Sailing in the Grenadines

We saved a vacation highlight until the very end. Before we start packing our bags tomorrow and head back to - as you reported - arctic cold Germany, today we got to experience the pure Caribbean. We started at 6:15am towards the airport. There we met our travel group for today and filled out the entry forms for the x-th time. Why? Today our trip to the Grenadines started and they belong to the state St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Even though the island states are part of an economic community here, they haven't come up with a kind of Caribbean Schengen agreement yet :-)

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is situated between St. Lucia in the north and Grenada in the south. So we flew up the eastern coast of Grenada with a small 9-seater plane in the early morning, past the islands Carriacou and Petit Martinique (not to be confused with the French Martinique), which belong to Grenada, and finally immersed ourselves in the island world of the Grenadines. There are many, many small, partly uninhabited islands.

After a 25-minute flight, we made a smooth landing on Union Island and were driven to the port on the opposite side after completing immigration and customs checks with a 'Bähnele'. There we boarded our second main means of transport for the day: the Scaramouche, an old sailing schooner, where we first had breakfast. It was very pleasant that there were only nine of us, which made everything very cozy. We leisurely set course for our first destination Mayreau, a small dream island with 200 inhabitants and a beautiful yellow, palm-lined Caribbean beach. With snorkeling gear and goggles, we jumped from the ship into the water and swam to the beach. From there, we snorkeled back towards the Scaramouche along a really great rock reef. There were lots of sea urchins and many colorful fish to admire, no matter where you looked. Once again, we realized that an underwater camera would have been perfect for our vacation. So you'll just have to believe us :-)

Back on board, we passed several kite surfers with colorful sails to the long-awaited highlight, the Tobago Cays. These five uninhabited mini islands have nothing to do with the island of Tobago, except that it also belongs to the Caribbean islands. The Tobago Cays are protected by a horseshoe-shaped reef from the Atlantic, which leads to shallow, truly turquoise and crystal-clear water. Not only are there picturesque white beaches here, but also sea turtles live here. We just had to jump out of the boat and we could snorkel alongside them and observe them while eating seagrass, taking a breath, and swimming around. It was simply phenomenal in the clear water. Both of us also explored a part of the Tobago Cay island Baradel on foot, where we were almost alone and could observe some iguanas.

Finally, our small dinghy took us directly into the reef for another snorkeling session. Here, too, the extremely clear water provided special highlights. When we returned to the Scaramouche, there was lunch there - freshly prepared on board and very delicious. On the way to our final destination Palm Island (true to its name), the sky occasionally clouded over for a few minutes and a few drops also came down. However, everything was back in order when we arrived. The island is home to almost nothing but a large luxury resort. However, since all beaches in the Caribbean are generally open to the public, we were able to enjoy a nice beach walk there.

At four o'clock, we flew back with - oh wonder - our now third entry form for Grenada on the small plane, and a taxi brought us back to the hotel safely. This day was truly pure Caribbean! We need some time to let all the experiences sink in.

With this, our travel blog is coming to an end, as already hinted, tomorrow. We will spend the morning at the beach. Our flight back home with a stopover in Barbados will depart at 6pm. We will arrive in Frankfurt again around noon the day after tomorrow and can get in touch. So far, so good. The vacation was great and full of good vibes!