Grenada Advice
 

It's getting cold here in NE and although I have some wonderful trips planned...I'd like to stay out of town a little longer ;-)

I've always wanted to explore Grenada. Although with current back issues, "explore" may have a different meaning.

I love the concept of Bel Air Plantation with the stroll down the beach to La Segasse for their beach.

Spice Island seems like it would be all couples. And the same would be true of LaLuna, I assume.

Observations and opinions please :-) ?

Marion

Though I could be very wrong, I'd be surprised if you could easily walk from Bel Air Plantation to La Sagesse. Admittedly, I've only gone from St. David's Harbour (on which Bel Air is located) to La Sagesse by car, and it took about 15 minutes of driving time, over hilly, rough roads. If there is another route, along the water, I would be very curious to hear about it because it might color my choice of where to stay next time we go to Grenada.

Aside from that, Grenada is all about exploring, though you can certainly do it by jeep. Some of the waterfalls are accessible only by hiking, but others are not too far off the road. Similarly, you can walk a good way along Grand Etang without too much stress to legs or back. There's plenty to do without too much exertion!

As for places to stay, there's probably something for everyone, in every budget range. Bel Air Plantation looks beautiful, though I would consider it somewhat remote. We stayed at True Blue on our last trip, since it was the charter base from which we sailed, and truly enjoyed it -- lack of beach notwithstanding. No hotel is taller than the palm trees, and just about every property we've ever seen over 4 visits over the years has some local appeal.

I've posted my trip report, from my April visit, on my webpage here:
http://www.homestead.com/islandtime/Grenada06_01.html

One thing is for sure about Grenada: the welcome is as warm as the weather!

Well, isn't this a little scary :-) I'm trusting my *memory* because I still can't search here. Still can't get out of "safe mode"....certainly not safe for me or for my always helpful friends here !

I relate to the ad for Fed Ex where the boss asks geographically challenged Bob to put a push pin in China ;-) No, that's Greenland, Japan...etc. The ad ends with Bob tearing down the map rather than suffer further disgrace ;-)

I really thought La Segasse was close to Bel Air. Maybe I was thinking of Greenland ;-)

That's why I posted....I think ;-) and because it's really cold here !

Marion

We stayed at the Bel Air last February and regularly went to La Sagesse Beach. We drove -- it's not far, but it took about 10-15 minutes to get there because the roads do not invite speed and because La Sagesse is about a mile or so from the main road.
Also, I was told by two people that there is a walking route to La Sagesse from the Bel Air. We never tried it -- what with wanting to carry books, sunscreen, bottled water, etc., it just seemed easier to drive. I'm not sure that the path is totally along the water, though.

Ahhh, Grenada! Marion, I think you could love it there.

You've already heard it, but I'll reinforce it--La Sagesse would be a helluva walk from Bel Air. I like the looks of Bel Air from their website, and I loved my two days spent at La Sagesse. It's been said before but I'll say it again--they're both VERY isolated, about a 30 minute drive from Grand Anse (less, of course, if you drive like a Grenadian).

LaLuna is definitely all about couplehood. Spice had more families than couples based on my two lunch time visits this summer, but that could be a skewed perspective.

There are lots of beautiful villas in Grenada (check out www.spiceislevillas.com), but most of them don't have a full time staff like you experienced in JA. When are you thinking of visiting? I'm in the planning stages of a trip there in May. I'll be going down on my own for the first part before meeting up with my DH...

At further risk of sounding like the board idiot tonight, I thought there was a decent beach within walking distance of Bel Air.

Without search ability, I'm at a loss to name the beach....obviously ;-)

Maybe I just dreamed it ?

Any and all help to restore reality is appreciated :-)

Marion

I wish I could help you, but I have no idea. I do know that Bel Air is overlooking the water but has no beach right there. There's another place not quite as far out as La Sagesse or Bel Air that has a few cabins out on a point with a beach, but the name is eluding me for now. I think it has a French name...

I'm watching the sweetest thing on tv right now--penguins in Cape Town. They have protected rights when crossing streets there and frequently hold up traffic! They share the beach with tons of families, and some of the clips were a real hoot. They pop into folks' swimming pools for fun. I'm telling you, this is fun TV!

Just sent you a PM, btw.

As I mentioned earlier, I was told that La Sagesse Beach is walkable from Bel Air. (One person who gave me that information was the young man who rents loungers at La Sagesse.) If you look on a map, you'll see the two places are separated by a point of land. I believe there is a walking route (no road) across that point. We just never tried it. The Virgin Airlines website says it's a 15-minute walk. Also, I seem to remember a long-ago discussion of this topic on one of the two Grenada-dedicated web forums, so you might want to check there ......
or you might want to e-mail the Bel Air. The staff has always answered my e-mails promptly. That way you can stop wondering :-). Also, Bel Air was all couples when we were there -- Children under 14 (?) weren't allowed last year; not sure if that has changed.

Marigold,

Thanks for your helpful responses...much appreciated.

