Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Travel Forum

Hello! Any advise on hotels on these two islands. I think the Sugarapple in on Bequia looks great as does the Cobblestone Inn on St Vincent. Any in depth reviews are much appreciated. Also, We would like to do some day sails from Bequia. I think the Tabogo Cays look amazing... is Mustique really worth the trip?? I don't necessarily want to tour Mick Jaggers cul-de-sac. Any other islands worth seeking out for the day??
Thanks,
Rebecca

The Sugarapple is perched on the side of a hill overlooking what used to be a purely agricultural valley and is now filling up with houses (sigh), but you still have the great view south to the Mustique Channel. It's a short walk to Friendship Bay beach, one of my favourites on the island. There's also decent snorkelling near the Friendship Bay Hotel and in front of the A-frame gingerbread house you walk pasat on the way to the Hotel (drift down to it from the Hotel). There's not much by way of restaurants in the immediate area, other than the hotel. But walking in Bequia is easy and taxis are reliable and cheap.

Definitely do a trip to the Tobago Cays (I would recommend Passion which will also include a lunch stop at pretty Mayreau) and to the St. Vincent Falls of Baleine (I would recommend Friendship Rose). About $75US for each trip.

As for the Cobblestone - it's OK and a good place for exploring Kingstown. The downstairs bar is a great m eeting point. But I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time there. The real beauty of St. Vincent is in the countryside. Dani and Norris at gotalife@caribsurf.com do excellent, reasonably priced, tours for small groups (usually 4-6). Go with them through the Mespotamia Valley and north to Montreal Gardens. You can take easily take a daytrip over from Bequia to do this - they will meet you at the ferry and return you in time to catch the last boat back.

As for other islands - you might be interested in a daytrip on Pelangi to the deserted fishermen's island of Savan. Arrange this through the Frangipani Hotel (a great hotel for first-timers, with some very budget rooms). If the seas are too rough, you might be diverted to Mustique but I've alsways been lucky

If you go to Mustique, skip the island taxi tour (utterly not worth it), but there is decent snorkelling to the right of the jetty. Walk west along the road a fair piece until you get to a pile of tumbledown concrete blocks on the beach - that marks the break in the reef that you use to get in and out for snorkelling. Unfortunately the coral is mashed up from Lenny a few years ago, but the fish are plentiful. Firefly Hotel is a good place for lunch and Basil's, though overpriced, is fun as well. I also like the Cotton House lunchtime buffet ($$$)...a tad la-de-dah but worth it once or twice.

Thank you so much for some advise. I am now actally thinking of spending a few nights on Mayreau...it just looks to beautiful for a one day sail. I appreciate you taking the time to give me a few tips!
Anyway you slice it, this trip is going to be great.

You are very welcome. Budget accommodations on Mayreau are limited. Denis Hideaway is still rebuilding from a recent fire and may be back in operation by the time you get there. I would suggest contacting Robert Righteous (Righteous and de Brothers) as he has a reasonably priced small cottage. Alternately, if you have the gelt, there is Saltwhistle Bay Resort.

You can get to Mayreau by twice weekly ferry (MV Barracuda assuming it makes a Bequia stop that day; otherwise you have to ferry to Kingstown first on Admiral or Bequia Express Or you can air hop direct from Bequia to Union and get one of the local guys to take you by speedboat over to Mayreau (Robert could probably arrange this from his end). Alternately, speak to one of the guys at the fishermen's end of Friendship Beach and see if he will run you down in his boat.

All options involving speedboats will be fast and wet ! Ferries are slow (4 hours or so to Mayreau). Air is unreliable - you could get there on time or hours later having flown all around the Grenadines beforehand.

All options will end up costing you about the same (trade offs are time, money, convenience and safety, the latter being mostly subjective).

A final way to do it might be to go with Passion, on one of its weekly jaunts to the Cays, and just get off on Mayreau where Passion normally makes a lunch stop - you'll pay for the full trip (about $75 US) but it's a great way to travel.

You read my mind!!! I read about Roberts Righteous and was going to give him a call. This just looks wonderful. We actually think we are going to head from St. Vincent on Sat. to Mayreau, catch the mail boat back on Tues. to Bequia and spend our final week on Bequia. There are so many options!! This is my first two full weeks vacations and it is overwhelming. I don't want to do too much, however, these islands are all calling me. You have been a tremendous help!
Thanks again,,
Rebecca

Hi there.. yes I agree the cobblestone is a nice hotel... although the location is not the greatest for relaxing and spending hours on end. The food is excellent.. and it has a sort of NewYork touch to it..in terms of it being so packed into such small quarters... dont get me wrong though ... it's architecture does the trick! As for Mustique.. excellent island.. one of my fav. destinations which I make a priority to visit every year... as well as Mayreau... these two places are one of the best in this area! There is an excellent company based out of St. Vincent called Fantasea tours.. which I do business with every year... they offer day trips anywhere in the Grenadines.. alcohol as well as non-alcohol beverages included, they also have excellent captains who are very familiar with the locations who give great insight to a bit of the history as well as the customs of the islands. They also include day trips to some of St. Vincents beautiful sights as well as scuba diving.
http://www.fantaseatours.com - I can vouch for them and can say that they will help you out with any questions or concerns you might have.
p.s - if you do decide to check them out.. request Earl Halbich as your captain... once a professional yachtsman of the carribean, this gentleman has 25 years experience on the seas, and there is no one else i'd rather trust on the ocean than him.:)

