joyce

Anyone from Canada visited St.Vincent and the Grenadines? How did you get there--- what airline?<BR><BR>Any advice on hotels/rental units? <BR><BR>What is there to do -- restaurants, attractions, beaches etc?<BR><BR>Any and all info much appreciated<BR><BR>Thank you!

Island Girl

Joyce: I was supposed to go this fall, but had to cancel due to my husband's ill health. We were ticketed and everything. I don't know where in Canada you are from but the best way is to fly to Barbados (Air Canada). From there you can take a number of scheduled smaller plans to one of the islands. Don't know what your budget is but Bequia seems to be a popular choice for many. (We were going to go to Mustique except I got a bit put off when all the guide books said you might spot Mick Jagger -- I mean ugh!). Basically beaches, hiking and sailing are the activities in these islands. Hope this gives you a starting point. Also, I don't know if you ever visit the travel shows in Toronto but the St. Vincent and Grenadines tourist board always has a booth there with good information.

Abby

Joyce-I went on a Windjammer cruise last month to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was absolutely beautiful! St. Vincent is the largest of the islands and I went during Carnival,so I only have a biased view and it seemed crowded and dirty. Bequia was lovely, as was Mustique, which is a good day trip. There are only two hotels on the island and both are EXPENSIVE. There are huge houses mostly owned by celebrities and royals. Mayreau is cute but only 260 people live there and there are just a few bars/restaurants and that's it. The Tobago Cays are just a few deserted islands and all there is to do there is to lie around and get some sun. This is a great area to explore on a smaller ship like a Windjammer or a chartered boat as it is beautiful but there isn't all that much going on. There are excursions you and take, like going to a waterfall or something, but other than that it's pretty quiet. Great for scuba and snorkeling as well. You can email me directly if you have further questions. I also went to Grenada for a few days. You can fly on American from NYC but I took BWIA Air-British West Indies Air. I don't know about direct flights from Canada.

carol

I currently live in St. Vincent - there are no direct international flights - the local carriers are LIAT (sometimes late but excellent safety record) and Caribbean Star flying out of Barbados, Trinidad, Grenada, St. Lucia - also American Eagle flies into Canouan directly. <BR>I believe the official website is www.svgtourism.com - St. Vincent has very little tourist infrastructure - the hotels are basically guesthouses - largest is about 22 rooms - main attraction on the mainland is eco-tourism - guided tours to Falls of Baleine, Soufriere Volcano, Trinity Falls, Vermont Nature Trail - we still have a lot of original rain forest.Mesopotamia is our main agricultural breadbasket with handtilled fields at vertiginous slopes.<BR>Bananas are our main currency earner.<BR><BR>The main tourist area is around Villa and Indian Bay - several small hotels - across the water is Young Island - very famous resort - beach at this area is white sand but other beaches are fine volcanic black sand<BR>The Grenadines - Bequia, Union, Canouan, Mustique, Mayreau, Tobago Cays etc. are very beautiful - white sand beaches - I believe Mustique Air (small planes) fly direct to the Grenadines from Barbados<BR>Comment re Carnival - yes, not a good time to judge the island - Kingstown most of the time is a rather sleepy bit dilapidated Caribbean town but very safe in the day time - not much to do at night -<BR>good transportation around the island - small 15 seater minicabs costing $1 - $2 EC<BR>good ferry service to Bequia daily

joyce

St Vincent and the Grenadines appear to be just what we are looking for. We have had out fill of AI resorts. We are looking for peace and quiet with no crowded buffet lines,annoying activity directors and loud music around the pool.<BR> <BR>Thanks again for the help.<BR>

E.D.

Joyce,<BR><BR>You will love St. Vincent and ANY of the Grenadine's! I stayed on Bequia twice this year and it is a wonderful island on it's own but also a good "base point". I am quite fond of St. Vincent and loved every minute of the hike to Trinity Falls in June. (I have a picture of the falls next to my computer and my screen saver is the room we stayed at both times on Bequia at The Old Fort!)<BR>You can do as much or little as you like-we tend to explore a lot. Check out www.theoldfort.com on Bequia. Be sure and rent a moke or a jeep at least for a day to explore the "outer" parts of Bequia! On St. Vincent you will find curious (remember the people of St. Vincent are not used to seeing tourists very often...) and very nice people. I was over one day (Carol-the day before Kids Carnival) and everyone was having a great time in the streets. To close, it is what you are looking for! Best regards, E.D.

E.D.

