Caribbean Sailing
- Thread starter ChrisC
- Start date
jimk
Active member
I just got back from ten days in Belize, last seven of which were spent enjoying a family reunion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the Belizean coast. Belize is not a tropical destination I'd normally pick for a little winter escape, but one of my daughters lives there and works for Dept of State, husband is in the Foreign Service.
We did not do any sailing, but rode motorboats daily and did boating for snorkeling and fishing excursions. We also enjoyed the vibrant food/restaurant scene in the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.
We did not do any sailing, but rode motorboats daily and did boating for snorkeling and fishing excursions. We also enjoyed the vibrant food/restaurant scene in the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.
Thanksgiving Week 2004 with Andrew in Belize was my first trip after scuba certification. Ambergris Caye is a great value scuba destination.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Ambergris is awesome! The beaches are not the best. But the diving is some of the best in the Caribbean - especially Blue Hole and the outer atolls.
Fun riding around on golf carts, boating, and betting on rooster Bingo?
jamesdeluxe
Administrator
Tropical destinations are not my cup of tea but wow, those are magazine-worthy pix.
jasoncapecod
Active member
I honeymooned on St Johns, 31yrs ago..Still looks the same
I’ll play.
Over the years we have thoroughly explored eastern Puerto Rico, St. John’s, Tortola, Nevis, and Barbados. In March we spent 10 nights self catering in an Airbnb cottage at the top of a steep hill over looking St. George’s, Grenada. Grenada is our favorite, hands down. The culture is very warm and friendly and seemly everyone takes real pride in their country, keeping the streets, rural roads, beaches, and forests clean, and often painting their homes in the colors of the Grenada’s flag. With a little exploring it was easy to find deserted beaches, unspoiled rain forest, several days of good hiking, and decent (not amazing, but better than most of the destinations listed above, excluding St. John’s) snorkeling. The capitol city, St. George’s is beautiful. The island is very safe, with low crime. Grenada is lush and grows much more of its produce than most Caribbean islands. Spices and chocolate are important local and export commodities. Grenada also appears to have a healthy small-scale fishing fleet. In other words, the food is very good. I’m a bit of a rum geek, so for me it was extra fun to be on island that is home to the River Antoine and Renegade distilleries. I can’t speak to the quality of the sailing or diving. The driving is terrifying (for reference, I largely learned to drive in NYC and I’ve driven on all of the islands listed above, and in East Africa, Spain, and Portugal) but we somehow avoided firery, catastrophic death.
Over the years we have thoroughly explored eastern Puerto Rico, St. John’s, Tortola, Nevis, and Barbados. In March we spent 10 nights self catering in an Airbnb cottage at the top of a steep hill over looking St. George’s, Grenada. Grenada is our favorite, hands down. The culture is very warm and friendly and seemly everyone takes real pride in their country, keeping the streets, rural roads, beaches, and forests clean, and often painting their homes in the colors of the Grenada’s flag. With a little exploring it was easy to find deserted beaches, unspoiled rain forest, several days of good hiking, and decent (not amazing, but better than most of the destinations listed above, excluding St. John’s) snorkeling. The capitol city, St. George’s is beautiful. The island is very safe, with low crime. Grenada is lush and grows much more of its produce than most Caribbean islands. Spices and chocolate are important local and export commodities. Grenada also appears to have a healthy small-scale fishing fleet. In other words, the food is very good. I’m a bit of a rum geek, so for me it was extra fun to be on island that is home to the River Antoine and Renegade distilleries. I can’t speak to the quality of the sailing or diving. The driving is terrifying (for reference, I largely learned to drive in NYC and I’ve driven on all of the islands listed above, and in East Africa, Spain, and Portugal) but we somehow avoided firery, catastrophic death.
jimk
Active member
@ChrisC , beautiful pictures. This one really takes me back:
My wife and I spent a one-week honeymoon in the summer of 1980 on Virgin Gorda. We stayed in one of a little group of cottages about 10 minute walk from The Baths called Guavaberry at Spring Bay. I was rather proud of myself for finding this amazing place and taking my wife there for a memorable trip. We took a tiny plane from St. Thomas to get there. It was pretty far below the tourist radar back then. Would you believe it was so quiet in July 1980 that we had the nerve to skinny dip near the rocks in above photo in the middle of the day. We've never been back, maybe for 50th anniversary
I understand that much of BVI was obliterated by Hurricane Irma in 2017, but has recovered fairly well.
My wife and I spent a one-week honeymoon in the summer of 1980 on Virgin Gorda. We stayed in one of a little group of cottages about 10 minute walk from The Baths called Guavaberry at Spring Bay. I was rather proud of myself for finding this amazing place and taking my wife there for a memorable trip. We took a tiny plane from St. Thomas to get there. It was pretty far below the tourist radar back then. Would you believe it was so quiet in July 1980 that we had the nerve to skinny dip near the rocks in above photo in the middle of the day. We've never been back, maybe for 50th anniversary
I understand that much of BVI was obliterated by Hurricane Irma in 2017, but has recovered fairly well.
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Sure. Liz and I did the same at Rainbow Beach in Australia in November 2012 (sbooker may comment on that!).
ChrisC’s land and seascapes are gorgeous, and the sailing looks like a lot of fun, but this one raises my pulse a little bit:
There are a bunch of rums behind that bar that cannot be found in North America that I would love to try.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I can’t speak to the quality of the sailing or diving.
Grenada and St. Vincent and The Grenadines are beautiful. Once you get to the Souther Windward Islands, the vegetation becomes more tropical, lush and wild. They get a lot more rain so the climate is like a rainforest/jungle.
After the British Virgin Islands, Grenada plus St Vincent and the Grenadines is the second most popular sailing destination in the Caribbean. It’s just a little more advanced due to more open ocean exposure and wind/waves/swell. Been a couple of times. Used to hire a captain, but am now comfortable with experienced friends/family.
And Grenada is an adventure. From a birthday a few years ago…..familiar? You got to be lucky to do those falls because the mountain is always socked in.
ChrisC
Well-known member
That's the Rum Bar at the Cooper Island Beach Club. It would be a sin to mix most of these rums.
Rum Bar | Cooper Island Beach Club | Selection of over 280 rums.
The Rum Bar features rare aged rums, unique house-infusions and classic cocktails made with rums from all over the Caribbean.
cooperislandbeachclub.com
ChrisC
Well-known member
Yes and No. There is STILL a lot of stuff closed from the hurricane. I go down to the BVI almost once a year during the off-season (May - July) since it's cheap to rent a boat and everything is still open. You can get a monohull sailboat (6 people) for a week for maybe the price of a single room at a resort for 3 nights.
Current Situation:
Peter Island - destroyed, likely reopen next year.
Cooper Island - survived since the resort is protected by mountain
Norman Island - destroyed and rebuilt in 1 year
Virgin Gorda - North Sound destroyed, eye wall moved over. Saba Rock and Bitter End just re-opened. Biras Creek closed. Bitter End is a shadow of what it once was....
Jost Van Dyke - destroyed and rebuilt in 1 year
Tortola - a lot of ocean front condos just abandoned. Most boat carcasses were removed.
A couple of photos from 2018 with my brother and friend Peter ( ex South African Olympic sailing team....seems to only use his feet at the helm). We barely left the boat that summer since everything was in ruins from the hurricane.
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ChrisC
Well-known member
That would be pretty epic. Definitely off the radar then - except for a few sailors. You are almost pre Richard Branson.....