Like you, I carry a rather heavy bag with books/reading glasses ;-), water and sunscreen, so if it's not close I'm not walking !

Marion

Hi Marion. I haven't been to Grenada, want to see it some day and was wondering how your back is? I hope all is well. As for the weather and yearning for somewhere else warmer well my tee time got snowed out today. :D I'm with ya on that one. :D Larry

Hi Larry,

My daughter lives in the Chicago area and still doesn't understand why I don't want to visit in the winter !

Sorry about your tee time, but I hear warmth is on the way. Your lousy weather is headed my way ;-) !

Good days and bad days for the ole' back...thanks for your concern :-)

Take care...

Marion

Hang in there Marion! BTW I rebooked a tee time for Mon. It should be nice. Take care and I hope the back behaves itself. Larry :-)

Larry, I have to ask where you live that you had a tee time already snowed out this season? That made me chuckle, though Lord knows the snow will make it to me before I'm ready for it.

Marion, the place with the French name is called Petit Bacaye. It's nearly as isolated as Bel Air and La Sagesse, but it is set on a beach. www.petitbacaye.com

I have the feeling you might like the new Maca Bana villas. The website is a little new age-y, but they look very nice and they're situated directly above a very nice beach and one of the best restaurants on the island, Aquarium. www.macabana.com

You also might want to check out the sister hotel to Spice Island called Blue Horizons. Both places are owned and run by a local family. BH is across a street and small field from Grand Anse beach and Spice Island, and guests at BH can use all the SI facilities except for the swimming pool (some kind of insurance regulation). BH has rooms that are more like suites in size and they have self-catering facilities. Can't recall the exact website, but it should be easy to find.

ej: We live in a suburb of Chicago, about 20 mi. west of O'Hare. It was a flurry yesterday but followed by high winds and cool weather. I'm pretty avid about golfing and at times have been one of a handful of guys on the course when the weather was "challenging" :D. I was considering sneaking out for 9 holes on the little par 3 course but even that was closed as was the regular 18 hole course. Actually as I walk once you get going its really OK even when the temp is say 45. However if the wind is howling then its pretty tough. I can usually play till the end of Nov. or beginning of Dec. Then the course closes though some are open all yr. around Larry :-)

We stayed at Spice Beach Resort and loved it. There were couples with children there (not too many). It was very conviniently located to explore the Island. We also stayed across the street at thier sister resort Blue Horizons and thought it was a good deal for the money, a lot cheaper then Spice Beach Resort and pretty nice. We drove past Bel Air and it is isolated from the main stream.

How good was the snorkeling for avid snorkelers since the hurricanes of the past few years?I know it does not compare to St. John or belize but how about compared to Grenadines, Grand Cayman (past 2-3 years with hurricane damage)?? Thanks.

StanKase, we did not do any snorkeling this trip, but trip before we snorkeled wonderful elkhorn coral cannyons right off the beach at Rex resort. It was comparable to St John and Caymans.It was pre Ivan, so don't know how much damage was done.

EJ,

Right as always ;-) I did take a look at Macabana and loved what I *could* see on line.

I love "new-agey" as depicted here...gosh anything is better than "old-agey" in people or resorts :-) I actually explored Calabash...until I reminded myself that I'm not THAT old...yet :-)

I have written to them for further information. Then it becomes all about flights :-(. Flying to London to come in on British Airways is one of my most ridiculous thoughts...so I'll do further flight research :-)

Marion

Marion, that's not a half-bad idea--think of the FF miles you could earn by flying to London first! Then again, BA doesn't give full mileage credit, right? So that might be a wash, and not worth the jetlag involved. I dunno.

Glad you liked Maca Bana villas. We saw them from the outside and they looked nice. And the few photos on the website look really good, too. I just wish their promos had more concrete information such as more photos and a complete list of ameneties rather than listing things like "nature's art...life-brimming hum...blossoming in the face of adversity."

You know, you might like the Calabash. The grounds were pretty and I admit I love the idea of having breakfast and hors d'oeuvres delivered to the patio every day! It's probably a little more clubbish than most other places on the island. But I have very fond memories from the beach there at Prickly Bay with all of the children I met.

Does Air Jamaica still fly between MoBay and Grenada? Maybe you could piggy-back a week on Grenada with some time in Jamaica. And then fly Delta back to Beantown. There surely must be some kind of win-win situation if we all put our minds to it!

Larry, now that you mention it, I think I have read somewhere online about your location. Hope you're able to get lots of good golf weather in before the course is covered in snow!

Stan, based on reading your other posts, you would be gravely disappointed with the snorkeling in Grenada. I snorkeled there in only a couple of places this past July and found it just okay. About on par with what I found snorkeling from shore in Antigua and Barbados. I can't compare to the places you listed except for Tobago Cays in the Grenadines, and it was not as good as the TC. It was certainly enough to keep me happy for a few hours, but I think your standards are much higher than mine! :D