Bequia

Bequia is the second largest island in the Grenadines. It is a very laid back, relaxing kind of place. Bequia soon became one of our all-time favorite Caribbean islands. But please don't tell anyone about Bequia!  (This will be our secret)

Sunny Trip Reports Island Rating* Click here for Explanation of Ratings
Accomodations
Snorkeling
Beaches
Dining
Activities
Shopping
Food Shopping
Friendliness
Cultural Experience
Value for Money
Would We Return

Casa Blanca House - Lower Bay, Bequia

While in Bequia we stayed at the Casablanca house in Lower Bay. The property is managed by Kay King of Kingsville Apartments.  The house sits directly across the street from the end of Lower Bay. We rented the top floor which consists of two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, and kitchen.
There is a wrap around porch on the top floor which is an excellent place to relax and read a book.
	The kitchen was nicely furnished.
There is a "great room" which has a living and dining area. It was nicely furnished and the cable TV had a great selection. There was also a nice converter box, which the TV was plugged into, that allowed us to use our 110 appliances.
We slept in the back bedroom. (Shown to the left) There was also another guest room which had two twin beds. (Shown to the right) Both rooms shared one bathroom/shower. Kingsville Apartments, Bequia
	As mentioned above, Casablanca is managed by Kingsville Apartments. Although we didn't actually see the inside of the Kingsville Units, they looked great. The property is a few hundred feet from the beach. We wouldn't hesitate booking at Kingsville.

Places to Eat in Bequia

Mac's Pizza We really loved the restaurants in Bequia because they were very reasonably priced and very casual. One of our favorites was Mac's Pizza. Mac's is located in Port Elizabeth on the Belmont Walkway. We had the lobster pizza and it was very good!
DeReef and Keegans Two of our favorite beach hang outs were in Lower Bay. DeReef, which is pictured to the left was a nice little place located directly on the beach. Keegans, pictured to the right, was also on the beach. Both places had numerous fresh fish choices. I had a tuna sandwich one day and it was fresh tuna. (not canned)
	Gingerbread We also had an early dinner at the Gingerbread. It is also located in Port Elizabeth on the water. The food and service was very good. The view was also a nice plus.
Frangipani On Thursday night we did the Frangipani "jump up" barbeque. This is a very popular event. We weren't all that impressed. The buffet was decent, but the main course of steak or fish was not that great. We also thought it was over priced. It probably didn't help that our table was actually situated at the end of the buffet line. There was absolutely no privacy. We can't recommend this one.

Beaches of Bequia

Lower Bay Our favorite beach in Bequia was Lower Bay. Granted, we did not tour the island and see all the beaches, but Lower Bay had everything.
	We were in Bequia during "high season" and Lower Bay Beach was still empty. The shore break was minimal, the beach beautiful, and there were numerous beach bars/restaurants to walk to. If you are going to Bequia for a "day trip", then you might want to consider spending the day on the beach in Lower Bay.
Lower Bay reminded us a lot of Cane Garden Bay in Tortola.
We snorkeled right in front of Casa Blanca. The coral and fish were pretty minimal but the water was warm and it provided for some great exercise.
Princess Margaret Beach One day we snorkeled around the point to Princess Margaret Beach. What an awesome beach. It is very remote. Just a few yachts moored off-shore.
Bequia beaches proved to be a great place to relax.

General Bequia Information

Bequia primarily draws the "yachting crowd". This is because the island is small and there isn't any large resorts. You won't find any Marriotts or Westins in Bequia. Bequia is also hard to reach if you aren't sailing in on a bareboat or yacht. Because of its size and remote location, we feel that Bequia is a perfect place to relax in the Caribbean. It is special BECAUSE it is small and hard to get to.
We decided to fly into St. Vincent and then take one of the ferries over to Bequia. This turned out to be a good way to go. After arriving in St. Vincent, we took a taxi to the "ferry dock" in Kingstown. (This costs us about $10 USD) We then boarded the Admiral II Ferry over to Bequia. The fare was only $6 USD. The ferry ride from St. Vincent to Bequia takes about 60 minutes. Here is a link to the ferry schedule.
	Once on Bequia, we decided not to rent a car. We stayed in Lower Bay which wasn't too far out of town. We rode taxis the entire time we were on Bequia. They were plentiful and not too expensive. Taxi fare from Port Elizabeth to Lower Bay was about $25 EC ($9 USD). We used Lancey's taxi service most of the week. He was very nice and courteous. The cabs in Bequia are pick up trucks with padded bench seats. We really thought these made the trips fun.
Since we had a kitchen, we made some trips into town for groceries. The grocery stores in Bequia are very small. Oftentimes you may have to hit more than one to find the wanted items. The island also had plenty of ATM machines downtown which made for easy currency conversion.