Joyce,<BR><BR>You will love St. Vincent and ANY of the Grenadine's! I stayed on Bequia twice this year and it is a wonderful island on it's own but also a good "base point". I am quite fond of St. Vincent and loved every minute of the hike to Trinity Falls in June. (I have a picture of the falls next to my computer and my screen saver is the room we stayed at both times on Bequia at The Old Fort!)<BR>You can do as much or little as you like-we tend to explore a lot. Check out www.theoldfort.com on Bequia. Be sure and rent a moke or a jeep at least for a day to explore the "outer" parts of Bequia! On St. Vincent you will find curious (remember the people of St. Vincent are not used to seeing tourists very often...) and very nice people. I was over one day (Carol-the day before Kids Carnival) and everyone was having a great time in the streets. To close, it is what you are looking for! Best regards, E.D.

carole

should have mentioned - I wouldnt recommend booking wth BWIA right now as they have labor dispute which is disrupting their schedules - I recommend Air Canada or American Airlines to Barbados then LIAT to St. Vincent - when you connect in Barbados and you are in the departure lounge listen VERY CAREFULLY

carole

oops pressed send button by mistake - anyway listen carefully to announcement for LIAT flght - the PA system is bad and LIAT tends to call the flight only once - my husband was stuck overnight this winter because he didnt hear the announcement - seasoned travelers head to the security doors and mill around gates 12 and 13 - down at the far right to check out their plane

pat

I have been to St. Vincent many times and have some fabulous memories of it. Great people, good food, beautiful interior of island, good music. What is doesnt have is that dream caribbean beach, white sand and palm trees. The other grenadines have lots of that though.<BR>If anyone knows of a decent hotel on st. vincent, I would love to hear bout it. We always stayed at the umbreally beach hotel, but would like a change.<BR><BR>thanks.

cindy

We went to Petit St. Vincent in the Grenadines in Nov. 2000, and it was heaven on earth. We flew to Barbados from Toronto Air Canada, then a 4 person puddle jumper to Union Island (can't remember the airline but the PSV resort set it up for us), then the owner of the resort picked us up on is boat at Union Island for the 20 minute boat ride to PSV. All that's on the island is this resort - 22 individual cottages, and a main house with a spectacular restaurant. You can walk around the 2 miles of the island any time. The service is fantastic, the accommodations and food too. This is where to go for complete relaxation, and as much privacy as you could dream of. I can't say enough about it. If you want to see more about it, they have a web site at www.psvresort.com.

curiousx

Lots of Canadiana go to SVG and there is a long history of Canadian in the country both as entrepreneurs and volunteers. Google searchs for Russ Filmon and also for the Bequia Mission will turn up lots of interesting stuff.<BR><BR>Air Canada is the standard way to fly (via Toronto) to Barbados. Then LIAT to St. Vincent or, if you are going to one of the Grenadines, either Mustiquair or SVG Air.<BR><BR>As Carol says, in her wonderful post, St. Vincent (aka 'the Mainland') is a fine island for ecotourism (volcano, salt ponds, waterfalls,orchid farm, montreal gardens (rain forest), vermont nature trail (wild parrots), carib sites, etc. In my experience, it is best to take a local as a guide because there is so much you will miss on your own.<BR><BR>The Mainland is short on excellent beaches (there are some and they are hidden secrets) and excellent accommodation. My recommendation at the low end of the scale would be for a modest b&b run by a Vincentian/American couple who are also IMHO the BEST guides to the island. If interested, let me know, and I will look up their email address and post it.<BR><BR>At the other end, either the Camelot Hotel or the Grand View are worth considering. A previous poster mentioned the Umbrella and it's a reasonable choice in the middle range, but has ups and downs. I've also heard that the renovated Sunset Shores is OK.<BR><BR>Beyond the Mainland, the beaches and scenery of the smaller islands of the Grenadines are simply beautiful and you could do a lot worse than plan for, say, 3 days on the Mainland, followed by 3-4 days in a charter yacht, then a few days on Bequia or Mustique and back home. <BR><BR>If you like the sailing idea, then the 44' yacht,Pelangi (owned by the Frangipani hotel on Bequia) is one I have chartered frequently and there are others.<BR><BR>There are lots of accommodation options on Bequia in all price ranges. Mustique is very expensive both for the two hotels and any of the villas.<BR><BR>There are relatively few all-inclusives in SVG (hooray) - Young Island, Palm Island, Petit St. Vincent, Tamarind. These all have their own websites and make lots of people happy. Congrats to you for deciding NOT to go this route. You'll have a lot of fun in a part of the Caribbean that is still,largely, unspoiled.

Erma

To Carole and "curious"-and any other person living or traveling in St. Vincent & the Grenadines-could you pop over to http://www.traveltalkonline.com/wwwt.../wwwthreads.pl and go into the General Caribbean forum? We need some expertise and you fit the bill! Really, we would be honored if you could help us out with the St. Vincent & the Grenadines thread. No requirement to register either. Thanks in advance! Have a good weekend, E.D.