Wow, where do I begin? I have wanted to visit Grenada for years, but for some reason had put it off over and over choosing other Caribbean islands. After seeing the devastation caused by Ivan I decided no more putting it off we were going. I think I was worried that Grenada was too busy and developed. I am not crazy about the idea of KFC and Subway on the islands and the beach vendor issue had me worried as well. I have spent over 6 months planning and of course, lots of knowledge from my past research over the past 10 years. I knew I wanted to stay on Grand Anse and had debated on the Flamboyant or Coyaba, but others were recommending the Grenada Grand, which was the cheapest one. I decided on booking the Coyaba, and paying a considerable difference over the Grenada Grand, would it be worth it? I couldn’t get much recent info on the “new” Coyaba and had read some negative reviews that had me worried. We booked through Air Jamaica Vacations (land only package) which included transfers. We arrived with no problem from Union Island to Grenada on an early morning flight and headed to the Air Jamaica counter which is what I was told to do to get my transfer. Well, it wasn’t open, their office at the airport wasn’t open and already I was upset. I had already paid for the transfer. We got a cab to take us to the Coyaba. My boyfriend said he didn’t like Grenada as we were flying over he said it was too big and he felt the same way as we drove to our hotel. I was not happy to see that a KFC was across the street from the Coyaba and thought for a brief moment, what have I done? That all changed as soon as we entered the lobby. What a beautiful resort with the friendliest staff. We were immediately shown to our room, on the second floor with a magnificent view of St. George’s. The room was spotless and the décor tropical. I asked about laundry service. I had emailed in advance and they said their laundry service was not up and running, but that they sent it out. So, one of the staff came up with a garbage bag and collected my 32 items (I counted them all). The items were several pairs of thong underwear, a few bras, several beach shorts and beach t-shirts, a pair of capris, a pair of docker’s shorts. The laundry arrived the very next day all on hangars except the underclothes. I mentioned that I just wanted them washed, not ironed. Well, when we went down to dinner that night I was afraid to ask about the fee for the laundry, but I was brave and the response was $133US. What! She said that unless you specify wash and fold, you get the wash and press. Well, no one asked me and housekeeping was supposed to call me to let me know, but they didn’t. I figured it wouldn’t have cost more than $50 US, so I wasn’t too concerned. I figured I should have gotten a discount for my thong underwear at least. Well, I had budgeted an additional $100 for over the weight limit luggage on SVG Air that I didn’t have to pay, so I guessed it really cost me $33US. I felt better already. Anyhow, back to the first day. After settling in, it was early, we decided to get sunscreened up and head to one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. We got our very comfy and well made chaise lounges and decided to head into the water. Well, here came the vendors and this made me hate Grenada at that moment. We had just put our beach bag down, were hot and desired to start to enjoy our vacation. For a half an hour we were harassed. They were flocking around us, we were surrounded. I tried to explain that we had just arrived and we just wanted to get into the water. We were not interested in purchasing anything that day. We wanted to wait until later in our trip. Several vendors told us that if we bought from them now, that we would be left alone. Braids, braids, braids “I give you the best price, I come to you first, I braid her hair, I give you French braids”. I tried to be as polite as possible, but not working. We finally make a run for the water thinking if we are out deep, no one will approach us-wrong, they holler out calling and calling until you answer. If you say ”No thank you” their reply is “no cost for looking”. Everyone has a line and the men names “Johnny on the Spot” and “Foxy”. And I found it funny that they tried to sell you some marijuana, but would always pull my boyfriend aside saying that needed to have a “man to man” talk. Some of the vendors were respectful and took the polite no thank you, most did not and kept on and on. I did buy a wonderful hand weaved basket from Terry Pascal while at the Aquarium, no pressure with him. We approached him. I also bought some of those spice necklaces to hang in your kitchen. They guy was harrassing, telling me he had come all the way from the mountains and that due to the spices the necklaces were hard to come by. Well, I had seen plenty during my stay, but I bought two, because I did want those.
The beach vendors were the only negative thing about Grenada. I had never been to any island before where I was approached to that extent except on St. Martin and that was on the street, as I was there for a day. Had both my daughter’s hair braided on Nevis and Tortola, but not with the pressure of the Grenada vendors. The first day was awful with them and the rest not quite as bad, but not pleasant. We also ran into them at Morne Rouge and Aquarium, but not as many. Some were interesting and we’d listen to them explain their craft. We did our share of dining around and that is all posted on the Grenada Explorer board under restaurants. We spent a lot of time on Grand Anse. Water on Morne Rouge was warmer and calmer, but seaweed and crabs in the water. Aquarium location good for snorkeling and a beautiful setting. Never made it to LaSagesse as planned. I had saved an island tour day and LaSagesse day to do when our friends arrived, but my daughter was sick with diarrhea and nauseous stomach for two days. Not sure if it was something she ate, but she was sick. So, we did not get to do those. We did take the ferry to Carriacou. It was nice to see Grenada’s coastline. Upon arriving on Carriacou the cab drivers were everywhere hounding you to take you to a “better beach”. So after walking around a bit, we had a driver take us to Paradise Beach – Hardwood Bar, which had been recommended. We got them to take us in the water taxi for $40EC roundtrip to Sandy Island, which my daughter hated. She was worried they wouldn’t come back to get us, which would have been kinda fun I liked it and took lots of pictures and dreamed of being shipwrecked there under the stars-even though there were no trees for shade. We hung out at the beach at Hardwood until the driver came and picked us up in time for ferry back to Grenada. Food was good and service was excellent. Can’t say much for the toilet. A toilet, no seat, no tank lid and no water—what if someone pooped. Decided to head to St. George’s by bus for souvenir shopping around noon one day. Well, you can only imagine how hot is was and the rest of my family is not quite as adventurous as I. My daughter thought it was scary and was hot. She did not like everyone looking at us. I told her they are checking us out like we are them, it is just a different culture. I hiked up to the Fort by the hospital, they hung out below near the tunnel in the hot sun instead of seeking shade. St. George’s was not as pretty as I expected it to be. A lot of repair work going on from Ivan damage which is good. My pictures of St. George’s though from the Osprey are very nice-kind of look like somewhere in Europe. Took a cab back to hotel instead of bus. Had heard interesting stories about the bus trips. None of my encounters were as exciting. I did notice that they seem to drive faster when it is dark, but no problems. I actually like taking the buses, price right and very interesting. We really lucked out with the weather –out of our 9 nights on Grenada, our last day we had one hour of sunshine and pouring down rain in between. For the first few nights, it poured overnight and then it really didn’t rain much over night. Rained for 15 minutes one day on the beach and 3 minutes another day. Day before our last, never rained but clouds all day-no sun, until it set. We enjoyed our trip thoroughly. The people of Grenada are the friendliest and they are super proud of their island. Lots of handshaking and conversations. The island was beautiful-nice and green, mountainous and very nice beaches. I would return to Grenada in a heartbeat and stay again at the Coyaba. The only thing I disliked-the mosquitos and the vendors.
