The Grenadines: A Deep Dive
The Grenadines are the Caribbean as the brochures promise but rarely deliver: a thirty-mile string of small islands and reefs running south from St Vincent to Grenada, hung in clear water and swept by a steady trade wind. There are no cruise-ship megaports here, no high-rise resorts, just fishing villages, palm-backed beaches, turtle-grazed lagoons and some of the finest line-of-sight sailing anywhere. The islands lie close enough that you can often see your next anchorage from the last, and the trades blow with such reliability that this is among the most dependable cruising grounds on earth. This is how the chain actually works under sail.
A chain you can see down
The Grenadines divide politically between St Vincent and the Grenadines to the north and Grenada to the south, but to a sailor they are one continuous archipelago. From Bequia, just south of St Vincent, the islands step away in sequence — Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, the Tobago Cays, Union Island, Petit St Vincent — and onward to Carriacou and Grenada. The longest open passage is rarely more than 25 nautical miles, and most are far shorter, with the next island a clear shape on the horizon. The water is deep, generally clean of hazards in the channels, and studded with reefs that demand eyeball navigation in good light. It is a place where you learn to read the sea by its colour: cobalt for deep, turquoise for sand, brown for coral.
The trade-wind engine
The northeast trades are the constant companion of any Grenadines cruise, blowing steadily from the east-northeast at 15-25 knots through the prime season from December to April. This makes the chain a beat or a reach depending on direction: heading south is typically a fast reach on the favoured tack, while the return north is more of a slog to windward. The reliability is the joy — you can plan around the wind because it simply blows, day after day. The flip side is sea state: the open channels between islands funnel the swell and the wind acceleration zones off the headlands can deliver 30 knots in the gusts. Reef early, time the channel crossings for the morning when the trades are often lightest, and respect the lee-bow current setting west through the gaps.
Bequia: the sailors' island
Bequia, seven miles south of St Vincent across the Bequia Channel, is the soul of the northern Grenadines and the natural first stop. Admiralty Bay is a wide, well-protected anchorage off Port Elizabeth, with a working waterfront, boatbuilders, sailmakers and a long tradition of whaling and seafaring. The island still holds a limited traditional whaling licence, and the model-boat workshops along the shore are famous. It is the place to clear in, provision properly, fill water and fuel, and gather yourself before heading down the chain. The walk around to Princess Margaret Beach and Lower Bay rewards a layover day, and the anchorage holds well in sand once you are clear of the grass.
The Tobago Cays: the jewel
If the Grenadines have a single iconic anchorage, it is the Tobago Cays — five tiny uninhabited islands sheltered behind the great arc of Horseshoe Reef, a marine park where you anchor in turquoise water with nothing between you and Africa but a wall of coral that breaks the open Atlantic swell. Green turtles graze the seagrass meadows, the snorkelling over the reef is superb, and boat vendors bring lobster grilled on the beach. The park charges a daily fee, anchoring is on sand only to protect the coral and grass, and the holding can be lively when the trades pipe up through the gaps in the reef. It is busy in season but remains, on a settled morning, one of the most beautiful places to wake up afloat anywhere in the world.
Mustique and Canouan: two faces
Between Bequia and the southern cays lie two contrasting islands. Mustique is the famously private island, a tightly managed resort retreat with a handful of moorings in Britannia Bay administered by the Mustique Company; you pick up a mooring rather than anchor, the legendary Basil's Bar sits over the water, and the atmosphere is exclusive and orderly. Canouan, further south, has grown a luxury marina and resort development at its northern end while keeping a sleepy village and good anchorages in the south. Both reward a stop, but they show the two directions the Grenadines are pulled: discreet wealth on one hand, working island life on the other.
The southern islands: Mayreau, Union, the PSVs
South of the cays the chain finishes in a cluster of small islands. Mayreau is tiny and charming, with Saltwhistle Bay's famous double-sided beach where you can stand with the calm Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic surf on the other a few steps away. Union Island, with its dramatic peaks and the port of Clifton behind its reef, is the southern clearance point and a lively hub with an airstrip and provisioning. Beyond lie Palm Island and Petit St Vincent, two private-island resorts, and Petit Tabac, the deserted cay used as a film location. From here Carriacou and Grenada continue the chain south, but the Grenadines proper save their best for this southern crescent.
Practicalities: clearance, mooring and season
Cruising the Grenadines means crossing an international border in mid-chain: St Vincent and the Grenadines to the north, Grenada to the south, each with its own clearance at ports such as Port Elizabeth, Clifton, Hillsborough and St George's. Most anchoring is free on sand, but the Tobago Cays charge a park fee and Mustique uses paid moorings; boat boys offering mooring help, water and fruit are part of the culture and a fair tip is expected. The high season runs December to April, dry and breezy; the hurricane season from June to November makes most of the area off the insurance line, though the Grenadines lie near the southern edge of the belt. Provisioning is good in Bequia and Union, thinner elsewhere — stock up where you can.
Explore on the map
Few cruising grounds are as easy to picture as a line on a chart as the Grenadines, where the next anchorage is usually visible from the last and the whole archipelago strings out across thirty miles of trade-wind sea. Open the interactive map to trace the chain from Bequia through the Tobago Cays to Union Island, and to see how the reefs and channels shape every passage. Plan a route that runs south on the favoured reach, lingers a settled morning behind Horseshoe Reef, and saves the long windward return for the steadiest part of the day.