DH and I are beginning to plan a vacation for May 2006. Every year for the past five years, we have gone to St. John and absolutely loved it - love the snorkeling, ability to rent a reasonably priced villa, relatively easy to get to, good variety of dining options. While I am sure we will go back, we are finally ready to try a new island!

DH would like to go to Kuaui, but I am leaning towards the Caribbean. I have been to Maui and enjoyed it, but did not love it.

The island of Mayreau and Saltwhistle Bay seems like a great place to start planning around, primarily because of the snorkeling and close proximity to Tobago Cays. While I typically am not a big "island hopper" - usually preferring to stay in one spot for the trip duration...I think this trip I will reconsider...particularly since it appears to be quite a journey to get here from the midwest. Also, Saltwhistle Bay appears to include meals (breakfast/dinner) in the rates and we would like to stay somewhere for a few days where we can "explore" some dining options.

So...if we plan to stay on Mayreau for 5 nights and we have a total of 10 nights? What nearby island would you suggest? (that sounds a bit like a math problem!)

We like to hike, snorkel, relax. No need for any big night life, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Barbados is certainly a place for varied dining options, as well as interesting sightseeing. It is well-developed around Bridgetown and on the coast both sides of Bridgetown. Elsewhere is much quieter, with plenty of nature settings.

Mayreau is a very small island (there's only about 200 residents), outside of the "resort' at Saltwhistlebay there's not much to do which is why breakfast and dinner are included in the room rate. Quite honestly, 5 days on this island doing nothing but sit on the beach might be a bit too reserved for some people but if you go to the Tobago Cays mid-way during your stay you might find the change welcome. FYI - I don't recall there being very much snorkeling around Mayreau so you'll definitely want to take that side trip to the Tobago Cays to get your snorkel fix.

Since the Mayreau experience is so laid back you probably will want to visit bigger more "active" island for the remainder of your vacation if a variety of dining options is your pleasure. The aforementioned Barbados is one such place as is Grenada and perhaps St. Vincent. Any of the other Grenadines will be too similar to Mayreau.

hi laura, i did a lot of research for an upcoming trip to st.v&g, and wanted to mention that bequia has the most villas in this group. mayreau and union island do seem to be the places to do tobago cays from as bequia is a bit further north.
chances are that you will fly through barbados - so that might be a good switch. a british island, much more expensive but loads of things to do and restaurants to try. another possiblity is st. lucia.
when we go we are doing a villa week on bequia, then a few days on union just for tobago cay snorkeling then another villa week on west coast barbados. (for almost all the barbados info you could want e-mail lois swanson at [email protected] or type in her name in box above)

Would also suggest a few days in Bequia with a side trip to the mainland St. Vincent

My husband and I are doing a similar trip next May. We will be flying into Barbados and then right on to Mayreau for 4 nights at Saltwhistle Bay Club. I picked that resort mainly because it looks beautiful, adn I like that fact that it is so remote. For activitiy I figure we can climb the hill and go into "town". Also picked there as I feel it is a great jumping off point for a couple of day trips to the Tobago Cays.

From there we are heading to Bequia for a few nights adn then finishing up on Young Island where we spent our honeymoon 15 years ago.

If you do decide on Saltwhistle Bay, maybe we'll see you there. We are staying there from 5/5 thru 5/9.

All I can say is, I can't wait!
KathyH

Sounds like you've got a great trip ahead of you! I was in the same stage last year that you're in now, trying to figure how to divvy up my two weeks in the southern Caribbean. I ended up doing 5 nighs on Bequia and 9 on Grenada and it was probably the best vacation I've ever been on. I could have used at least one week more in each place, though, so I'll clearly have to go back!

I personally love the looks of Saltwhistle Bay Club and I would love to stay there in the future. However, I'm not sure it's that easy to get to the Tobago Cays from there. If you're looking for a place with intense R&R, I think you neeed look no further. If you want a place that's just a jumping off place to get to the Tobago Cays, however, you might be better off checking out Union Island. Union lacks the atmosphere of Mayreau, but you could easily get to the Cays every day from there.

To throw you in another direction altogether, there's a very nice 4-night package offered by the Tamarind on Canouan that includes daily breakfast & dinner plus one daytrip to the Cays. You might want to give some thought to that one if you're looking more for R&R.

I think it would be a shame to be in the Grenadines and not see Bequia, and if you only want to make one daytrip to the Tobago Cays, you can do it from Bequia on the lovely schooner, Friendship Rose. Bequia's got some great little villas at unbelievable prices compared to other islands. It's small and easy to get around, and the rhythm of the island really gets under your skin.

Barbados is an easy gateway to get to and from the Grenadines (I used it myself last year because I was able to get one FF ticket there) because of the SVGAir connections to Union, Bequia, and Mustique from there. However, if you just want to do Bequia, it would be just as easy to use St. VIncent as your jumping off point.

You really can't go wrong with any of the combos you or the rest of us suggested. It's just a matter of finding which island combo might be best for you.

Just a thought, have you considered doing a Windjammer sailboat cruise? We did this trip a few years ago and loved it. Found it was a great way to see numerous islands in that area with a taste of each. We flew to Grenada and then sailed in St. Vincent & the Grenadine islands. Bequia, Carriacou, Tobago Cays, Mayreau etc. It was lots of fun. Worth considering IMO if you want to see numerous islands. www.windjammer.com

We sailed these island in November on a bareboat charter. IMHO 5 days on Mayreau would be way too much. Other than the SWB beach (which is beautiful, but small) there isn't much to see or do. The snorkeling is dismal. The restaurants in town are minimal and the food is pretty basic. Tobago Cays snorkeling is nice, but there is no place to stay there, so one has to be on a boat at anchor. We anchored our boat there for several days and would watch the daytrippers come and go. They make a pretty fast trip of it. If DH wants Kuaui and you give him Mayreau, I should think he could be very disappointed. Although there are some resorts, the Grenadine islands are geared toward independent sailors living on boats.

Was at Saltwhistle about 4 years ago. The beach is really beautiful, and there was excellent snorkeling (facing out from the beach) toward the left.