Mask sealed, fins secure, I plunge off the boat into the Caribbean Sea. I’ve been warned that what lies beneath will take my breath away, but even so, I kick to the surface in shock. It’s not the iridescent butterfly fish or the sound of fizzing, crackling reef that makes me cry out. It’s a body. And not just one. A ring of 26 faceless children.
Barnacle-deformed, they hold hands on the seabed, strips of fleshy coral swaying in the current. A short swim away is a man, enslaved to his typewriter as fish nibble his head. A naked woman on a bench fends off an imaginary assailant, and a sly lady in a sun hat lures kids into an underwater forest.
I’ve dived straight into a Stephen King novel, and it’s wonderful.
Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park is one of the more unusual surprises in store for cruisers who stop at Grenada. I’ve been visiting this laid-back Caribbean island for six years now, interviewing the participants of the ARC+ rally, and there’s always something new to discover. This year, it was Smithy’s Garden, an explosion of rainforest blooms and fruit trees that has won gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Last year, I visited Tri Island chocolate factory, whose music-promoter owner moved from the UK after inheriting his grandparents’ cocoa plantation.
There is rum to be drunk (sometimes before breakfast, and from bottles containing millipedes), chocolate to be sampled and trails to be hiked. If you’re lucky, in the company of mona monkeys.
But for many visitors to the Caribbean, life is about relaxation. Or, to use the Grenadian word, liming. You might see “limes” advertised on painted wooden billboards, or hear locals chatting about them at the street food van. According to the publication Lime and Dine, this is a concept that can be found in all cultures, and essentially means hanging out. Think of it as la dolce vita, of taking time to smell the roses. Its origin dates to the days of the British Navy in the Caribbean. The sailors would put into port and, sleepy from the tropical heat, laze around eating citrus fruit to fend off scurvy, earning themselves the nickname “limeys.”
“You can’t hurry a good lime; it’s done when it’s done,” the magazine advises, listing a selection of local limes from live steel pan music at Dodgy Dock to happy hour at Prickly Bay.
Port Louis Marina
If anyone’s earned the right to lime, it’s the ARC+ sailors I find in Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina. They’ve made landfall after a 3,000-mile passage from Europe.
The transatlantic rally departs Gran Canaria in November and stops in Cape Verde, then finishes in Grenada in early December. It’s just one of a packed calendar of Caribbean yachting events, including Grenada Sailing Week in January, the BVI Spring Regatta in March and Antigua Sailing Week in April. The direct ARC rally finishes late December in St. Lucia.
Cheri and Michael Buckley from Oregon completed the transatlantic crossing on their Lagoon 450F New L’Attitude. “We came to Grenada two years ago,” Cheri says. “The ARC yellow shirts were very nice, and the sailors seemed like a happy little bunch. We talked to some of the people who’d done the ARC+ rally. They were pleased with their experience, so we thought we’d do it too.”
Only, they did it both ways, to Europe and back, taking time out to explore the Mediterranean with their Havanese, Stella.
“Everybody loves Stella,” Cheri says with a laugh. “They can’t remember our names, but they know hers. It’s a bit of extra work sailing with a dog; you have to make sure her vaccinations are up-to-date, and you need certain permits and health certificates, but so far nothing too challenging.”
There are several other dogs taking part in this year’s rally, as well as 53 kids, many of whom I find fishing on the pontoons while keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the superyachts.
Port Louis Marina can accommodate yachts of all sizes, though there is one so large it has to moor in the bay. This is the 364-foot Oceanco Leviathan. When we pass it on a sunset cruise, there are squeals of delight as the kids spot the cinema-size screen in the cockpit. The internet tells us it’s one of several on board, as well as a gym, sauna and two racing simulators.
Across the bay is the vibrant city of St. George’s, the island’s capital, whose colorful houses built in the 18th century have a feel of the Wild West to them. The marketplace is a must for sampling local cuisine such as chicken rotis and saltfish salad. There are souvenir shops and restaurants, and impressive Fort George, built in 1705.
My favorite place, however, is the seafront known as the Carenage, where you can peek inside the huge trawlers getting patched up between long weeks at sea.
Spice Island Marine
I’m fascinated to find one such trawler in Spice Island Marine boatyard. Here, a fisherman is packing rope between plank seams, something I’ve only seen on classic boats. The sooner he can get the 50-foot Phoenix back in the water, the sooner he can return to fishing for tuna and mahi mahi.
“We’ve been trying to get out of here for the last few months,” he says. “Then we’ll be back at sea for two to three weeks at a time. These boats have ice boxes to preserve the fish.”
Spice Island Marine also accommodates cruising yachts, particularly during hurricane season. They’re tied down to concrete blocks 6 feet below the ground. Sarah and Dane Evans own the yard; they’re a Boston couple who moved to Grenada to run Dane’s family business.
“We’ve had 235 boats this season, eight of them launching today,” Sarah says as she shows me around. “We can do anything that’s needed: mechanic, bottom jobs, gelcoat, and there’s a company on-site who do rigging and sails.”
She also was there when Hurricane Beryl passed through Grenada in 2024. “It was extremely scary. Every boat was stepped down, and we welded the stands front and back for extra stability if the ground shook. We had a 24-hour security guard stay on site, and he took videos with social media so everyone could see what was happening.”
Fortunately for Spice Island Marine, Beryl passed farther north, and the boats escaped damage. Sadly, other islands were devastated.
