Grenada, Bequia, a little bit of St. Vincent and a day in Old San Juan - May 17-June 1.

Not quite sure how to make a report about this year’s Caribbean trip. Mainly, we (my wife and I) wanted to make a return trip to Grenada, our first since Hurricane Ivan hit the island 2 years ago but our 5th overall, and our first visit to Bequia, but we did a bit of island hopping along the way. This will be a (hopefully) not too long description of our travels; I could give more information on some of these places if anyone has questions. Neither of these destinations is particularly convenient to get to from New York, which is unfortunate, especially for Grenada which is a large island with good facilities for visitors and a very nice place. Because we like neither early mornings nor worrisome connections, we find it convenient to overnight at some of the connecting stops. We started out with an overnight at the Hilton Garden Inn at JFK, a 150 mile drive from home, because they offered a parking package that allowed us to leave our car there if we booked the first and last night’s stay. It was quiet and pleasant with a very adequate restaurant. The flight to SJU on American was uneventful. Our Puerto Rico hotel was the Mariott Courtyard in Isla Verde, very close to the airport and on an excellent beach. Because we arrived shortly after 1:00, we figured we could start our vacation with the afternoon at the pool or beach. We did, although our room was not ready until after 4:00 PM. We were able to leave our luggage and change into some beach attire, but still had valuables to be concerned with so the afternoon was not as enjoyable as it might have been. This hotel is quite nice, reasonable in cost, has several dining options and a casino, and like the other large hotels that we have experienced on this island, kept at a very low temperature inside. There is also airport noise outside. Inside is quieter if the double balcony doors are kept closed. We had a nice island style buffet in the buffet dining room one night; the other we went to the El San Juan hotel because we like the Tequilla rooftop restaurant from other years and to have a drink in their bar – more up-scale than the Mariott. On our return, we had dinner at La Sirena at the Mariott, which is their more up-scale restaurant; outdoors, good.

I had booked the inter-island flights with LIAT, because their fares were half the cost of other airlines. However, because they cancelled their weekday flights into Puerto Rico we had to change the return to Caribbean Sun, and take an extra day in PR going down. The last was something we almost did to begin with, as it has been years since we were in old San Juan and wanted to see it again, so this did not bother us. We taxi’d in and did the walking tour described in most travel books, but in reverse as that seems directed toward cruise ship passengers and it is easier to start at the other end if going in by taxi. This turned out to be a very enjoyable day. We had lunch, but not in one of the restaurants that get a lot of mention, but in a very local-oriented place called Bombonera near the main tourist shopping area (where most of the other restaurants that we saw were fast food chains, although perhaps we did not look very hard). We thought it was a good find.

Our flight to Grenada (change in Antigua; the low prices have a cost) had only half a dozen people on it and could be described as a flying refrigerator. Come to think about it, all the LIAT flights that we have taken out of PR have been much colder than on other legs. The connecting flight was an hour late, putting us into Grenada at about 9:30 pm. The departure lounge bar in Antigua is not that bad. However, it is not very convenient to get a meal in Grenada at that time, so we supplemented our snack in Antigua with bagels and peanut butter purloined from the breakfast buffet at the Mariott for just this eventuality. Topped off with a split of wine from hone – not too bad (we come prepared). On both of these flights we were allowed to take our 2 carry-ons (all we take) on board even though one is technically larger that the LIAT specifications.

We stayed at Blue Horizons hotel, a short distance from the beach but an extremely nice and recently renovated property affiliated with Spice Island. We rented a car from David’s, who we have used before. They have always provided very good service. We had booked a small car, but the one we got had a flat spare tire (I have frequently gotten a flat on Grenada, so that is a concern) and instead of changing it they gave us a small jeep. There is no particular need for a jeep with the driving we do, but the turning radius was so much better than the original (Volkswagen of some kind) that we had that I was glad of the change. Driving on Grenada is on the left; the island is mountainous, so roads tend to be narrow and crooked. The main roads are in pretty good shape and while signs are few and far between, with a road map and occasional requests for directions you will get where you want to go, although you may not always know where you are. Secondary roads are another matter; it is easy to take a wrong turn, and they tend to be narrow enough that passing another car takes considerable care. Even on main roads it is not unusual to find cars parked in one lane, sometimes apparently permanently. You may be passed anywhere by minibus drivers. We circled the island, going through Sauteurs, as well as making some shorter trips. The island has recovered pretty well from the hurricane, although there is some damage still visible, especially in St. Georges, where the roofless and partially wall-less remains of churches are very obvious. Damage to the vegetation in the Grand Etang area is still very noticeable if you are familiar with what it was like before, but it is returning. Got to the Grenada Chocolate factory near Tivoli. You can get a tour; the visit is worth it for the chocolate which is unique, although you can also buy it in stores. It was written up in the June issue of Islands magazine, but we had heard of it earlier. About the only other noteworthy activity was an afternoon on the beach at La Sagesse with a very nice lunch at the restaurant there. This is a very calm and peaceful place with a nice, walkable beach and is to be recommended highly. We did a bit of exploring in St. George’s on Sunday when it is quiet (driving in town at busy times can be less than relaxing) and another day for an obligatory roti and sea moss (for my wife) lunch at Nutmeg – get a window seat for a nice view of the harbor.

