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St. George's holidays
Perhaps the prettiest parish in all the Caribbean, Saint George’s hugs a natural harbour where the colourful houses of the capital spill down forested hills. This neck of the woods is Grenada’s hub of holidays, with good reason: stunning beaches, tropical gardens and bundles of old school Caribbean charm.
- Flight time
- 10h
- From London
- Currency
- EC$
- Eastern Caribbean dollar
- Time zone
- GMT -4h
Getting to St George's
International flights come into the Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND), which is in Saint George’s parish on the southwest peninsular. From the UK, these set off from Gatwick Airport (LGW) with BA and Virgin Atlantic. You usually have an 8.5-hour flight to St. Lucia, then a short stop before a 1.5-hour flight to Grenada.
Access to the other islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique is via a short flight to Carriacou’s Lauriston Airport or ferry with Osprey Lines from St George’s Carenage.
If you want to hire a car, you’ll need a local driving permit. Most rental companies issue these, or you can get them from the Central Police Station on the Carenage. You’ll need to show them your driver’s licence and pay a fee of around EC$60. Driving is on the left, as in the UK.
Average weather in St George's
- Temperature (°C)*
- Rainfall (Inches)*
Holidays in St. George's
Student town, tourist town and capital - there’s no doubt that St George’s and its beaches have biggest and buzziest nightlife. Bananas in True Blue is a restaurant, sports bar and nightclub rolled into one, with music and dancing late into the night on Fridays and Saturdays. Down on Morne Rouge Bay, Fantazia 2001 hosts reggae nights on Fridays until 5am. There’s also Umbrellas on Grand Anse Beach, much loved for happy hours, live music and awesome sunsets. To the south in Lance aux Epines, Junction hosts live bands, jam sessions and theme nights. The Tiki Bar on the Prickly Bay Marina has a long list of cocktails and happy hour from 5-6pm as well as WiFi access and a big screen. For a brilliant beer garden, head to The Brewery and try their homebrewed ales, bitters, porters and ciders.
About 45 minutes up the coast from St George’s, the fishing village of Gouyave hosts a terrific Fish Friday Festival. The weekly street party sees locals and tourists come together to enjoy freshly cooked fish, beer and steelpan music – a wonderful atmosphere and something well worth the journey to experience.
From burgers on the beach to traditional Grenadian grub and posh nosh, there’s tonnes to taste around here. Umbrellas is a long-time favourite beach bar and restaurant om Grand Anse – a lovely place to see the day out with drinks, music and dishes like nachos and burgers. On a Sunday, we like the BBQ at the Aquarium on Magazine beach where you can tuck into freshly grilled goods in a gorgeous seaside setting. On the Carenage, BB’s looks over the water and serves Caribbean dishes like jerk chicken. Also around here, Sail’s does super seafood with local spices (great wraps and sarnies at lunchtime). We like Dodgy Dock on Old Mill Road for their themed nights (Grenadian, Mexican, American…) with live music to match the menu. For a true island experience, head to Patrick’s on Lagoon Road – he does a tapas-like menu of local dishes, or you can order a big plate of your chosen dish.
If you’re celebrating something special or fancy a bit of gourmet, The Beach House Restaurant on Grand Anse is a truly spectacular setting with gorgeously presented regional cuisine. At Le Phare Bleu Marina, you can dine on a former lighthouse ship – on deck or indoors looking out to the bay. The sunsets are incredible, and so’s the menu which features carefully concocted international dishes.
Good news for shoppers: St George’s and Grand Anse have the nation’s bulk of malls and market stalls. In the capital, Esplanade Mall’s the go-to place for duty-free perfume, liquor and jewellery (check out Colombian Emeralds). One of our favourite shops here is Baobab Company who sell cool handmade t-shirts – nice souvenirs or gifts for people back home. In the new GCNA Complex on Lagoon Road, you’ll find some lovely stores like All Things Nutmeg (soaps, jams, oils, you name it – all made with nutmeg). The Market Square has stalls selling food, drink, spices and souvenirs, with famously loud, bold vendors - intense at first, but good fun when you get in the swing of bartering and firm ‘no thank you!’s. Around Grand Anse, the Excel Plaza has clothes, accessories and food shops while the Craft & Spice market does awesome street food (try the roti and oil down) as well as handmade knick knacks. Other good stores in around the parish include Art Fabrik Batik (for colourful clothes, homewares and jewellery plus delicious chocolate) and Arawak Islands (which sells soaps, lotions etc. made from natural raw materials on Grenada).