“We have several YouTubers at Spice Island Marine, and these boats, together with other customers, banded together and did a YouTube-a-thon to draw attention to what was happening,” Sarah says. “We raised $120,000 US, which was used to help rebuild the businesses of Carriacou.”
At the boat lift, I find Seattle boatbuilder Caleb Carlson, who has a huge smile as his yacht L’Chain is lowered into the water. “This is very exciting,” he tells me. “The boat’s been here since Covid. I had to go back to the US, and now we’re finally launching.”
As Caleb sails away, the lift operator waves. “We’re happy to see the customers come. They become like family,” he says. “But we’re happy to see them go again, knowing they’re going to enjoy the rest of the Caribbean waters.”
Sarah has to turn away some catamarans, which are too wide for the 25-foot, 70-ton lift. Many go to nearby Clarke’s Court Boatyard & marina, which is cleaved into towering green hillside. Its boat lift, “The Hulk,” can handle boats of 242 tons with a beam of 37 feet. Manager Raymond Burke tells me that despite this, some of today’s superyachts are still too big, so his team will go out to them to do repairs.
Clarke’s Court Boatyard also serves the Horizon charter fleet, and is getting more and more inquiries from charter companies looking to switch from the British Virgin Islands.
Grenada Marine
Possibly one of the most idyllic boatyards I’ve ever visited is the family-run Grenada Marine, owned by Briton Laura Fletcher and her Grenadian husband, Jason. Daughter Georgia, newly appointed as acting manager, shows me around the leafy yard, which is the only Volvo Penta dealer on the island.
Somira Sao, with her husband, James, and six children aged 5 to 17, is stepping the mast of their performance cruising trimaran, Thunderbird. The family have been sailing together since 2011 and recently undertook a 5,000-mile passage from Uruguay to Trinidad.
Somira says she loves Grenada: “It’s an island where we feel safe. It’s just lush and beautiful, and here in the boatyard, the kids can run loose. There’s no traffic to worry about, and there’s a wonderful beach where they can explore what we call coconut tree jungle and the mangroves.”
Another cruiser enjoying a restful haul out is Ray Bryan aboard the Irwin Yachts 52 Jalapeño, which he sails 100 days a year with his wife, Jennifer. Originally from northern Nevada, they first visited Grenada in 2018.
“This is the most special yard in all of Grenada, in fact, the Windwards,” he says. “It also helps that the south end of Grenada is below 12 degrees north, which is a line a lot of people use to reduce their insurance premium.”
Where to Stay
Owners are allowed to stay on board at Grenada Marine, Spice Island and Clarke’s Court boatyards, and all have a limited number of slips. Additionally, Spice Island and Clarke’s Court have self-catering accommodation.
Grenada also has plenty of Airbnb options along with the peaceful chalets of Blue Horizons Garden Resort and the super-chic Silversands, with its infinity pool featured in the game show The Fortune Hotel.
Many of Grenada’s hotels are along the pristine sands of Grand Anse beach, a short bus or taxi ride (or a 30-minute walk) from Port Louis Marina. Farther west is the quieter Morne Rouge, known locally as “BBC beach.”
This is where I finish my trip, at rustic La Plywood Beach Bar Cafe, which serves the best tacos on the island. I wash them down with a golden apple juice and look out to sea, reflecting on the sculptures that lie beneath.
Having now learned more about them online, they’re not quite as sinister as I first thought. My bench lady is in fact taking a selfie, not fending off an assailant. The children represent the circle of life.
Still, I prefer my interpretation, and isn’t that the point of art? To make us imagine?
I can’t wait to see what Grenada has in store for me next year.
Kick ’em Jenny
Rising more than 4,000 feet above the seafloor, just off Grenada, is one the most active volcanoes in the eastern Caribbean. Known as Kick ’em Jenny, it peaks below the surface, but because it erupts every now and then, there’s a maritime exclusion zone around it. Gas bubbles can reduce water density and cause vessels to sink. Kick ’em Jenny has erupted at least a dozen times since its first recorded eruption in 1939.
Grenada Cruisers Net
Grenada’s cruising community welcomes visiting sailors. For ideas of where to cruise, or if you need repairs, parts, up-to-date weather or social events, tune in to the Cruisers Net, 0730 Monday to Saturday on VHF radio channel 66. Other resources are the Grenada Cruisers Facebook page and the Grenada Tourism Authority website, puregrenada.com.
15 Things to Do in Grenada
- Walk up the steps to imposing Fort George
- Eat street food in the bustling Saturday market at St. George’s
- Visit House of Chocolate in St. George’s and learn how cacao pods are turned into chocolate bars
- Explore the rural chocolate estates such as Tri Island and Diamond Chocolate Factory
- Learn how rum is made at Clarke’s Court Rum factory and River Antoine Estate Rum Distillery
- Stroll the length of Grand Anse beach, and enjoy dining and live music in the bars
- Eat tacos in La Plywood bar on “BBC beach”
- Hike the trails at Grand Etang Lake and National Park
- Swim in one of Grenada’s 18 waterfalls, including Annandale and the Seven Sisters
- Dive or snorkel with Dive Grenada, exploring tropical fish and Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park
- Visit Fort Frederick, built by the French in 1779 and finished by the British four years later after the Treaty of Versailles
- Scrub up on your botanical know-how with a tour of Smithy’s Garden
- Wake up to some rum and a traditional Grenadian breakfast of jacks, fried plantain, saltfish and fried bakes at Friday Bar and Restaurant
- Take a full or half-day trip with Royalty Tours to learn about Grenada’s history and nature
- Just “lime”
