The Grenadines
The unspoilt end of the Caribbean charter map: a reef-ringed marine park full of turtles, an island the royals made private, and nothing to prove.
South of St Vincent, a chain of small islands runs to the Tobago Cays and beyond — the last stretch of the Caribbean where the charter map still has empty water on it. Mustique holds the exclusivity, Bequia the seafaring charm, and the Tobago Cays Marine Park the postcard: a horseshoe reef, five cays, and green turtles that graze the shallows on cue.
“Mustique is the only island in the world you can't quite buy your way onto — you can only be invited.”
The draw
Fewer boats, better holding, and a scene closed by geography rather than by velvet rope. This is the Caribbean before the Caribbean got crowded.
Signature anchorages
- Tobago Cays — Horseshoe Reef lagoonFive islets inside a 4km reef; sand-bottom moorings, turtles off Baradal most days of the year. All anchoring banned around Petit Tabac.
- Bequia — Admiralty BayThe chain's deepest, best-protected harbour; wide, deep, enterable in most weather. Belmont Walkway ashore, genuine working-harbour feel.
- Mustique — Britannia BayMandatory Mustique Company moorings below Basil's Bar and the Cotton House. The scene is entirely a five-minute tender ride ashore.
- Mayreau — Salt Whistle BayA tight crescent of sand and palms sheltered from the Atlantic by a narrow spit; calm on a blustery trade-wind day, one small beach club ashore.
- Canouan — Sandy Lane Yacht Club / Godahl BeachThe only real berthing in the chain: 120 berths, up to 100m LOA (length overall), 5.5m draft, with the Mandarin Oriental's beaches and bars alongside.
The scene
Glamour by invitation, not by guest list.
Basil's Bar
Open-air institution on Britannia Bay since 1976, rebuilt by Philippe Starck. Basil Charles served Princess Margaret, the Cambridges, Mick Jagger and Kate Moss under the same thatch.
Mustique's privacy
1,400 acres owned collectively by the Mustique Company's ~50 villa owners since 1958. Princess Margaret's Les Jolies Eaux, Mick Jagger's two houses and Bowie's old Balinese villa sit inside a no-paparazzi arrangement that has simply held.
Blues, music & regatta
Mustique Blues Festival (Jan–Feb, since 1995) spins off a night in Bequia that grew into its own Music Festival; Bequia's Easter Regatta has raced double-enders since 1967.
Table & stay ashore
Basil's Bar
Mustique, Britannia Bay — the marquee table and live-music room, Starck-rebuilt in 2018.
Firefly, Patrick's Bar
Mustique — piano room above Britannia Bay, a changing seafood-led menu.
Frangipani Hotel
Bequia, Admiralty Bay — the cruising fleet's sunset bar, candlelit West Indian dining by night.
Mac's Pizzeria
Bequia, Belmont — brick-oven pizza and lobster since 1980, a cruiser institution on Admiralty Bay.
The Cotton House
Mustique's one hotel — an 18th-century cotton warehouse converted in 1968 to an Oliver Messel design.
Mandarin Oriental, Canouan
Godahl Beach — 26 suites and 13 villas, five beaches, eight bars and restaurants, beside Sandy Lane Yacht Club.
A week, sketched
Canouan
Board at Sandy Lane Yacht Club; afternoon on Godahl Beach, dinner ashore at the Mandarin Oriental.
Mustique
Pick up a Britannia Bay mooring; afternoon at the Cotton House beach, evening at Basil's Bar.
Mustique, second day
Villa-spotting past Les Jolies Eaux and the Jagger houses; lunch at Firefly, then Macaroni Beach in the afternoon.
Bequia
Cross to Admiralty Bay; walk Belmont Walkway and Port Elizabeth, sunset at the Frangipani, dinner at Mac's.
Tobago Cays
South to the Horseshoe Reef; a park mooring off Baradal, swim with the turtles, beach lunch on Jamesby.
Mayreau
Short hop to Salt Whistle Bay for a calm, palm-lined night at anchor.
Canouan or Union Island
Return north to Sandy Lane Yacht Club to disembark, or extend south toward Union Island for onward travel.
Four islands, five days
The closest cluster only, Bequia left for another trip.
Canouan
Board at Sandy Lane Yacht Club, the only real berthing in the chain; an easy first afternoon on Godahl Beach beside the Mandarin Oriental.
Mustique
The roughly 20nm hop north to a mandatory Britannia Bay mooring; the Cotton House beach by day, Basil's Bar by night.
Tobago Cays
South into the Horseshoe Reef Marine Park, five islets ringed by a 4km reef; pick up a sand-bottom mooring off Baradal, where the turtles graze most days, then a beach stop on Jamesby.
Mayreau
A short hop to Salt Whistle Bay, sheltered from the Atlantic by its narrow spit — one of the calmest nights in the chain.
Return to Canouan
Back to Sandy Lane Yacht Club to disembark, or on to Union Island (UNI) for the flight out.
Blues to the Cays
The full run from Canouan to Union Island, timed if you can against Mustique's Blues Festival or Bequia's Easter Regatta.
Canouan
Board at Sandy Lane Yacht Club, Canouan's 120-berth marina; Godahl Beach and the Mandarin Oriental's five beaches and eight bars for a first evening ashore before heading north.
Mustique — Britannia Bay
A mandatory Mustique Company mooring below Basil's Bar; the Cotton House beach by day, Basil Charles's room — rebuilt by Philippe Starck — by night.
Mustique, second day
Villa-spotting past Les Jolies Eaux and the Jagger houses, lunch at Firefly's piano room, Macaroni Beach in the afternoon — worth timing against the Blues Festival, held each January and February.
Bequia — Admiralty Bay
North again to the chain's deepest, best-protected harbour; the Belmont Walkway and Port Elizabeth on foot, sunset at the Frangipani, dinner at Mac's — home to an Easter Regatta that has raced double-enders since 1967.
Tobago Cays
South past Canouan into the Horseshoe Reef Marine Park; a sand-bottom mooring off Baradal, turtles grazing the shallows on cue, Jamesby for lunch ashore — and a wide berth around Petit Tabac, where anchoring is banned outright.
Mayreau
A short hop to Salt Whistle Bay, sheltered from the Atlantic by its narrow spit, for one small beach club and a calm night.
Union Island
On to the chain's southern edge and its airport town — Petit St Vincent and Palm Island remain closed post-Beryl beyond here, so this is the natural turnaround.
Return to Canouan
North to Sandy Lane Yacht Club to disembark and fly out from Canouan (CIW).
Pair with
The year, measured
Monthly means at the heart of this water — daily maxima averaged, wind as mean daily peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air, day °C | 27 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| Sea °C | 27 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 28 |
| Wind, peak kt | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo · 2019–2023 means · sea temperature 2022–2023
The yachts that run these waters
Profiles from the record — introductions via the harbour desk.
Read on: WAKE — the magazine · the guides · the glossary