There were very few tourists around while we were there. The island is trying to build up its tourism business, and it is an excellent destination if you don’t want casinos, nightclubs and glitz. Too bad the major airlines make it inconvenient to get to. They have built a large dock for cruise ships in St. Georges, along with a shopping arcade at the pier that we saw but did not go into. Didn’t see any ships either. They can certainly use the activity; just hope that cruise ship based mass tourism doesn’t spoil Grenada as it has other islands.

Grenada has some good restaurants; we can recommend the Aquarium (excellent food, so-so service); Coconuts (eat on the beach; romantic atmosphere, good food and service, nearly deserted when we were there), True Blue and the Red Crab (both excellent in all respects). Our last night we had pasta at the Boulangerie, which was a change. Good, inexpensive, and prompt, as we had to pack. This is also a good place for breakfast, snacks or a coffee or espresso to kick back with. Our flight to St. Vincent left mid-morning, so we dropped off the car at the airport (no flats this time – having a good spare worked) and had breakfast at the airport restaurant which was pretty good – salt fish and bake; the bake was especially good. They also have more routine things if you don’t want island style.


The LIAT flight to St. Vincent on Thursday changed planes in Barbados (actually the same plane, but everyone had to get off). This time we had to check the larger of our cases, but no lost or delayed baggage. We had about 45 minutes between flights, which worked fine. The new terminal in Barbados looks very nice but is not user friendly. We arrived in St. Vincent around 1:00 and since the next ferry to Bequia was at 4:30 we went to the French Verandah restaurant at Mariner’s Hotel for a very nice lunch. I am particularly fond of the samosa plate, and they make outstanding soups. The ferry takes about an hour and is a large boat carrying a lot of cargo as well as passengers in both an outer deck and a comfortable lounge. Surprisingly, I did not see any life preserver or any indication of emergency flotation devices. I guess they think positively.

We planned to stay at the Village Apartments on the edge of Port Elizabeth, and they probably would have been very satisfactory, but they are on a hillside with steps to go everywhere. My wife had done something to her foot on Grenada that made stairs very difficult for her. The owners were very kindly able to get us into a cottage at Gingerbread Hotel. The only space they had available was an economy cottage a ways up a hill but with few steps, so she was able to manage it. This had a huge living room, one and a half bedrooms and a large kitchen, but not new; no air conditioning (not an essential for us anyhow) but also no screens, so we slept under mosquito nets. It tended to be warm in the afternoon and hot water was questionable, but we adapted. We could have moved to a newer unit a few days later, but decided that the effort was not worth it for the sake of a couple of days. One of the advantages of this location was that it was a bit removed from the main activities. Several locations had evening music that you could hear but not as loudly as in the main units.

Bequia is small (7 sq. miles), but gets considerable tourism, mostly in the form of stay-overs who want a quiet place and especially the sailing crowd – a very different species in general from the cruising and yachting crowds. It is very laid back, has very friendly people, and everyone knows everyone else. The main center is Admiralty Bay/Port Elizabeth. A number of hotels and restaurants etc. are strung out along the waterfront along the Belmont Walkway, basically a path along the top of the beach. The center of town, an easy walk from Gingerbread, has various shops, a couple of banks, some supermarkets (the best being a block inland), the ferry dock and further on some produce stands, a T-shirt market (that we did not visit) and a fruit and vegetable market that we did – expect a semi-hard sell – and the gas station. You can drive in as well as walk – much further to drive, but useful if you are going to be carrying anything. We got a car (jeep, very good condition) from Challenger Taxi. The owner (Sandra) is a delightful person to deal with. No credit card; pay cash up front for the number of days you have the car. Five days cost us $300, but that also included some taxi service from the day before which she didn’t have us pay for at the time. Incidentally, taxis are mostly pick-up trucks with benches in the back with a canopy over them for shade. You also have to pay $40 EC ($1US=$2.67EC) at the revenue office/post office for a temporary license. There is very little traffic on Bequia; a good thing as roads are often very narrow and many of them have a vertical-sided, foot and a half deep drainage channel along the side with no curb. Passing has to be done with care.

