Continuing north, our next stop in St Vincent and the Grenadines was Canouan. This was an interesting place, as the island is definitely split into three very distinct areas. The north is an exclusive gated resort, the south is a new luxurious marina and an airstrip and the middle is the local town of Charlestown. We managed to sample two of these.
Firstly, we stopped at Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Residences: a new marina with berthing for major super yachts. It had a smart concourse with a couple of upmarket restaurants, several designer boutiques, a small, but expensive supermarket and, of course something no marina should be without, a diamond shop! We decided it wasn’t our kind of place, so we topped up with petrol for the outboard engine and moved on.
Instead, we chose to anchor in Charlestown Bay. This was definitely a find and we stayed for several days, exploring ashore, meeting the locals, and doing lots of snorkelling. The marine life was so diverse: lobster, octopus, too many fish to name, but best of all we saw several spotted eagle rays and a manta ray. What graceful creatures, ‘flying’ through the water. We were very fortunate.
While ashore, we popped into the beachside bar. There we met fisherman William. A beer and a chat later, he promised to get us a freshly caught lobster. That evening, as promised, he arrived at Escapade with a 4 pound beast for us. He told us (over another two beers and several biscuits) that, as we weren’t eating it until the next day, we should put it in a bag over the back of the boat to keep it fresh. Not convinced that we would have any lobster left if we did that, we wrapped it in a wet towel and put it in the fridge to chill. Next day, he, or she, was barbecued for tea – delicious!
Completely different from our stay at Canouan, was our time at Mustique. This is the resort of choice for the rich and famous and there are over 90 luxury villas hidden throughout the island. Many of its residents are billionaire business men and women, but it has its fair share of celebrities too: Mike Jagger has two houses there! Most of the owners only use their villas for a few months a year, so the rest of the time they are up for rent. I checked some out on the website (www.mustique-island.com) – Way out of most people’s price range, but amazing places.
In order to respect the privacy of the residents and their guests, much of the island is off limits to visitors and there is no anchoring allowed. We picked up a mooring buoy in Britannia Bay and went ashore to the explore the beach, the salt pond and the pretty village with its exclusive boutiques and western provisioning.
It was a pleasant place to wander and, venturing uphill away from the beachfront, we even found the place where the locals buy their lunch. It was called the View and the picture shows why.
No visit to Mustique would be complete without a trip to the famous Basil’s Bar. Beautifully located on the water’s edge complete with swimming turtles it is just the place to while away the hours.
Our visit to the island coincided, quite accidently, with the Mustique Blues Festival and, although we were unable to get booked in for the hog roast, we did manage to get seats at the bar for opening night. Blues singers from all over the world came to perform, not that we knew any of them, but Google said they were pretty well known. It was an amazing experience – live music and dancing into the night. We kept a watchful eye out for the ‘rich and famous’. We didn’t see anyone we recognised, but you could tell by what they were wearing that the guests had money. The next day, we met someone who allegedly had seen Mick, but we were too busy dancing to spot him.
Our final stop before mainland St Vincent was Bequia. With limited anchoring around the island, we joined most of the other visiting boats and headed for Admiralty Bay. This is a busy bay, but with plenty of room for boats to anchor. We picked a spot just off Princess Margaret Beach, along with several of our ARC+ friends. It was great to catch up again and share tales of our adventures.
We were anchored a short walk or dinghy ride to the pretty, but touristy town of Port Elizabeth. The main street was along the beach and lined with brightly painted restaurants and shops. Opposite were local traders selling homemade, and not so homemade, gifts and souvenirs. Away from the front, we found small stalls selling fruit and veg, a reasonable supermarket and a family selling lettuce home grown in their garden. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.
Wanting to see a little more of the island, we joined some friends for an island tour. After a little negotiating, ‘Dolly’, our driver, agreed to show us the sights: the view from the Fort, Friendship Bay and the whaling station, ‘Fish town’ and the turtle sanctuary. Dolly was full of information about the island and the day was a generally a success. The only place I was not sure about was the turtle sanctuary. Orton ‘Brother’ King used to be a turtle fisherman, but realised the error of his ways and wanted to make amends. He now collects young turtles and rears them until they are old enough to fend for themselves. He says that in the wild only 1 in 1000 survive, so he believes he is helping. I am unsure, as the turtles remain with him for up to 6 years in small concrete tanks. I was unsettled by the sight of up to 8 turtles together and the injuries they gave each other – in the wild turtles are generally solitary creatures. Also I am not sure about whether they can develop the necessary skills to survive in the ocean once released. Orton’s heart is definitely in the right place and with, the lack of knowledge and support he has, he is doing the best he can.
After a few days anchored in Admiralty Bay, we did our own tour in Escapade, heading around the coast to Friendship Bay. While there, we walked up to the Heritage Boat Museum. It was actually closed, but fortunately the boats are displayed in an open viewing area. The museum shows several boats linked to the island’s history of whaling. Bequia is one of the only places in the world that still has permission from the International Whaling Commission to hunt humpback whales. They are allowed up to four a year, although speaking to the one of the locals, they don’t catch one every year. There are strict rules for them to follow and they still go out in relatively small wooden boats and hand harpoon them. When one is caught, it is taken to the small island of Semple’s Cay where there is a designated whaling station. The locals that we spoke to were proud of the fact that, even today, every part of the whale is used.
Our final stop at Bequia was Petit Nevis. This was the home of the original whaling station, until it moved across to Semple’s Cay. Only a few walls remain, with no evidence of its former use. However, the island made a reasonably calm overnight anchorage with superb snorkelling. A pleasant end to our time in the Grenadines.
What gorgeous places to visit. I didn’t realise Mustique could be visited . David
Tennant Lord Glenconner owned it and gave a plot to Princess Margaret as a wedding present. In those days it was private. Obviously sold probably for death duties.
Poor lobster and turtles of course.
Keep the posts coming.
Hi
Hope you are both well and the weather is starting to warm a little.
Mustique was beautiful. It was a shame we weren’t able to visit much of it, but we liked the bits we saw. I had been reading about the ‘residents’ and their villas and You are able to rent the villa that used to belong to Princess Margaret. It has an amazing view!
Stay safe x
Yes. I too associate Mustique with Princess Margaret. 🤪
It all looks beautiful. That was a fabulous looking lobster. Envy!
Hi,
Check out the website showing the villas for rent …maybe you could stay in Princess Margaret’s!
Made the most of lobster in Grenada and also the Grenadines as it is pretty cheap compared to further north. Also next time we are there, it will be out of season!
Hope you and the family are all well and planning your adventures.
Xx