Grenada to St. Vincent and the Grenadines

[drewvta]

FYI - Walgreens still has same day PCR tests for free in a lot of areas. With a lot more appointment availability now that omnicron surge has past.
Also US only requires antigen (w/i 24hrs) coming back in. You probably know that but wanted to make sure.
Best of luck and look forward to hearing how it goes.
Drew

[Dreddy]

Hey Drew,


Thanks for the updated info. Much appreciated. I did not know about 24 hr antigen testing prior to US entry. My Rum budget is gratefully replenishing....

[Dreddy]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

It's mostly a motor sailing trip, probably. Hug the coast and "tack" all the way into the bay at Sauteurs to get as far upwind as you can. Then to leeward of the islands in between, and you'll probably still have to motor back up to windward once you get in the lee of Cariacou. Beautiful trip.

I was wondering about that. I was half expecting it would be motoring most of the way. I've heard the wind gusts can be very fresh, once past the lee of the island. We just want to get to Carriacou, as quickly as possible, leaving exploring Grenada on the way back to St. Georges.


It appears the jog back to Grenada will be an easy broad reach.

[Tia Bu]

Consider looking at all your available time for a weather "window" to make the crossing. Explore Grenada on either side of the window. The crossing to Cariacou can be awfully rough in a stiff trade wind. Depending on the sensibilities of your crew, it wouldn't be a great loss to stay in Grenada if the weather's too rough.

[Dreddy]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

Consider looking at all your available time for a weather "window" to make the crossing. Explore Grenada on either side of the window. The crossing to Cariacou can be awfully rough in a stiff trade wind. Depending on the sensibilities of your crew, it wouldn't be a great loss to stay in Grenada if the weather's too rough.

Hey Tia good to know. I was figuring that it might be rough. With an E to W current with NNE winds it has the potential to be,

It seems to be pretty standard blowing 17 to 20 kn over the past week or so. Only a couple of days of 14 and 15.
I have a feeling It’s gonna be a little bumpy. It tends to tighten things up a little bit when SVG wants a Delivery date 2 to 3 days in advance, for bio-security..

All pretty doable I would imagine…. Lol

Any recommendations in Grenada?

[Tia Bu]

Couple of dining suggestions: La Sagesse (boutique hotel accessible by taxi)- Magical. And Whisper Cove Marina (their restaurant worth a visit- accessible by boat.)

It's a great place. More to do than you have time for, I suspect.

[Dreddy]

Much thanks to everyone that assisted in contributing their knowledge and assistance.

We are on the back end of the trip, and wanted to take time to update our progress, I believe someone asked about the check in procedure at St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Much thanks to speedyox And his info on the rapid test info. Getting to Grenada it was easy enough, American Airlines really tries to force you to use their online tool,Verifly. Evidently it’s some third-party Smart device app, that you upload your personal data too. I’m not one for mass collection of my data so I’m not a fan of it using it. Some people love it. The Customer service agent at Denver Airport, begrudgingly excepted my hardcopies of information.

Straightforward getting into Grenada. I had to show a negative Covid test to enter. Checking out was simple as can be, which I did so it Port Louis marina in Saint Georges. The charter company arrange for a nurse to do Covid testing at the marina. And we were off.

The upward route we took, was slogging through 6 foot seas and 22kt winds. Cats don’t do well of wind, so it was a slow motor.

Checking in to Saint Vincent, in Union Island, proved to be more challenging than the sometimes working St. Vincent website suggests.

Sailclear info was uploaded, all the proper forms for filled out, however, the customer lady told me that I must use an agent. Evidently by some sort of good old boys club that is still barely in affect, more so with some agents than others. We used in Asian for the cost of 55 US, because I didn’t feel like arguing with a lady that was the gate keeper to my entrance to the pantry. Other people didn’t have to use an agent, so I’m not too sure what happened there. St. Vincent and the Grenadines was amazing the people as warm as the Caribbean sun.

Checking out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines we ran into the same BS problem. I explained that we wanted to check out, the same lady had indicated that I cannot do so and I must use an agent. Again, I gladly gave up $55 to continue my vacation. I’m not especially happy with having to use an agent, but, their country their rules…

Checking into Grenada was a piece of cake. (Sort of ) Despite uploading the information to Sailclear, the port officer was nowhere to be found so after multiple phone calls the customs agent told me just to come to the marina and he would do all the paperwork. All sudden done, it took two hours. If the bio port agent was there, it probably would’ve taken a half an hour.

In most places of the boat boys charge a premium for stuff you can normally get for quite a bit less. Walking through Clifton Harbor, people are offering you fresh fish and lobster left and right.

This is what we found thus far to be acceptable rates, according to the check in agent.

These prices are in eastern Caribbean dollars ($.37 to 1USD)
Fresh fish, $10-$12 a pound, Any type
Lobsters $20 a pound $25 pound max
Lobster Beach barbecue, $55 to $60 Eastern Caribbean dollars

Hope this helps.

