands including Ronde Island, Caille Island, Diamond Island, Large Island, Saline Island, and Frigate Island.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines (also known simply as St. Vincent) consists of the main island St. Vincent as well as the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines to the south of St. Vincent. This includes 32 islands and cays, only a fraction of which are inhabited including Bequia, Mustique, Union Island, Canouan, Mayreau, Petit St. Vincent and Palm Island.

Tobago Cays and Salt Whistle Bay on Mayreau Island are not to be missed in this lifetime.

Tobago Cays

ahhh – and don’t miss Mopion Island next to Petit St. Vincent. Do a coast to coast race with your crew (all wearing fins, mask and snorkel). You’ll die laughing. Life is good!

Mopion Island

SAILING:

For a 7-day sailing vacation, we recommend picking either the St. Vincent area or the Grenada area. There is plenty to see and do in the area.   With the St. Vincent choice, you start in the south of the main St. Vincent island and sail south to Bequia, Mustique, Tobago Cays, Union Island, etc. before returning to the base on St. Vincent. With the Grenada option, you sail north to Carriacou and Petite Martinique and explore the Tobago Cays and Union Island (technically part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) before returning to the base on the southwest side of Grenada.

For 10 days, you can either explore the St. Vincent and the Grenadines area or Grenada area as in the 7-day options but taking more time and visiting some of the smaller uninhabited islands too in the northern Grenadines.   Or you can do a one way start in St. Vincent and sail to Grenada seeing all the Grenadine islands as well as the main islands of St. Vincent and Grenada.   There is also an option to do a one-way sail from St. Lucia to Grenada though this is more suited for a 14-day trip.

Personally, I have sailed the entire chain and including St Lucia and Martinique. One time we did St. Lucia to Grenada in 7 days. Altho it was just awesome I would not recommend in that short of a time. We spent too much time sailing and not enough time on the islands and relaxing. Another time I did Martinique (north of St Lucia) for a week followed by another week down to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Bequia.

If you want to book a sailing vacation to this area, we can help and we don’t charge you a fee. We search across the entire database of charter companies and boats to find you the best price and fit for your needs.

Make an inquiry about a sailing vacation to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada today.

St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada