The Grenadines run for roughly 100 kilometers between St. Vincent at 13°N and Grenada at 12°N, 32 islands strung in a loose arc across the southeastern Caribbean. The sailing logic is built into the geography. The easterly trade winds mean you sail broadly downwind moving southwest from St. Vincent to Grenada, island to island, with the wind on the beam or quarter for most passages. Islands sit 5-15 nautical miles apart. The longest passage on the standard route does not exceed 15 miles.
For one-way charters, operators in both Grenada and St. Vincent offer pick-up and drop-off at either end. The Moorings and TMM operate from Grenada, several smaller operators from St. Vincent. If you charter from St. Vincent and finish in Grenada, you pick up the trades for most of the route. If you charter from Grenada, you motor back upwind or negotiate a one-way deal. Most experienced Grenadines sailors go northeast to southwest.
The political geography matters because you cross an international border mid-route. The northern islands, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago Cays, and Union Island, belong to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Carriacou and Petite Martinique belong to Grenada. The customs clearance process requires clearing out of SVG at Union Island and then checking into Grenada at Hillsborough on Carriacou. Neither process is particularly difficult, but arriving at the wrong office at the wrong time creates delays. Know the hours before you set sail.
Admiralty Bay on Bequia is one of the finest natural anchorages in the eastern Caribbean. Wide, deep (5-12 meters over good sand), and large enough to hold 200 yachts without crowding. Port Elizabeth, the only town, lines the bay’s eastern shore with chandleries, a fuel dock, several good provisioning shops, and internet at the Frangipani Hotel’s shaded terrace bar. Bequia has always been a sailor’s island, and the town’s infrastructure reflects it.
The island has a cultural distinction that regularly surprises visitors. The indigenous Bequian whale hunt, limited to four humpback whales per year under International Whaling Commission rules, is the only legal aboriginal subsistence whale hunt in the western hemisphere. It is conducted from open wooden boats using hand-thrown harpoons by a small number of trained hunters whose families have practiced the technique for generations. Most islanders now view tourism as significantly more economically valuable than the hunt and support converting the practice to whale-watching. The hunt has not been conducted every year in recent memory.
More immediately visible is the boat-building tradition. The heritage yard at Lower Bay still builds traditional double-ended wooden workboats by hand, using tools and techniques that predate power tools. You can walk down and watch the work in progress. Small models of the traditional boats are occasionally available to buy directly from the builders. Mac’s Pizza on the waterfront is a Bequia institution, and the Whaleboner restaurant nearby serves good fish. Dinghy around to Lower Bay beach for lunch on the quieter side of the island.
Admiralty Bay Bequia, white sand beaches, turquoise cays, Tobago reef, sailing to Union Island, and the Grenada coast at dusk
Mustique operates on different terms than every other island in the Grenadines. It is privately owned and administered by the Mustique Company, a consortium of villa property owners who collectively set the rules for everything that happens on the island. Charter yachts may anchor in Britannia Bay and go ashore for the day, but overnight stays at anchor are not permitted. The Mustique Company quay offers day visitor mooring for passing boats.
Basil’s Bar is the destination. An open-air beach bar with good food, cold drinks, and live music on Wednesday and Saturday evenings during the season, locally called the Jump-up. Basil Charles has been running it since the 1970s and built a reputation that draws people who could be anywhere in the world. Cotton House, the island’s main hotel and restaurant, was converted from an 18th-century sugar mill and cotton house and occupies a beautifully maintained complex of stone buildings on the hillside.
The villa community includes former homes of David Bowie and Mick Jagger, and properties owned by Tommy Hilfiger and other celebrity names. Princess Margaret’s former villa is rentable through the Mustique Company. There are 100 private villas in total, strict architectural codes, no public beach access beyond the designated day-visitor areas, and a security force that enforces all of it efficiently. The result is an island of genuine beauty, immaculate upkeep, and a deliberately created exclusivity. Visit for the afternoon. Have a drink at Basil’s. Appreciate what an enormous amount of money and control can create. Then sail on.