Thanks Monatan21! All information is greatly appreciated. We are finalizing our plans and think we have come up with one that will include many of the adventures we seek , but not over doing it. I have read about Fantasea tours. Thanks for the tip. We plan to spend two nights on St Vincent. The second day we have secured a hike to the top of the volcano with a descend into the volcano at the end. That will be our one and only really active day. I plan to sail, snorkle, and quite frankly drink alot of rum otherwise.
Looking forward to the trip and hoping USAir doesn't ruin our plans!!
Rebecca

ahh yes the Volcano hike is amazing.. approx. 2 hrs up.. and any where from an hour to an hour and a half down..done that hike many times... and I plan and doing it many more!
When are you planning on heading down there? I myself am heading donw there around x-mas time... can't wait... anyways hope your trip goes well as im sure it will!:)

I will be going (if USAir is still in business) from Feb 1-15, 2005. Another question. Do you know of any service to get from Union Island to Mayreau. SVG Air said it would cost $80 USD per person!! I think that sounds crazy. Do you think we could just ask someone on the dock to take us to Mayreau for like $20 each?? We want to avoid the Barracuda on the way down because it leaves at 10:00 from St. Vincent and arrives at 3:00 pm on Mayreau. If we could fly SVG Air at 8:15 am we would get to Union in 20 minutes. This gives us an entire day. I just don't think we want to spend $33 +tax each on a flight and then another $160 to get to Mayreau. Sounds like a rip off. Perhaps we would be better taking a Fantasea tour from St Vincent to the Tobago Cays and getting off at Mayreau or something like that. Any tips??
Where will you be staying at Christmas?? Do you just stay on St. Vincent or do you move around?

Hey again Chinacat

$80 does sound high to me for the run from Union to Mayreau, but perhaps I am out of touch.

Erica’s Marine Services on Union could probably arrange with one of the local Tobago Cays boat boys to get you to Mayreau by speedboat for less than that Check out the Usual Suspects website for her address and for profiles of the various boatboys. Some even have email so you could check the prices out in advance.

Another alternative, as I mentioned previously, is to go to Mayreau by speedboat from Bequia. As you are staying at the Sugarapple, you could ask the owners there to set this up for you in advance - they are very well connected on the island and will find you someone reliable. You will save a lot of time, especially as you will be able to leave from Friendship Bay. I did this trip in 45 minutes once with some local friends - boy were we flying (wet AND bumpy).

Also, as you suggest, you could take one of the day sail tours and just get off in Mayreau - I recommended Passion but Fantasea is also good ($75-80pp). This would take 4-6 hours depending on the wind, the seas, and whether you leave from St. Vincent or Bequia. And the sailing will be the best !

BTW, don’t be too sure the St. Vincent to Union flight will take only 20 minutes. Last year we were experiencing lots of take-off delays (1+hours) and itinerary changes. A route that was supposed to be Barbados-Bequia-Mustique-Union-Barbados ended up doing the whole thing in reverse. They also announced as we touched down in Union that there would be an unscheduled stop in Carriacou after leaving Union. Fortunately, the very pissed off passengers revolted, and they changed their mind. Including their on-the-ground delays, our one hour flight to Bequia took 4 hours.

So, on balance, I think I’d opt for the sail down with Fantasea or Passion provided the schedule works. That way, you'd even get to take in some snorkelling at the Cays before arriving in Mayreau.

If you want budget-priced land tours of St. Vincent, I highly recommend Dani and Norris at gotalife@caribsurf.com. They do a great volcano trip. They also run a budget price B&B and a taxi service (one stop shopping-there you go).

Hello again CuriousX also!!
Again your advise is welcomed and appreciated. I am a planner and this is the first time I can't get on the web and just, well, make a firm plan. I am trying to go with the flow and not get to crazy about this. I am now re-thinking the whole air deal. I think I will call Robert Righteous first - his place looks cool. Maybe he can hook us up with one of the boat guys. I have visited the Ususal Suspects and saw his summary of the boat guys. Great resource. Ah - what to do....I also have some info on the Passion. Perhaps we should just take the day and sail :)
Thanks!!

Hello once again.. I am not too familiar with any services out of Union. There a couple options for getting there...as you suggested you could store all your luggage on the boat, and take a day trip to the keys which coincidentally enough stop off at Mayreau for lunch and swimming before heading back to St. Vincent. You could also hire Fantasea Tours to taxi you down to Mayreau directly. So it's basically wagering the cost of the taxi ride directly down there.. or the cost of the trip! given you want the trip to the cays of course. Also .. if you have any questions or concerns regarding the logistics of your entire vacation down there... your in good hands with Fantasea tours... and they'll be able to direct you in the least expensive option. I will be staying on St. Vincent spending a few weeks visiting family down there!.. I spent a month down there last summer jumping between Mayrea, Canouan, Mustique, Bequia and St. vincent and I can't wait to head down there this x-mas!

