Flight from Grenada to St Lucia, via Carriacou, Canouan

Tobago Cays

One morning from Union island I caught a boat ride with the marine park rangers, who go to the Tobago Cays each day to pick up overnight user fees from the yachts who anchor in the area. Other ways to get there are with organized yacht tours through the hotels or by speaking to fishermen with motorized canoes on the docksides of either Union or Mayreau islands.

These five uninhabited islands, surrounded by coral reefs and shallow clear turquoise waters are out of this world. The best thing is to take a mask with you to swim within yards of green turtles, over coral outcrops and grazing conchs.

Union Island

From Mayreau, I caught another passenger and cargo ferry- this time to Union Island, twenty minutes away.

The harbour front is the focus of life and the link to the outside world- a great place to watch island life.
 

Behind the harbour, the capital Clifton is a small and colourful town.

View of Petit St Vincent, Petit Martinique and Petit Dominica from the St Joseph guesthouse. From the veranda, one could also see Palm island, the Morpion sand bank, Carriacou and, on a clear day, Grenada. Just offshore is a lagoon and coral reef.

 

Union has high pinnacles, thus lending it the slogan "Tahiti of the Caribbean". From the top of the 1000 foot peak are incredible views of the island and over the entire Grenadine island chain.

 

Windward beaches on Mayreau

Around the corner from Saltwhistle bay, there were a couple of fishermen on Windward beach.

They were throwing a fine net into the shallows to catch small silver fish. These were going to be used as bait later on, when they went out on their boat to fish in the deep waters off rocky islets on the northern point of Mayreau.

The beaches on the windward side were empty and idyllic with a shallow lagoon and backed by forested hills. Steady trade winds blew onshore. The only sign of people was related to the activities of fishermen- an occasional wooden shack, fishing boat, pile of conch shells and net suspended in the water by isopore floats.