The Friendship Rose,
Bequia Sailing and Snorkeling the Grenadines

The Friendship Rose on Bequia is a 100 foot schooner that offers sailing trips throughout the Grenadines. We HIGHLY recommend these trips. The boat and crew were first class. These trips combine a fun sailing experience along with snorkeling and island activities.
We took the sailing/snorkeling trip to the Tobago Cays. This was an enjoyable all day sail.  When we boarded in Port Elizabeth, we were greeted with a nice glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.
Once we cleared the bay, we raised the sails. They allowed us "guests" to participate in the fun. (Let me tell you from first hand experience that those sails are heavy!)
We sailed from Bequia to the Tobago Cays. Along the way we passed Mustique and Canouan Islands.
We arrived at the Tobago Cays by mid-morning. The Friendship Rose anchored just offshore of one of the tiny islands.
When you arrive at the Tobago Cays you have the option of going ashore to the tiny deserted island. We took our snorkel gear and spent an hour or so on the island. The water is pretty rough the day we were there, but the scenery was beautiful.
The lunch on the Friendship Rose was delicious. During lunch everyone was served a glass (or two) of wine which I thought was a really nice touch.After lunch they took us out to the reef for some more snorkeling. The snorkeling out there was much better. Overall the snorkeling was slightly above average.
The sail home was very relaxing. The boat holds around 50 people and we had about 30 on board. We had plenty of room to store our gear and enjoy various locations within the schooner.
Alan and Meg are the owners of the Friendship Rose, (Alan is pictured above), and they have done a fabulous job. If you are in Bequia or St. Vincent, take one of their cruises and tell them that Dave and Carroll from SunnyTripReports say Hi!

Carroll's Bequia Blog (2006)

Feb 4, Saturday 

Our flight on United was cancelled due to mechanical problems. The time was around 5:00 PM and we just found out the first leg of our trip was cancelled. We were supposed to take off for Washington Dulles at 10:00 PM. Dave called United and asked them what we were supposed to do. They said they had booked us on a 10PM flight on Sunday night. What a way to start a vacation! He got them to book us to San Juan via Chicago instead of delaying our plane 24 hours.

We flew the red eye to Chicago and then hung out in the Red Carpet Club. We played 20 questions for a while and filled up on coffee.

The next leg of our trip was from Chicago to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Dave kept worrying that our luggage wouldn't make it. But the luggage made it and all was fine. We made our first bar stop at the San Juan airport on the International side.

Our flight to Barbados on American Eagle was on time and uneventful. We arrived in Barbados a little early. Customs was not ready for us so we had to wait on the plane for a bit. When we got in the airport we had to wait again for immigration forms. Once through immigration we procured a cab to the Shonlan Airport Hotel. Cab fare was $10 USD. Wayne, the driver, told us he would come back in the morning for us. (Since we had an early flight from Barbados to St. Vincent at 7:30 AM)

We checked in and found our room to be rather bare bones. The room key was an old fashion skeleton key. They brought us a pay phone and a few coins "should we have any problems, you can call us". The fixtures looked to be about circa 1950. The toilet and sink were turquoise blue. I told Dave all would be fine because we were only sleeping there for one night.

I thought all would be fine until the shower! The water wasn't warming up. I took a cold shower..... No nookie for Dave :>) By the time my shower was finished, the water seemed to have warmed up a bit. Dave got a somewhat warmer shower than me. He was for sure in the dog house for booking at this place.

Once we got in bed, Dave began to worry about the safety of the room, the fact that Wayne might not return for us in the morning to take us to the airport.

Feb 5, Monday 

All went fine. Wayne did return. We did make it to the airport and all of our belongings were intact.

Liat airlines took us to St. Vincent. The flight went off on time. We arrived in St.Vincent at around 9:30 AM, went through customs and immigration and took a cab to the ferry dock. We had to wait an hour for the ferry to leave for Bequia. The ferry ride was "rolly" but we were fine. Marazine is good stuff!

On the ferry a taxi driver named Lency told us he would take us to Lower Bay. He gave us his card and told us to call whenever we needed a ride.

When we got to Kingsville Apartments, they told us to just go over to Casa Blanca. The maid was still cleaning the room. (It was about noon) The previous guests still had their luggage on the balcony. So we walked down the street and ate lunch at De Reef. We each had a tuna fish sandwich and 2 Hairoun Beers. The total bill was $44 EC. (About $16) The tuna sandwiches were fresh tuna. Not the canned stuff! I took a nap and Dave went down to Keegans to check his email. Internet access was $5 EC for 15 minutes. We then went to town to buy groceries for the week.

While in town we met a shopkeeper who said "Every Caribbean home needs a bottle of rum!". We thought that was a nice quote. We went to three stores before we were able to find a dozen eggs. Shopping on Bequia is pretty limited.

We had dinner at Keegans. We both ordered fish and chips. The fish was fresh Mahi Mahi. The meal was quite good. ($75 EC) including drinks and tip.

Feb 7, Tuesday

We did a snorkel first thing in the morning. We snorkeled around the right side of Lower Bay. As we passed the point, we saw some nice barrel sponges. The fish life was not that abundant and neither was the coral.

We then just sat on the beach and each read a book all day. Since we had a decent breakfast we didn't even eat lunch.