Activities in St. George's
We could easily spend all week snoozing on the beach in St. George's, but when you see the number of activities available, sitting still isn’t so easy...
Watersports
Diving in St. George's
Now Grenada’s hills, jungle and beaches are spectacular, but wait until you see what’s under the water… There’s a whole other world for divers and snorkelers, most of it just minutes off the southwest coast. Dive companies are easy to find (nearly all operate from Grand Anse beach) and provide PADI and BSAC courses and tours. One thing you simply cannot miss is the Underwater Sculpture Park, where submerged figurines of Grenadians form an eerie but awesome gallery beneath the waves – children holding hands, a man on a bike, another at his desk… Artists created the sculptures, and Mother Nature continuously contributes with reefs forming on top of them. A world first and a truly incredible one. Also part of the protected area are the Flamingo and Dragon Bay sites, where you can swim amongst brightly coloured corals and thousands of exotic fish. One of our favourite reef dives is The Boss, which is a five-mile reef gently sloping southwest from St Georges harbour where you can swim close to snapper, lobster, eels, turtle, barracuda.
Of the island’s fifty something dive sites, many are fascinating wrecks – none more so than the ‘Titanic of the Caribbean’, Bianca C which is an 180m cruise liner that sank upright in the sixties following a fire. Two lives were lost of the 673 passengers but the fast response of crew and locals to save everyone else is still praised today (the Christ of the Deep statue in the Carenage was a ‘thank you’ gift from the cruise company). An artificial reef has formed here, and you can often spot eagle rays, nurse sharks, eels and barracuda. For experienced divers, the King Mitch wreck sits six miles off the south coast, a 200ft long minesweeper-turned cargo boat that sunk while transporting cement. You can swim through the holds alongside nurse sharks and turtles. Easier to access is the Fiona, an upright barge in shallow waters near Grand Anse beach. The Buccaneer Wreck is a good second dive, a sloop resting on its starboard side where you can see octopuses and billions of barracuda.
Surfing in St. George's
This isn’t south Barbados with surf spots, hire outfits and surf schools galore – but if you know where to look on Grenada you can enjoy the swell free of crowds and competition. There’s a small but dedicated surfing community of locals, expats and students who keep their ears to the ground and make a beeline for the beaches when conditions are good. Prickly Bay is your best bet, a point break with left and right handers of 3-6ft. There aren’t consistent conditions on Cherry Hill, but in a good NE swell the point break gives experienced surfers a whale of a time – look out for impromptu surf competitions hosted here. Closer to the bulk of hotels in Saint Georges, Grand Anse has a beach break where you can find decent right handers in the winter, super for beginners and bodyboarders.
Head to Morne Rouge Beach (aka BBC) where the island’s king of all things boarding, Derek Pickell runs SUP Grenada. Instruction, hire and tours are available (they do a super downwind trip from Le Phare Blue to Secret Harvour, including a stop off at Hog Island) and we love a healthy dose of all three.
Windsurfing & kitesurfing in St. George's
Southwest Grenada - the whole island for that matter - doesn’t have a massive kiteboarding scene, but there are locals that kite (Derek from SUP Grenada is a local expert and IKO instructor) as well as some excellent spots to launch from. Owing to obstacles and offshore winds, the conditions are best for more experienced kiters rather than beginners. We’re yet to find anywhere that offers gear rental, so your best bet is bringing your own – just don’t opt for your newest, shiniest board as the reefs can be scratchy. Our favourite launch point is the pier at Coral Cove on the south of the island, where consistent breezes carry you along and lagoon-like water gives plenty of scope for freestyle. If you fancy a day trip, get a boat out to Carriacou and kite Watering Bay.
Windsurfing’s longer established and more popular, with hire available from the bigger resorts as well as companies like Eco Dive based in the capital. Grand Anse has perfect flat conditions for beginners, while Levera Beach to the east whips up the waves.
Sailing in St. George's
Of Grenada’s many marinas (nine on last count), nearly all are based on the west and south coasts in Saint George’s parish. Port Louis Marina’s one of the main ones, host of the annual sailing festival at the end of January. This is also where you’ll find LTD sailing, where you can book ASA basic keelboat and coastal cruising courses, all the way through to your bareboat cruising certification. On the other side of the harbour, Blue Water Sailing provide RYA yacht courses and two-day tasters from the Grenada Yacht Club. Bareboat charters are available from most marinas, and if you’d rather someone else took to the helm, companies like companies like Seaspice provide tours showing you the best sunsets and local islets. On a smaller scale, the bigger hotels and companies on Grand Anse beach (like Native Spirit Scuba and Eco Dive) provide Hobie cats.