Five small uninhabited islands inside a horseshoe reef, designated a marine park in 1987 and among the most genuinely impressive snorkeling sites in the eastern Caribbean. The Baradal reef holds a resident population of over 200 green sea turtles that have been habituated to snorkelers for decades. You drift with them at arm’s length. They are not performing. They are simply there, going about their business, indifferent to the humans floating alongside them. The coral is healthy, the fish populations are dense, and the difference between a properly protected reef and a heavily used unprotected one is plainly visible here.
Anchoring on coral is prohibited throughout the park. Moorings are $10 per night and fill by noon during peak season. If you want a buoy, arrive by 10am. The park rangers take the rules seriously and conduct regular checks. Dinghy ashore on Baradal for the turtle snorkeling trail that rangers have established. Fish vendors in traditional pirogues circle the anchorage daily, selling fresh-caught fish and lobster from ice chests. The quality is good and the prices are fair for what you get.
The Tobago Cays have no development, no restaurants, no water, no facilities of any kind. This is entirely to their credit. Bring everything from your boat. If you can secure a mooring buoy for an overnight stay, stay for both sunset and sunrise. The light in the Tobago Cays in early morning, before the day-charter boats arrive, is something that stays with you.
Union Island is the last significant island in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines chain and the mandatory customs clearance point before crossing into Grenada. Clifton Harbour is well-sheltered with good holding in sand and mud, and busy with a mix of charter yachts, local sailing vessels, and fishing boats. The Anchorage Yacht Club at the harbor offers fuel, showers, a bar, and a haul-out facility. Clear out of SVG at the customs office on the dock. Weekday hours are reliable; weekend hours vary. Arrive before 2pm to be certain of clearing the same day.
The crossing to Carriacou covers about 10 nautical miles. Hillsborough is the main town on Carriacou’s west coast and the customs entry point for Grenada. Tyrell Bay, 3 miles south of Hillsborough, is the preferred anchorage for most boats: large, well-protected, good holding in 4-6 meters of mud, and with a small boatyard and several local restaurants ashore.
Windward village on the east coast of Carriacou is the site of the most intact traditional wooden boat-building tradition in the Caribbean. Builders here construct the schooners and traditional workboats that still sail these waters, using hand tools and techniques passed down through generations. Walking through the yard and watching the work is open to visitors, and the builders are accustomed to interested sailors. When a new vessel is completed and launched, the ceremony involves music, prayers, and a crowd of locals gathered on the beach. If you can time your visit to coincide with a launch, it is worth rearranging your itinerary.
The final passage from Carriacou to Grenada’s north coast covers 35 nautical miles, a half-day sail with the trades on the beam. St. George’s, the capital, reveals itself from the sea as a horseshoe-shaped harbor ringed by Georgian-era buildings in faded pastels, with the 18th-century Fort George commanding the point above the town. The Carenage, the inner harbor promenade, is the social center. True Blue Bay Marina and IGY Grenada, formerly the Grenada Yacht Club, are the two main facilities on the south side of the island, both within walking distance of Grand Anse Beach.
Grand Anse is Grenada’s main beach, 3 kilometers of dark volcanic sand that remains largely free of the resort overdevelopment that has consumed similar beaches elsewhere in the Caribbean. The dark sand is a product of the island’s volcanic geology and is unusual in the region. The beach is public and accessible from the road.
Grenada is called the Spice Island and earns the title. The island produces roughly 20% of the world’s nutmeg, along with significant quantities of mace, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger. The Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station, open to visitors, is a working cooperative where local farmers bring their harvest. The smell alone is worth the detour. The Rivers Rum Distillery operates a 200-year-old water-powered mill that is still in active use, and Clarke’s Court offers a different production style. Both welcome visitors. End-of-trip provisioning in Grenada is the best in the southern Caribbean. The Saturday morning Grand Etang produce market has the widest selection and lowest prices in the eastern Caribbean for anyone stocking up before a passage.
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