We went to Port Elizabeth to have dinner. Before heading to Mac's Pizzeria we stopped by the Friendship Rose office and talked with Meg, one of the owners. She was quite nice.

Mac's pizza was good. We were lucky to get a table. They already had reservations for all but 2 of their tables. We ordered two salads, lobster pizza and beer. The meal was very good. We really enjoyed the lobster pizza. It had lots of lobster on it... yum!

We stopped at a little market by the walkway and picked up a bottle of rum and some potatoes for breakfast. Of course, the rum was not for breakfast!

We watched a little TV and then headed off to bed.

Feb 8, Wednesday

We woke up and snorkeled over to Princess Margaret Beach. There was more to see once you hit the half way point. The beach was absolutely beautiful. Dave and I walked the beach, took some pictures and reveled in the beauty.

We then donned our gear and swam back to Lower Bay. As we got of of the water it started raining. We had talked about beaching it for the day, but since it decided to rain, we hung out on the veranda, gazed at the sea, and read our books.

We ate lunch at De Reef again. We had attempted to eat at Dawn's Creole Cafe but she was pretty much out of everything. So was De Reef, but we split a chicken dinner and it was very good and just enough for 2. ($30 EC)

We took a taxi to Port Elizabeth and shopped around a bit. We bought a St. Vincent flag for our collection and a coloring book for my kids at school. While we were walking along the Belmont Walkway, it started raining a torrential downpour. We were next to the Green Boley at the time so we ducked in and enjoyed a few Hairouns. While watching the downpour, a cute dog slept at our feet and we killed about an hour.

We then ate an early dinner at Gingerbread. We were too early for the dinner menu so the choices were pretty minimal. I ordered pasta with red tomato sauce, bacon and cream cheese. Quite good and light! Dave had the club sandwich. Three layers of goodness! We gazed at the beautiful bay while we ate our food. While there we visited with some folks from the "Orange Cruise Ship". (EasyCruise.com) We first talked to a couple of guys from Britain and Spain. They really liked the concept of the cruise. They paid $22 a person per night! They said that even though the food was extra, it was quite reasonably priced and good.

We then talked to a couple of women who were on the same cruise. They lived in New York City but were originally from Europe. They were having a great time on the cruise also. They also gave us some tips for our NYC trip. Opera on the Park and Friday night at the Met. (you can see a great view of the city from the terrace)

The restaurant asked us to close out our tab at 6:30 PM so they could set up for dinner.

For a rainy, overcast day in Bequia, we kept ourselves entertained.

Feb 9, Thursday

Today was our day to cruise to the Tobago Cays on the Friendship Rose. The ship is a masted schooner that was built on Bequia in Friendship Bay. She mainly served as a mail boat and ferry until the early 90's. She is now owned by Meg and Alan, a British couple. They run daily sails to places like Mutique, St. Vincent and the Tobago Cays.

The trip to the Cays took about 2 hours of sailing time. Dave got to help hoist the sails. Even though I had taken some Marezine, I got a little sea sick when we hit the open ocean. So did a few others. I think the "low side" of the ship provides for an easier ride.

Once we reached the Tobago Cays they shuttled us to an island where we beached it. Dave snorkeled it but didn't see much.

Lunch was probably the best we have had on this type of trip. Chicken with Red Curry and Rice. It was very good and was accompanied with some French wine.

They then took anyone who wanted over to the protected reef. Dave went and said he saw much more than from the island.

We then sailed the 2 hours back to Bequia. No sea sickness this time.

The staff of the Friendship Rose is quite attentive. We hope they continue to prosper as a business.

Lency, our cab driver, was waiting for us when we returned to port. He took us back to Casa Blanca and then returned an hour later to take us back to town for the Frangipani Jump Up. We were sort of disappointed in the jump up. The salad buffet was good but the BBQ steak was quite tough. Total cost for the buffet and 2 beers was $200 EC.... I thought this was overpriced in relation to other places on the island.

Feb 10, Friday

Today is moving day. We packed our belongings and then hung out on the veranda and finished reading our books. We then ate our final Bequia lunch at Keegan's. Dave had the Shark Burger and I had a Cheeseburger and fries. The price was very reasonable ($44 EC)

Lency was right on time in picking us up. We took the 2:00 PM ferry to St. Vincent. We were met by John, a taxi driver, who took us to the BeachComber on St. Vincent. At first glance the hotel is quite nice. We were in room 19. The view was awesome! It had a small kitchenette and a basic room. The unit had air conditioning, TV, etc. The only hang up was the lack of adequate linens and hot water. There was also going to be a wedding at the hotel on Saturday, so they told us that the bar and restaurant was going to be closed to all others.

We ate dinner at Sunset Shores. Dave had the grilled fish of the day (Mahi Mahi), and I had the Shrimps in Tomato/Basil sauce. Both meals were very good. They came with rice, potatoes, plantains, and Christophe (a type of squash). Our meals and a few beers each ran $150 EC.

Our Trip Continues in the St. Vincent trip report.