Any other advice on what to do while on St. Vincent?

We are going to be on Barbados until February 4th, then plan on flying to St Vincent to spend a few days, and will be taking the ferry to Bequia to spend a few days there in Friendship Bay.

We already know that we definitely want to do the volcano hike on St. Vincent, but toher suggestions are welcome. What is St. Vincent known for? Any must-see or must-do activities there?

Thanks!

I've copied below a post I made elsewhere re what to do in St. Vincent. This is an island I know quite well, so please feel free to post questions and I will answer as best I can.

Also, here's a link with good info about the port of Kingstown, written with an eye to tourists. http://svg.8m.net/ktown/Kingstown.html.

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Unlike the smaller Grenadines (Bequia, Mustique, etc.), the main island of St. Vincent is not known for great beaches though there are a few hidden gems. It is, however, an ecotourist's paradise with something for everyone, no matter what your age or fitness level.

At the top end of exertion is a climb up the Soufriere volcano - 2 hours or more each way plus a long drive to get there, but well worth it when you reach the top. (Take a sweater - it's cold up there!)

At the other end, is a taxi tour around Kingstown including a visit to historic Fort Charlotte and the Botanical Gardens, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere.

One of my personal favourites is a boat trip up the west coast to the Falls of Baleine (note that part of this is a short scramble across some rocks). Most trips also include a stop at one of the locations where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed and a beach/snorkelling stop at pretty Mount Wynne Bay.

Another excellent trip takes you through the centre of the island to the spectacular Mesopotamia Valley and then up to the Montreal Gardens, a labour of love incorporating formal gardens, mountain views and tropical rain forest.

Waterfall lovers in good shape will enjoy a hike into the triple Trinity Falls whereas those less fit would enjoy picnicking and splashing at the newly opened Darkview Falls in a romantic bamboo glade. If you go to Darkview Falls, you might also have time to work in a short hike up the Buccament Nature Trail, home to the endangered St. Vincent parrot. The best time to see them is in the late afternoon, but you will certainly hear them calling all around you (sounding a bit like a squeaky rocking chair).

My previous post hasn't even mentioned the Carib stones, the bamboo factory, the arrowroot plant, the Owia Salt Ponds, the Carib Villages, and the Hadley Orchid Farm !

Although the real beauty of St. Vincent is in the country, Kingstown itself is entertaining too - a raffish rowdy West Indian town - some tourists find it intimidating; others are fascinated by the street-life and the colonial architecture (much sadly being torn down in the name of progress). It's fun to go from visiting the bizarre St. Mary's church to the austere Anglican church next door. Drop in for a rum in the Cobblestone Hotel bar. Visit the lively markets (but people do expect you to ask permission before taking their pictures!).

The largest tour companies are Fantasea and Hazeco, both entirely reputable. I usually go with a Mom and Pop outfit called Chez Norris who do personal tailored tours for small groups at reasonable rates, and they always include a great lunch. Their email address is gotalife@caribsurf.com.

P.S. If you really are set on beaches, take a taxi to one of the hotels in the area called Villa, just north of the airport and hang out there. All beaches in St. Vincent are public. That includes the beach at Young Island Resort, also in Villa and accessible by a short (really short) ferry ride. Beachcomber's Hotel is friendly to cruise ship passengers as is Paradise Inn - Beachcomber's has a pool and a small spa as well as beachfront. There is snorkelling around the rocks at the far right of the beach. Or, if you are more adventurous, take a taxi to dramatic Brighton Beach (Atlantic side surf is broken down by huge boulders offshore to create a fine swimming oasis.

Wow! We may cross paths!! We will be on Barbados until February 3rd - staying at Accra Beach. Then off to St. Vincent, Mayreau and then Bequia. We fly out of Barbados on Feb. 15th back to the cold of Pittsburgh.
I plan on doing plenty of snorkeling and going to the Tobago Cayes while in Mayreau. Bequia looks like lots of nice beaches. Hope to see you there!

Very Cool!
We arrive on Barbados the afternoon of the 28th !

Our initial plan is to get to the hotel, get changed, maybe a little nap, and then Oistins to gorge on fresh fish !

We are staying at the Blue Horizon Hotel, which is at Rockley Beach. I have a feeling I may have to forgo the nap to run across the street and right into the ocean!

We leave Barbados for bequia the following Friday.

The only things we have decided we want to do so far are: Jolly Roger daysail ( i know it looks hokey, but who cares, it will be fun swinging from that rope); a daysail aboard the El Tigre, it was designed by a man from SXM named Pieter Spronk, and I have sailed on some of his other creations, and look forward to this one.

We are looking forward to some of the nightlife in the Gap, and want to check out the clubs like the boatyard, and other places.

It would be a blast to meet up with someone from VT!

Hi! Perhaps we will run into each other somewhere in our travels. We still haven't decided on a place to stay in Bequia...I guess we need to do that soon! I think they are running out of rooms. I have my snorkel gear packed and am counting the days. I took a look at your photo...maybe I will recognize you? Have a great trip.