Frigate Island, St Vincent & the Grenadines
Kit Pascoe enjoys some snorkelling in this sheltered Caribbean anchorage
C oming from the south, Clifton on Union Island will be your first port of call into St Vincent & the Grenadines as the customs and immigration offices are located there. Once you’re cleared in and have picked up some rather vibrant vegetables from the Clifton market, you’ll probably find yourself a little eager to leave. Clifton anchorage is complicated with its abundance of reefs, RIBs and charter boats and if you fancy a quick dip to cool off, you’re risking your life with the outboard motors whizzing past with reckless abandon. Flee to Frigate.
With prevailing easterly winds, chances are your trip to Frigate Island will be downwind, and I did it under genoa alone with one gybe once I was abeam of the island. Going downwind, it’s only two miles and there are no errant reefs that require the noon sun.
Frigate Island is a natural island joined to Union by a semi man-made causeway. Originally planned as a marina complex, its building stopped before it really started well over a decade ago. Now the causeway is covered by low trees and bushes and the shores either side are coral, rock and sand. It provides the ideal shelter for yachts anchored on the leeward side yet never seems to be particularly busy. You can even log on to Cruisers Wi-fi Hotspot and buy a day, week or month of wi-fi in the anchorage!
Once you’ve rounded Frigate Island coming from Clifton you can turn up almost immediately and head into the anchorage. To stay out of any easterly swell that might be trying to wrap itself around this headland, go in past the island itself to where the causeway joins Frigate. Here you will find shelter from swell and, if you nudge in as close as the echosounder will let you, from most of the wind as well.
The tidal range is small at around 20-40cm but the area does shallow off quickly, so be careful. Depending on your depth, you can still get a good spot though, and with a 1.8m (6ft) draught we managed to anchor within 130m of the causeway quite comfortably. The holding is eel grass with sandy patches that are visible even in 5pm sunshine and it’s easy to snorkel to check your anchor in the clear and shallow water.
If you’re a keen snorkeller you can head by dinghy to the causeway (rocky landing, you may prefer to anchor the dinghy and wade), climb over to the beach opposite and snorkel the reef there (ever mindful of currents). Otherwise there’s a good patch of snorkelling just on the lee side of Frigate, to the south of the anchorage. Anchor your dinghy and take care not to be washed over rocks.
You can also easily travel by dinghy up to the town of Ashton, which has a few restaurants and bars and the prices are said to be lower than neighbouring, tourist-driven Clifton.
From peaceful Frigate Island, you are only a short sail to Chatham Bay, an enjoyable hop to Petite Martinique, a reach to Carriacou or a brain-clearing beat to the extraordinary Tobago Cays. This area is daysailing at its finest.