[speedyox]

Thanks for the update Dreddy. Your information is very helpful as I'm about 3 months away from my own trip and still trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of repeated covid testing and clearance to be able to visit tobago cays or if we'd be happier using that time in Petite Martinique and Carriacou.

Since you checked out of Grenada in Port Louis, did you stop in Tyrell bay or someplace else in Carriacou, or head straight to Union?

How much did it cost for the Covid testing in St. George's? Are you going to do that again before returning to the US?

How long did it take to clear into SVG once you got to Union?

How easy/expensive was it to get covid tests in SVG to get back into Grenada?

Any places or experiences that were particularly great with your kids? I'll have kids around that age with me as well. We were thinking about hiking to the top of Carriacou from Anse La Roche and then some kind of hiking on Grenada once we're off the boat.


Thanks again. And enjoy the rest of your trip.

[Dreddy]

Originally Posted by speedyox

Thanks for the update Dreddy. Your information is very helpful as I'm about 3 months away from my own trip and still trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of repeated covid testing and clearance to be able to visit tobago cays or if we'd be happier using that time in Petite Martinique and Carriacou.

Since you checked out of Grenada in Port Louis, did you stop in Tyrell bay or someplace else in Carriacou, or head straight to Union?

How much did it cost for the Covid testing in St. George's? Are you going to do that again before returning to the US?

How long did it take to clear into SVG once you got to Union?

How easy/expensive was it to get covid tests in SVG to get back into Grenada?

Any places or experiences that were particularly great with your kids? I'll have kids around that age with me as well. We were thinking about hiking to the top of Carriacou from Anse La Roche and then some kind of hiking on Grenada once we're off the boat.


Thanks again. And enjoy the rest of your trip.

Hey Speedyox,

Let me see if I can answer your questions:

I highly recommend doing the Covid testing to get to Tobago Cays. Arguably one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. Might be a little wind blown at times, but completely worth it. Go to testing is not that hard to set up. The nice thing is, if you use SVG arrivals email address is Svgarrivals.com, They will set up all Covid testing and the check in process will be probably about 20 minutes total. In fact they will meet you at the dock, in union island.

We did stop at a Sandy Island in Carriacou. Just a visit but the motoring from there to Union Island is maybe 40 minutes if I recall? Your timing will be the biggest issue. The customs offices close at 4 PM. So, if you don’t get a early departure, laying up in Sandy Island is great.

You have 24 hours to leave Grenada once you check out. That’s complicated by your Rapid test being good for only 24 hours as well.

Covid testing at St. George’s, can be done two different ways, the charter company can arrange to have a nurse come out and give you the antigen test, for $300 EC. ($111 USD ) Or taxi to the life clinic they charge $120EC ($44 US).

We chose paying the $111 because waiting in line and getting the results And the taxi cab ride, will take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours more. We wanted to get up north and spend as much time as we could. That was our rational behind paying the extra money.

We will need to get tested before getting back to the US. Because our flight is not till the afternoon, and our boat is due back early in the morning, we will take a cab down to The Life Clinic, and grab breakfast. We can enjoy a cuppa coffee and a croissant while having our nasal passages swabbed.… LOL

Since we live in Colorado, all my kids wanted to do was died for shells and jump off the boat in the water.

We are going to do a chocolate factory tour and a waterfall tour here on the island of Grenada.. I’m hopeful to go to the national park like around, but I have a feeling that the kids will want to spend more time at the beach. I don’t have a problem sitting at the beach drinking beer… Lol

On a sidenote, connectivity down here has been fine. We have AT&T and they have international calling plants that we were able to add on. We’ve had a pretty good go. There were a few places without cell service or data service. Made it easy Putting out fires at home.

[Anjulis]

Dreddy, a couple more questions. I am starting my trip this Saturday.
1. Did you have a chance to use internet there? I will need to connect a few times, esp. on Wednesday for an important meeting, using zoom. How was the connection there?


2. Has anyone checked your papers in Tobagos? I am thiniking of going there straight from Carriacou and leave the same day. It is hardly worth to spend 2-3 hours in Union just for that. I can do remote covid test with US right from the boat (assuming internet connection).


3. Any special places you can recommend?

[Dreddy]

Hi Anjulis,

We have AT&T, and had good connectivity. Not sure about a zoom call tho. Don’t forget to add a + when calling locally. (Hold down the 0 button for 2 seconds)

Sorry I’m not more help…

Nobody checked our papers, we had a SVG courtesy flag flying, after we checked in.

Imagine the penalties are stiff. Not sure on that one.

You will love it! Amazing place….

[KenSmithPEng]

I too am chartering in Grenada. My week is beginning of May. Can anyone please recommend good charts snd/or local guide book?

Thanks in advance.