THE QUIET CARIBBEAN
Exploring the more secluded islands
Imagine white-sand strands framed by turquoise sea and coconut palms. Beach bars that blend margaritas and piña coladas with live reggae and calypso. A yummy array of international and island cuisine at al fresco eateries with endless views of the wild blue yonder. The smaller islands offer all of the advantages of the larger landfalls but without the holiday crowds of more popular isles. Tucked away at the bottom of the Caribbean, Grenada is the epitome of the region’s quieter side. Literary fans know it as the place where Lisbeth Salander of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” fame hid out. But you don’t have to be on the run to feel like you’ve arrived at a paradise at the end of the world.
You can make like Lisbeth and just chill on Grand Anse Beach, or you can dive into action, snorkeling Grenada’s incredible underwater sculpture garden. Hiking the rugged St. Margaret’s trail to the Seven Sisters Waterfalls and cliff diving into one of the clear, cool jungle pools. Or sailing off Carriacou, where the boat builders still make their wooden sloops by hand using tools and methods from a bygone era.
Still a British territory, Anguilla is so small an island that it doesn’t have its own airport. You have to fly into St. Maarten and take a one-hour water taxi to Anguilla’s tiny harbor. But once you’re there, this is one tasty little island. Literally.
As the name implies, the island’s CuisinArt Golf Resort and Spa is an epicurean oasis with multiple gourmet restaurants (stocked by the hotel’s own hydroponic garden), chef’s table events, cooking classes and wine tastings in a cellar that runs 3,600 bottles strong.
Anguilla also boasts upscale spas, an 18-hole championship golf course, one of the Caribbean’s best tennis facilities and an array of nightlife for such a small place, including a cluster of beach bars at Sandy Ground and the legendary Bankie Banx’s Dune Preserve club.
It’s even quieter on Montserrat (assuming the local volcano isn’t rumbling). It doesn’t have any large resorts, which is part of its throwback charm. Visitors rent mountaintop villas or crash at small hotels or B&Bs near the coast. The scuba diving is primo, a rare chance to glimpse an underwater lava flow. Hiking trails lead into pristine rainforest areas inhabited by rare and endangered species such as the Montserrat oriole, yellow-shouldered volcano bat, leeward racer snake and mountain chicken (which is actually a very large frog).
The harbor in Gustavia, St. Barts’ capital, is crowded with megayachts, the surrounding hills sprinkled with huge mansions of the rich and sometimes famous. But there are plenty of options for regular people — modest rentals, French-style guesthouses and beach resorts such as the Le Guanahani on the north shore, which has a private beach, fullservice spa and wondrous gourmet restaurant.
What’s there to do on St. Barts? Rent a car and hit a different beach every day, from über-hip St. Jean (which channels the French Riviera) to remote strands such as Petit Cul-de-Sac and Anse a Colombier (which can only be reached by foot or boat). Go angling with local fishermen, many of them descendants of the Norman and Breton fisherfolk who settled the island in the 1600s. Or settle into a waterfront cafe in Gustavia for an afternoon of celebrity spotting.
Bequia, a tiny island a 45-minute flight from Barbados, is at the opposite end of the Lesser Antilles and the other end of the yachting spectrum from St. Barts — a place where ordinary yachties gather to stock up, swap tales and party in the bayfront bars.
Part of the drop-dead gorgeous Grenadines archipelago, it’s also a scuba haven, the island surrounded by 30 dive spots including venues for drift, wreck, cave, wall and night diving. Bequia is renowned for model boat builders who pride themselves in their ability to reproduce just about anything that floats in miniature, from dinghies to the Titanic. The island’s Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, always open for visitors, is one of the oldest of its kind in the Caribbean.