greenie

Thanks for all the help on Martinique. We decided against it for this year (maybe in fall).

We are going to Grenada for 9 days. It takes pretty much a whole day to get there from Atlanta/Mobay/Grenada on AJ. Staying at Coyaba on Grand Anse. Any tips would be appreciated. I've read all the trip reports and posts on both Grenada forum websites, just looking for anything else you might want to impart.

Wondering do I really need a car for the entire week? Can you rec any company in particular? Is the driving similar to say, Barbados? (narrow) or Tortola? (hilly).

Thanks everyone!

Peace, Greenie.

ejcrowe

Well, let me start with the roads. All of the main roads running from St. George's (the capital) south along Grand Anse to the airport, to True Blue peninsula, to LAE peninsula and out as far as La Sagesse are all in good repair. I encountered more cars parked randomly alongside the road here than in most islands I've driven on, so you need to pay attention about giving way when passing the parked cars. But unlike Tortola, for example, on the way down to Brewer's Bay, I wasn't concerned about having room for oncoming traffic. Secondary roads are, of course, in lesser shape. The only really bad road that I personally encountered ran out to LaLuna hotel.

For a quintessential beach bar dining experience, go to Coconut Beach on Grand Anse. Aquarium is nice for an upscale meal. The Red Crab in LAE is also quite good. The best food I had there during my 10 day stay last summer was at two restaurants at opposite ends of the spectrum: Spice Isle Beach Resort gave us two outstanding lunches in an upscale atmosphere and Boots Cuisine gave us two outstanding dinners with an emphasis on local fare. I can't recommend Boots highly enough!

Fish Friday at Gouyave is a really good time--they close the streets off to cars and basically have a street party with more types of seafood than you can imagine. There's music and beer and other stalls to buy drinks and sweets. Every Friday in the town of Gouyave, up the coast from St. George's.

I hope to take a daytrip to Carriacou when I'm there in May, as I didn't make it there last time. You can go by ferry or small plane.

I recommend seeing the open air produce market in St. George's and buying your fruit, veggies and spices there. Very colorful and crowded.

greenie

Fabulous, ejcrowe! Thanks for the recs.

Did you recommend using local currency or USD/cc's?

ejcrowe

I changed US dollars to EC dollars before heading down there, I paid for most major items with a debit/credit card, and I brought along lots of US $1 and $5 bills for tipping. Frequently we were given slightly better rates for paying with EC$. It always seemed to give local vendors pleasant looks of surprise when we did it, too.

If you're at all interested in reading about prices for meals, specific foods or activities, you can do a search here for my *long* trip report that I posted in late July or early August of 2006. It's called something like "There and Back Again: Two Weeks in Bequia, St. Vincent, and Grenada" if you have the patience to scroll through it.

KathyH

Okay, here is a dumb question, but where did you change US dollars for EC dollars before you went? I assume a bank, but no just any bank will do that right? I'd like to have some EC dollars before we go in May for tips and buying beers and things. Plus we arrive on a Saturday and wouldn't be able to get to a bank until Monday.
KathyH

Callaloo

I really wouldn't waste too much mental energy worrying about changing money. Your US dollars will be readily and happily accepted, and in no time you'll have collected enough change (composed of both EC and US currency -- Grenadians are very facile at multiplying by 2.68!) that you'll be able to pay for small things with EC. You'll be fine until the bank opens on Monday. I also imagine you'd be able to get EC out of an ATM using your credit card (I didn't do this myself), though I recall being smacked with an icky foreign exchange fee whenever I used my credit card for anything.

There are so many more pleasant things to worry about, like which beaches to hit, which restaurants to visit, which vistas to ogle...

Callaloo

Oh, and as for rental cars, we used Indigo. Even though we were on land for 4 days and sailing for 4 days, it turned out to be much more economical to rent for an entire week (package deal) than for just the 4 days we would use it. We just parked the car at our hotel. Visit www.grenadaexplorer.com to get links to the various car rental places.

greenie

Thanks for all the replies!

Peace

ejcrowe

Kathy, we bank with a local bank and they will get any currency that we want but it takes about a week to get it back.

And it is true that US $ are accepted everywhere. For the first several times I traveled to the Caribbean I never changed money. For short trips (under a week) I still don't. For a week or longer, however, I like to change the money. For one, it's a tacit sign of respect. For another, I've found that most people doing the conversion in their head use a 2.5 or 2.6 exchange rate for ease of calculation, which isn't quite as good. Then again, it's so few pennies' difference that it's not a big deal.

pegoode

We stopped at Coyaba for drinks and lunch while we were in Grenada recently. The grounds are lovely and the service and food were both good. The hotel will probably exchange US to EC for you. We stayed at Blue Horizon and they would exchange $150/day for us. We also used the atm at the Spiceland Mall. I find it easier to deal in EC but US dollars are welcome. You'll get your change back in EC and that can get confusing. We have never rented a car. Mandoo is our choice for island tours including Friday night at Fish Friday. He does go early before it gets too busy and comes back when it starts getting mobbed. We liked that but if you like the later hours you might want to go with someone else. We've also used Duffy a few times to get around to beaches and dinner. There are tons of cabs and the local bus stop is not far from the Coyaba so getting around is quite easy. The Sunday barbecue at the Aquarium is quite good. The beach is nice and they usually have a band. For something a little quieter, go to Morne Rouge for some beach time and lunch at Sur la Mer. Great lambi roti! Also, La Sagesse is lovely for lunch and some beach time. It's about 30 minutes away depending on traffic. DO have a rum punch at the Nutmeg on the Carenage. It will knock your socks off. Get a table by the window or you may be too warm. I second the Coconut Beach rec along with the Red Crab. Grenada really has some great food. You'll also be within walking distance of Nick's Donuts and La Boulangerie which we like for breakfast/lunch. Also had a nice lunch at Jennie's Place - just a short walk down the beach, past Coconut Beach. Enjoy Grenada!