Our Irish experience and recommendations for a 2 week stay in the Caribbean Island of Grenada, also known as the “Spice Island”.
Youtube link to the Grenada, Caribbean Island stills image video:-
Our short instagram post on cocoa processing in Grenada:- https://www.instagram.com/p/CKJRrhNnyx5/
Link to our How to Sail for beginners video, made in Rodney Bay, St Lucia.
Our suggestions about how to fill a typical day in any all-inclusive resort during your stay in the Caribbean Islands.
Grenada
The best time to visit Grenada is during peak season, between mid-December and mid-April, because these are the months with the least rainfall, which means your chances of a picture-perfect vacation are that much higher.
In our experience, based on our sixteen visits to various Caribbean islands, staying at the all-inclusive Sandals Resort hotels is the most comfortable and enjoyable way to experience the Caribbean Islands. Sandals have sixteen adult only resorts and three Beaches (Family) resorts dotted all over the Caribbean. We have visited a variety of Sandals resorts in the Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia and Grenada.
In Grenada, Sandals has only one resort, the Sandals Grenada, situated on the Pink Gin beach.
The journey by hotel shuttle from the airport is less than ten minutes. All onsite facilities are free for use by guests and these include all water sports, sailing, diving (if qualified), snorkelling, canoeing etc.
Grenada is famous for spices and is known as the "Spice Isle", being a major source of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and cocoa.
All trips outside of your resort are offered at extra cost by the hotel tours advisors. These include Cocoa plantation tour, Guided tours by land and sea of the island.
Numerous catamaran excursions out of St George, the Capitol, stopping in protected bays for swimming and snorkelling.
For the silver surfer adrenalin junkies you can do cycling or canoe, Island buggy tours or simply just explore by yourself.
If you do go diving, watch out for the underwater sculptures at the various diving sites.
Sense of Grenada
The official currency in Grenada is the East Caribbean Dollar. If you do as we did and stay all-inclusive at Sandals resorts, you will be currency free as all of the on-site facilities are free, along with a no tipping policy.
Grenada is governed as a constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch represented by a governor-general as the nominal Head of State. Executive authority is vested in a Prime Minister.
Grenada is a small island country of volcanic origin in the eastern Caribbean. It lies just 160 kilometres north of Venezuela. Grenada has a ridge of mountains that run from north to south with steep valleys. It also features large areas of tropical rainforest. The fertile soils are chiefly volcanic, with some limestone in the north.
Most of all, it is the people of Grenada that make any vacation there memorable.
Grenadians are proud of their distinctive Caribbean culture, good fun and friendly.
Although the government has implemented many developmental programs, Grenada remains poor. The country also has the highest extreme poverty rate in the eastern Caribbean, with a rate of 13 percent. It has one of the highest unemployment rates in the Caribbean as well.
Perhaps a reflection of the island's small, tight-knit community, crime in Grenada is not a huge problem. Most incidents are petty in nature, with opportunistic thieves targeting tourists for pickpocketing, purse snatching and muggings.
it is obvious that there is a gulf between a wealthy minority and a substantial sector of poor Grenadians.
Agriculture and tourism are the most important sectors of the economy, although fishing and agriculturally based industries are becoming more significant. Grenada relies on financial support from the United Kingdom and other sources to bolster the economy.
In October 1983, a military coup took place in Grenada, during which Maurice Bishop was killed, the leader of the People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG). Less than a week later, on October 25th, a U.S. led invasion of the island overthrew the coup leaders and returned power to the governor-general, Sir Paul Scoon.
Recommendations for Grenada
There is no language barrier, if you only speak English.
English is the primary language spoken in Grenada. Two versions of Creole are also recognised in Grenada—English and French.
If you are a water bunny then Grenada is for you, with sailing, surfing, diving, snorkelling, fishing, paddle boarding and just tagging along as an observer on any of these activities.
Our must see recommendation for a trip to Grenada:-
(1) Our Coach transportation round-trip guided tour of the entire Island, including a great guided tour around a cocoa plantation where we saw the production process for Cocoa beans, the most essential base ingredient of chocolate.
(2) Our trip to Grand Anse beach or enjoying any of the multitude of superb beaches on offer throughout the Island.
The cost of this type of holiday in a Sandals hotel is €2-2.5k per person/per week, inclusive of flights (economy fare).
For the more price sensitive, typically, a trip to Grenada for two people for one week costs on average EC$8,964 ($3,317), staying in smaller boutique accommodation.
“You should travel away from home, to really appreciate the value of what you have at home, on your return.”
“Happiness is found in the journey and rarely in the destination, alone.”
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