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Feb. 7: Sandy Island
I had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then had my usual morning swim. After a while I walked down to the end of the beach near the point. Kim and I were tempted to try to walk around this point last year from the other direction but gave up when we found we would have to wade into the water, being we weren’t sure how deep it would get. Looking at it from this end I think it is doable without actually having to swim. The airport is directly across from a cow pasture at this end of the beach, and a couple young cows were getting breakfast from mom as I walked by.

Cows in the pasture

Today is Independence Day in Grenada, most of the large businesses will be closed and the buses will only run a limited schedule, depending on activities in town. I decided that today might be a good day to spend on Sandy Island, located in the bay just across from the hotel. I went to the Off the Hook bar to inquire about a water taxi, and then packed up my stuff for the day, beer, snorkel equipment, water and camera, all the essentials.

The beach on Sandy Island


Tanning up nicely

The island is about a quarter mile long and less than 100 yards wide. It barely sits above the water and the windward side is protected from erosion by large berms of dead coral. The sand is white with a pink tint to it, due to all the fine bits of broken shells. I found myself a suitable spot and lay in the sun a while improving my tan; I have started to use pure coconut oil on my skin at the advice of my spice goddess in Grenada. The wind was blowing hard so I entered the water at one end of the island and let the current and wind help push me along as I snorkeled among the rocks just off the beach. The bottom starts out sandy then drops off quickly so you don’t have to go out more than 30 - 40 feet from shore for good snorkeling; I made a few passes throughout the day and saw a variety of fish. Probably the coolest part was when I was swimming amidst a school of hundreds of small bait fish; they were darting about and then I noticed a Trumpet fish between the rocks that was snapping at them trying to catch one. A huge barracuda was off in the distance looking for his lunch; it was big enough that I gave him a wide berth. A Swedish couple had ridden out to the island with me and we made arrangements to be picked up after about 3 ½ hours, it was a nice way to spend the early afternoon.

My contribution to the colar "sculptures" on the island

Once back, I stopped at the bar for a drink then put my stuff back in the room and took another walk down towards the end of the beach. There was a rally going on in the area near the public restrooms for the New National Party, elections are later this month. I stopped at a local bar across the street for lunch, chicken and chips, while listening to the music from the rally. I had scoped out the point from Sandy Island and it looked like going around it could be done so I wanted to investigate further. The water at this end is shallow for a long way out, maybe knee deep; I swam a little bit then waded all the way to the point and decided that tomorrow morning I will give it a try.

The shallow waters near the point

On the way back I stopped off at the Hard Wood Bar and Snacket for a drink, this whole area is so peaceful and relaxing I could just bum around all day. I went back to the room for a little rest and ended up back at Off the Hook for dinner. It wasn’t as lively as last night, just a couple locals and myself. It was a clear night and the moon hadn’t come out yet so the sky was full of stars; I had a bottle of Guinness and my flask so I just sat out on one of their beach chairs gazing at the stars and listening to the surf until it was time for bed.