Fishing in St. George's
For fishing trips and tournament’s in Grenada, you’ve come to the right place. Due to deep waters from close-by continental shelves, run outs can take as little as 15 minutes from this part of Grenada. Companies offering half and full day fishing charters include True Blue Sportfishing on the Port Louis marina and Wayward Wind Fishing at the Grenada Yacht Club. Amongst others, popular catches are blue and white marlin, wahoo, tuna and sailfish. Or for a more casual spot of trawling, fishermen in Grand Anse and Gouyave are usually happy to take you out with them – the inshore reefs are brimming with kingfish, wahoo and mackerel. Fly fishing is best on the north end of the island, where you can catch bonefish off Levera beach and huge tarpon in the Levera pond.
Canoeing & kayaking in St. George's
From pootling about in the shore of your favourite beach to heading off to explore islets and mangroves, kayaking’s a terrific way to see Grenada from the water. Expats and locals have set up top notch kayak businesses, like Conservation Kayak in Woburn Bay. Jamie and Amber provide tours from the Whisper Cove Marina, leading you along the beautiful south coast or over to Hog Island for a beach picnic. Other companies include S&S Kayaking whose glass-bottomed vessels give you a glimpse at the underwater world beneath you. A lot of the bigger hotels have their own fleet of kayaks for guests to use, and you’ll also find companies on Grand Anse beach like Native Spirit Scuba who provide hire.
Land activities
Golf in St. George's
Grenada’s by no means a leading golfing destination – you’ll want to head to the Dominican Republic or Barbados for serious fun on the fairway – but there is a course and it’s perfect if you fancy a morning or afternoon round. A ten-minute drive from Grand Anse and quarter of an hour from St George’s, Grenada Golf Club has 9 holes (par 34, 2673 yards) and can be played twice for 18. First timers are required to pay for caddy service and pull carts, clubs and balls can be rented. Lessons are also available. Opened in 1936, the course has gorgeous views over Grand Anse and Clark's Court Bay, with exotic birds and plants and tropical climes making it a brilliant place to play.
Cycling & mountain biking in St. George's
This part of Grenada has oodles of potential for cyclists, whether you prefer coastal cruising, MTB climbs or cycling through town. There are some seriously scenic paths to pedal on the southern peninsular, and the route from Cabier to Belle Isle on the eastern edge shows you another side of the island. Another stretch of coast worth cycling is the western bit between St George and the tip of the island, which takes you beside the beach, across a river and over coastal track and tarmac. Bikes are a super way to explore St George’s town and the Carenage, and you can also ride along plantations and nutmeg groves to experience inland Grenada. When it comes to uphill climbs, the routes up to the Annandale Waterfall and up Mount Maitland from St George’s are two of our favourites. Local companies specialising in bikes include Mocha Spoke in True Blue (who provide bike tours, rentals and repairs) and Adventure Tours in St George. Some of the bigger hotels also provide bikes to hire.
Walking & hiking in St. George's
The beauty of the size of Grenada’s that you can be based in the hotel hub around St Georges but still be in easy reach of some stunning walking and hiking routes. Within half an hour’s drive of the capital, one of the island’s most beloved walking areas is the Grand Etang National Park & Forest Reserve. The shoreline trail around the Grand Etang Lake is a favourite, leading past all kinds of wildlife on a loop lasting 90 minutes or so. Another route worth walking is the Morne Gazo trail, monitored by the Forestry Department and leading through nutmeg groves and rainforest. There are steps built into the steeper bits, and the views over Grand Anse Beach are fabulous. Families love the Morne LaBaye Trail, which sets off from the visitor centre and takes you through gorgeous greenery to a look-out tower. Or for a little more legwork, follow the rugged St Margaret’s trail, which leads up to the Seven Sister’s Waterfalls. The perimeter trail around Lake Antoine’s a favourite of nature lovers and bird watchers – look out for the snail kite and gray kingbird amongst others. And for something a little more beachy, we like the hike to Hog Island, which connects to south Grenada via a small bridge - stop for a drink at Rogers bar where you can rest legs on hammocks swings and picnic tables.