A highlight of the trip was an all-day sail to the Tobago Cays on the schooner Friendship Rose, the last Bequia-built schooner still sailing. This provides breakfast, lunch, snacks, drinks, snorkeling or beaching if you want it, and is a very good trip. As it turned out, this was the only time we had rain during the day. Cloudy when we left, and we could see rain showers around, which hit us just before the Cays. Although I was smart enough to have found a fairly sheltered spot, many of the others on board were thoroughly drenched. However, as we got to the Cays the skies cleared and the rest of the day was beautiful. The Cays are gorgeous and anyone who has the chance should see them – although by doing that we may in fact be helping to destroy them. There were a lot of boats anchored – can’t imagine what it might be like on season.

Otherwise, most of our time was spent sightseeing and relaxing. We visited the Turtle Sanctuary, where you can see a number of turtles of various sizes being rehabilitated for eventual release, and the new Maritime Museum. This so far is fairly small with a number of photographs, some boat models and a few other artifacts, but it is well done and the founder is very interesting and very enthusiastic about developing it. We hope it will get visitors and support to keep some of the history of the island intact. There was a whaling museum (whales are still taken by the islanders in small boats as a cultural activity) but apparently it has closed. The island has several good beaches with varying degrees of accessibility. Besides that at Admiralty Bay, we visited Spring – empty, no facilities, good for walking), Lower Bay (very active on the Sunday that we went, lunch at De Reef), and Industry Bay (lunch at Crescent Beach Inn; a very peaceful place). Our first night we ate at the Frangipani Hotel essentially next door, which had their weekly jump-up and buffet that was very good. Reservations were a must here, and we made them at other restaurants, although we only really needed them once more at Mac’s – an excellent pizza restaurant (with other things) - we actually ate here 3 times. Also had very good meals at the Gingerbread restaurant. The Gingerbread café was very nice for light breakfasts, sitting under the trees on the waterfront. All of these places were less than a 5 minute walk from where we stayed; there are restaurants elsewhere that have good reputations, but I did not have a great desire to drive at night to get to them. I did get a chicken roti from the Green Boley for lunch one day, and it was first rate.

On Wednesday we took the 9:30 ferry to St. Vincent and went to Mariner’s hotel, where we planned to overnight. This is a very nice place, small, attractive pool, overlooking Young Island. It has a tiny and non-descript beach that is not used much. Lunch again in the French Verandah restaurant at the hotel, and an afternoon trip the Montreal Gardens, the one thing that we wanted to see on our visit to St. Vincent a couple of years ago that we did not get to. We do not usually take taxi tours, but it did not make sense to rent a car for the afternoon, and since getting lost on the drive in is a real possibility anyhow, we used the hotel recommendation of Robert Tours. Robert gave us an excellent tour, acting as guide to the gardens as well as taxi driver. He is very good; he will tell you as much or as little as you want to hear about the island and its characteristics. Montreal Gardens are beautiful; a complement but not competitor to the Botanical Gardens in Kingstown. Dinner was again at the French Verandah, and this time I remember what I had – curried conch, excellent.

Our flight next morning to San Juan was on Caribbean Sun. We had breakfast at the airport restaurant, which may be easily missed because the entrance is outside of the check in area. No salt fish and bake here, but OK. The flight was on time, and we again could use carry-ons. Caribbean Sun aircraft (at least this one) are essentially the same as LIAT’s, but appear to be newer, and the windows are cleaner – no way could I take pictures from the LIAT planes. Got to the Mariott in Isla Verde before 1:00 and this time our room was ready. The weather, however, was not great, with mostly cloud, but we still were able to have a relaxing lunch and afternoon at the pool before flying back to JFK next day (Friday). Uneventful, although you walk for miles in the AA terminal before you get to the exit for ground transportation. There has to be a better design! Although we had our room for the night, after freshening up and having a bite to eat, we drove home that evening.

All in all, a good vacation. Too much traveling to be really relaxing, but we did some things we wanted to, saw a good variety of things, and had some good local food. My wife’s foot problem pretty much cleared up in a couple of days. While many people say bad things about LIAT, we had no real complaints – we have flown them several times in the past, and the one late flight this time was no worse than we have experienced on other airlines, and while the schedules might not have been ideal, that was our choice. We will definitely go back to Grenada as it has become a standard, if infrequent, destination for us. We would not resist going back to Bequia, but time will tell as we want to work in some other islands as well.