A Three Hour Tour

I jumped the gun. Before I get to the Grenada report, which is taking a little time to put together as there is so much that I’m still turning over in my head and many photos to sort through, we are still on the boat for 2 more nights. Although my sisters had declined our invitation to sail with us from St. Vincent, they expressed some interest in a day sail, so we actually arrived in Grenada a couple days before our charter ended.

My sisters arrived at True Blue several hours after we did and checked into their fabulous “villa” rooms. Their luxurious accommodations were spacious and very attractively appointed – 2 levels, a balcony, 2 enormous bathrooms, and enclosed patio with private plunge pool. Cool. They were pleased. And we were very happy to hang out with them at their place. We are all impressed with this place and the high level of personal service.

After a few more drinks in the bar, accompanied by delicious curried vegetable samosas, conch fritters, and fabulous desserts (my favorite was the frozen Kahlua cake, but the apple pie and nutmeg ice cream were good too), we were all tired from the day’s travel and went to bed – they to their elegant four-posters, and we to our very roll-y V-berth. There was a swell making the anchorage quite uncomfortable.

After breakfast on the boat next morning, we dinghied ashore where we found the sisters finishing up breakfast in the restaurant. I was surprised that the complimentary continental breakfast included omelettes. Now I really can’t wait to check in to True Blue.

Even though they had watched our boat rocking in the anchorage and our mast swaying wildly, my sisters were still game for the day sail. Aside from one time when we took them out on our small lake in our 23-ft daysailor, they have not been in, or around boats (cruise ships don't count). The dinghy ride, in itself, was an adventure. The sea conditions were rougher than what we had sailing down. While not as bad as what’s described in the Usual Suspects as “… some of the most grisly water anyone would want to encounter while on vacation” east of Prickly Point, we did have steep choppy waves. We were single-reefed, and while my husband and I thought it was a fun sail, my sisters felt vindicated in their decision not to have joined us in St. Vincent for the sail down.

I felt it was not a fair introduction, since they would have been on a bigger boat, maybe even a cat, and so on…. But they were not persuaded. Maybe the BVI would have been a better choice for the first time out. It’s funny that we have just had the time of our lives sailing these waters, and yet some people can’t imagine how this might be considered fun. But we all agreed that Grenada was a great choice for our joint vacation.

Back on land, they spent the afternoon at the pool and making arrangements to go to Gouyave for Fish Friday that night, and we spent it packing up our gear and cleaning the boat before checking into our “Bay View” room and joining them.

We are not staying in the Villas, but our room, Bay-View # 4, one of the basic rooms at the resort, is still very nice and has a fabulous view. We are quite happy with it.

Now the land portion of our trip actually begins.



True Blue Bay Resort- a few comments

The property is lovely, the rooms are terrific, especially since they are so reasonably priced, the service is excellent from the attentive and hard-working concierge to the wait staff in the restaurant, to the barman, to housekeeping. It was a joy having breakfast every morning overlooking the bay and the boats, and beautiful sunsets in the bar at dusk.



The Food. Breakfasts are included, and are great. The coffee is good. We had dinner at the resort every night except Fish Friday because it was convenient, we liked the ambiance of the place, and the service was good. I just ate the appetizers from the bar menu, which were pretty good. I've already given my opinion of the desserts. I can't comment about the entrees except to say the others seemed to like what they had, but no one gushed about it one way or the other. The Caribbean grill buffet was good with very generous portions, but not offered every night.

The Staff. Excellent. And the owners hosted a cocktail party one evening which was fun and informative.

The Negatives. Not many. It is not on a beach, which we didn't mind, so not a negative for us. It is not within walking distance of any other tourist spots or activities. We did not rent a car as we had planned, after having experienced, as passengers in a taxi, the road to Gouyave. None of us wanted to drive those roads. So we relied on taxis (expensive) and the dollar bus (cheap, entertaining, but not always convenient, except when you make arrangements with the bus driver for specific pick-up times). The main drawback to the bus is that True Blue is not on the bus route, a problem we were able to overcome, after we got to know a couple of the bus drivers. There is a complimentary shuttle to Grand Anse with limited hours.

Bottom line: We look forward to staying there again. In fact, we saw several other places on the various beaches we visited and didn't see any place we thought we would rather be staying than at True Blue. Thanks to those who recommended it.

Part 1: Sailing the Grenadines

Part 2: Union, Carriacou & Beyond