Grenadines: The island of Bequia- Admiral Bay

After seeing the ‘amusing’ tourist trap of Wallilabou Bay, Saint Vincent, we were happy to be moving on again.

Strong winds and Saint Vincent’s mountainous coast line made sailing challenging.  All hands needed to be observant of rough patches in the water, indicating strong wind funnels through the mountains, and be on hand to loosen the sheets, to let the wind spill off the sails in gusts.

The winds were much stronger than predicted and made for a very fast passage south to the next island Bequia.

We were entering Admiral Bay, Bequia, in less than 4 hours after leaving Wallilabou, Saint Vincent.

Rather then dodge the mooring buoys and dodgy holding of the shallower water close to town, we anchored farther back off the pretty Princess Margaret Beach (formerly Tony Gibbon’s Beach).

The first order of business was to go see Customs and Immigration.  No one was available (in off-season) at Wallilabou Bay in Saint Vincent, so the humans had not checked into the territory of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines yet.

They dropped the kayaks and headed into Port Elizabeth, the main town at the foot of the Bay.

Customs and Immigration is right at the foot of the big ferry dock.  The tourist board has built a big dingy dock.

Dingy docks line the harbour.  Every restaurant, dive centre and cafe has one.  The main towns vegetable and fish market also has one.  But the main dingy dock closest to customs and immigration has its own port police to guard it.

They probably end up being tour guides for new arrivals more than anything, because the humans found the town was quite prosperous with very laid back and friendly locals, taxi drivers and vendors.

The humans had a quick look about and found lots of fruit and vegetable stands, along with the main market.  A few stores with a good selection of dry, cold and frozen foods.  A couple of chandleries, sail loft and canvas workshops.  Lots of craft shops and loads of restaurants and cafes.  Enough to keep them amused for a bit.

If you are too lazy to leave the boat, floating services will come to you.  They prices are surprisingly reasonable, but maybe not in the most fashionable modes of transport.

We have just arrived, so there are lots of things to see yet on the island.

The humans got a head start by having a look under the water surrounding the island.

Do not laugh too hard at their amateur first attempts at underwater photography.

It was only shallow water, so you can not expect anything too exciting.