If you like to drop the hook and stay put, venturing out only via dinghy, Prickly Bay is the place to go. Located two peninsulas east of Port Salines, home to the international airport, it’s a perennial favorite, especially with liveaboards and long-term cruisers. The entrance is fairly wide, though there are some reefs toward the eastern side. It’s not just the relative calm of the anchorage that will please you. In between making friends with the other boaters and locals, you’ll surely take note of the pretty villas rising up the slope of the hills, plus a few resorts and developments at the water’s edge. One in particular, Prickly Bay Waterside, will feature private homes that architecturally mimic megayachts, with their “bows” pointed out over the water. And yes, they’ll be complete with docks for the owners’ real yachts.
If you’d rather be docked yourself, Prickly Bay is also home to Spice Island Marine (www.spiceislandmarine.com). Customs and immigration are conveniently on site, as are fueling, a chandlery, a restaurant, and a bar. Spice Island Marine also contains a working boatyard, with a 70-ton TraveLift, electrical and wood shops, a sail loft and rigging shop, plus other services.
As pretty as Prickly Bay is, the calm waters of the lagoon bordering Grand Anse, on Grenada’s leeward side, draw boaters, too. Here you’ll find the Grenada Yacht Club (www.grenadayachtclub.com) and the brand-new Port Louis Marina. The Yacht Club, host of an annual billfish tournament, has slips for 44 boats, and on-site fueling. Port Louis Marina, started by developer Peter De Savary and now owned and operated by Camper & Nicholsons Marinas, has nearly 400 berths, with a dozen dedicated to megayachts. A restaurant and bar are on site, with retail and provisioning shops, yacht charter and sales offices, and fueling facilities opening within the year. Both marinas are a short taxi ride from historic St. Georges, the capital, which has its own picturesque waterfront. Don’t be surprised if you happen to get the same taxi driver twice and he remembers you. And don’t be surprised if locals smile and wave as you pass; it’s their nature.
Even with increasing services to attract boaters and tourists, Grenada is underdeveloped— a blessing. The government has learned its lessons well from observing those Caribbean nations where towering hotels, sprawling golf courses, and other manufactured niceties have started to overwhelm native charm.
It’s that preservation of character that has me planning a return trip. I also keep thinking about the proud displays of the Grenadian flag, and what the colors represent. There’s gold, for the sun’s warmth; green, for the fertile soil and landscape; and red, for the people’s vitality and fervor. A few Grenadians gave me another, unofficial explanation for the red: It’s the color everyone is on the inside. Idealistic? Maybe. But Grenada genuinely made me feel welcome, and I can’t wait to go back.
