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Information for our crewed yacht charter in St. Vincent and The Grenadines: You can start you yacht charter either in St. Vincent, Bequia or Canouan IslandWhile in the Grenadines, we are including the standard bar and of course, all non-alcoholic beverages. Set in the middle of the Grenadine archipelago, Canouan is an island of only 5 square miles. 
Flights: There are direct flights to Canouan via Barbados and St. Vincent. Contact SVG Air in St. Vincent - 784-457-5124 or Trans Island Air in Barbados - 246-418-1654. One can also fly from Puerto Rico to Canouan on American Eagle - 784 456 5555.
Water and Land Taxi Services: are readily available VHF 16 contact Catherine at R&C's, Cosmos at Specialist Transport Service and Andre DeRoche at Rainbow Travel or call Cassie at 482-0045 or 493-3557.
Banking: National Commercial Bank opens 8.00am to 1.00pm Monday to Friday and 3.00pm to 5.00pm on Thursday.
Churches: Roman Catholic, Apostolic, Seventh Day Adventist and Anglican.
Shopping and Services: Groceries are sold at H&L Variety Store, H&E Mini Mart, and other small shops in the village. There are boutiques at the Tamarind Beach Hotel and Canouan Beach Hotel, and in the village, Bare Necessity and Teddy Vs. Hardware is available at K&W Supplies.
Medical Facilities: The new Canouan Clinic.
Customs and Immigration: Located at the airport.
Telephones: There are several phone booths throughout the village. Canouan Beach Hotel, Tamarind Beach Hotel and Silver Lining Sports Bar and Restaurant offer overseas phone and fax services. Cellular phone services are available from Cable & Wireless located in the heart of the village.
Yacht Services and Supplies: Marcus, (better known as'Iceman'), supplies ice, gas, moorings and water and will try to assist in other ways. Call VHF 16.
Tennis: Canouan Beach Hotel, Tamarind Beach Hotel.
Salon: Diane's Hair Salon also offers manicures and
facials, call 482-0195.
Massage: Jocelyn Sheppard - 482-0160. History of St. Vincent: Known by the Caribs as Hairoun ("Land of the Blessed"), St. Vincent was first inhabited by the Ciboney, a grouping of Meso-Indians. The economy of these hunter-gatherers depended heavily on marine resources as well as the land. They used basic tools and weapons and built rock shelters and semi permanent villages. Another indigenous group, the Arawak, who entered the West Indies from Venezuela and moved gradually north and west along the islands, gradually displaced the Ciboney. They practiced a highly productive form of agriculture and had a more advanced social structure and material culture. The peace-loving Arawak fished and collectively formed plots of land. The bountiful harvests and abundant fish, combined with the compact and stable island population, permitted the development of an elaborate political and social structure. The Caribs, arriving in St. Vincent perhaps no more than 100 years before the Europeans, conquered the Arawak and began a new chapter in Vincentian history. More warlike than their predecessors, the Caribs were extremely efficient at keeping unwanted settlers from their shores. While it is doubtful that Christopher Columbus ever set foot on the island, he may have sighted it on his third voyage to the New World (1498-1500). Heavy Carib resistance prevented St. Vincent from being colonized long after most other Caribbean islands had well-established European settlements. In 1627 Charles I of England granted the island to Lord Carlisle and then, in 1672 Charles II granted it to Lord Willoughby. While the British, French and Spanish disputed possession, the Caribs resisted all these claims. Learn more Diving in the Grenadines: St. Vincent &  the Grenadines is one of those all too rare, virtually undiscovered dive destinations. The diving ranges from the gentle, even lazy, to the exhilarating, and efforts are always made to ensure that you never dive the same dive site twice... unless, of course, you want to! Most of th e dive sites are close to the dive shop bases, a mere ten or fifteen-minute boat ride away. Others, however, may require a slightly longer journey, but one that's filled with the most beautiful Caribbean scenery in the region. And all are well worth the trip. Due to the sharply rising shorelines, there is no shore diving here and this helps to keep the sites in pristine condition. St. Vincent, home to a volcano and a rain forest, boasts an almost infinite selection of wall diving sites, and the underwater scenery, complete with pristine corals, will take your breath away (though hopefully not for long!). Nicknamed "Critter Country", make sure you have a fish I.D. book close at hand. The odds are, however, that when you've spotted all the frogfish, slipper lobster, chain morays, octopus and scorpion fish therein, you'll have to start writing one of your own. Fish behavior will fascinate you - friendly spot fin butterfly fish may treat you as a protective floating reef and sergeant majors may chase you from their eggs. Even the end of the dives in St. Vincent are stunning, with  sheer cliffs plunging to the depths, and century plants clinging precariously - a death-defying hanging garden. Bequia, with its beautiful beaches, friendly people and gentle nature, offers a wonderful array of sloping reefs. The pelagic ranges from Hawksbill turtles to black-tip sharks and eagle rays. In the shallows, take time to spot the near invisible little creatures like sea horses and basket stars, the harlequin pipefish and the odd grumpy bat fish. Mustique, "escape island" of the rich and famous, also presents underwater relief from sunbathing and ice cream sundaes. Sloping reefs and flat expanses of coral reveal shy spotted drums, spiny lobsters, and banded coral shrimp gathered ready for action at a cleaning station. Canouan is a sleepy island that recently woke up with a smart new hotel development. Here there are underwater rock formations covered in a variety s ponges and soft corals. Schools of permit duck and dive, whilst bar jacks keep their distance along the comfortable shallow dives.
Mayreau literally has gardens beneath the waves and it is here that the aptly named garden eels are found swaying grass-like in the sand. Crinoids creep from behind giant tunicates, while flamingo tongues graze on varicolored sea fans. Sometimes waterlogged tree trunks provide homes for blennies and gobies, and then sometimes that "waterlogged tree trunk" is in fact a nurse shark! Union Island rests at the gateway to the incredible Tobago Cays and offers re efs jutting dramatically from the sand. Partially hidden southern sting rays watch with Steady eyes as shoals of sprats race in rivers above them. Drifting along, that feeling of being watched will probably be a barracuda easing alongside.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines is also the perfect place to discover diving itself. The waters are clear and warm, and teeming with life and even if you arrive as a non-diver, you'll likely want to take a morning to go on a Discover Scuba Diving course, so that you can see what all the excitement is about. |
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