Focus on Favorites – Bequia and Tobago Cays and Union Island

Lying at the southern end of the Caribbean chain, the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are one country. Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Tobago Cays, Mayreau, Union Island, & Palm Island are just a few of the Grenadines. These relatively unspoiled islands have some of the most beautiful waters and scenery imaginable. We were lucky enough to re-visit three of them again this February.

Bequia has long been a favorite of cruising sailors with just the right mix of authenticity and entertainment and a dose of Caribbean beauty tossed in. Some cruisers spend many enjoyable weeks anchored off the expansive white sands of Princess Margaret’s Beach. The island was our first stop as we sailed south from St. Lucia.

Having visited Bequia many times over our sailing years, this trip was spent mostly socializing with other sailors accompanied by a bit of boat work. We were buddy sailing with our solo sailor friend, Glen D on sv Sirenite and were looking forward to reuniting with some other sailing friends from last year and making some new ones!

We barely had the anchor down before Glen D. was hustling us off to a happy hour at a local’s home up in the hills of Bequia. We were amazing at his stunning home overlooking the white crescent shaped beach of Industry on the northeast side of Bequia.

Enjoying happy hour on our first night back in Bequia….windy!.

Next stop, dinner with old and new friends, at the Firefly Plantation, on the east side of Bequia. Passion-fruit margaritas, toasted, shaved coconut and lots of laughter were the highlights.

Renee and Dave from SV Alegria, Pam and Glenn, Mark and Sarah from SV Due’, Kevin and Cheryl from SV Kracken, Tom and Pat from SV Lone Star.

Long, lazy days on Bequia continued on with a mixture of hiking, swimming, diving, and lots of happy hours – our favorite kind of island!

Glenn, Glen D. and Pam spent a wonderful morning hiking to the highest point on Bequia. According to legend, Ma Peggy, with her spectacular eyesight, would climb to the highest point on the island of Bequia and perch on top of a rock and point out the schools of fish to local fishermen. We were rewarded with a tremendous view.

Happy hour at Bar One, a floating bar off Princess Margaret Beach, Admiralty Bay, Bequia.

On our last morning, Glenn dove with 3 other sailors, off the coast of Bequia.

Mira and her crew set off early heading south from Bequia to the Tobago Cays. We only had a short window to explore a couple more Grenadine islands before we had to be back in St. Lucia to greet our best friends, Patti and Jim. It was a beautiful sail – 25 knots a little aft of the beam. Winds that strong make for a beautiful sail, but a little more uncomfortable in our anchorages. The wind had been howling since early February, but we were determined to keep exploring. We tried picking up a mooring just behind the reef in the Cays, but we were rocking like a rocking chair in 25 knots. We moved into the cut between the islands, and the rocking settled. Wind and current were still super strong, but Mira wasn’t rolling around.

The Tobago Cays is a national park composed of a group of small, uninhabited islands protected from the sea by Horseshoe Reef. The colors produced by the water and reef are spectacular. Snorkeling among fish and turtles in the Cays is one of the best in the Caribbean. This trip we spent most of our time snorkeling in the cut – waves and current were too strong out on the reef. We spent most of one afternoon playing with 3 turtles that were lazing and swimming around one of the islands.

Sunset off the back porch in the Tobago Cays.

We spent another entire day doing boat work. Pam polished the stainless, and Glenn did some maintenance work and went up the mast for an amazing 360 degree view.

View of the Tobago Cays cut from the top of Mira’s mast.

After the Cays, we zipped over to Union Island for one night to attend the Full Moon party in Clifton and see the kite surfing exhibitions. Sadly, our weather router said we needed to take off for St. Lucia by 5 am the next morning – so our party plans were curtailed!

But, we did manage to have drinks on Happy Island! This is a tiny island built with shells by hand by the owner. Perfectly placed on the edge of the reef off Union.