St. Vincent & The Grenadines

The commonwealth nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines lies between Grenada and St. Lucia in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, a thin volcanic arc that runs roughly north to south above the coast of Venezuela. The “Windward Islands” (at least to the explorers arriving from across the Atlantic) refer to the southern half of the chain. Most Vincentians are of Carib and African ancestry, though there are also thriving Portuguese, Pakistani, Syrian and Chinese communities. Needless to say, these islands are preternaturally beautiful.

It is doubtful that when he purchased Mustique in 1958 for a mere $67,500 Colin Tennant (aka Lord Glenconner) could have imagined that it would become one of the most storied islands in the world. Located at the northern end of The Grenadines, Mustique is generally reached by a 45-minute flight from Barbados. The island is still privately held (by the Mustique Company, comprised of shareholders and villa owners), and it still appears regularly in the popular press as the preferred vacation retreat of sundry celebrities, plus assorted members of the British Royal Family. Fortunately, despite all the international publicity, it is a surprisingly low-key and peaceful place (from which the paparazzi are rigorously excluded) with few cars and a 20 mph speed limit.Today, 72 private houses are available for rent, but for those who aren’t interested in taking a villa, there are two quite different but equally entrancing hotels - Cotton House and Firefly.

Fifty miles south of St. Vincent on the tiny undeveloped island of Canouan, the Raffles group has created a remarkable success story out of a once-troubled development. While we wish this resort had been conceived on a more intimate scale (and to our taste its architecture is relatively uninspiring), the natural setting is ravishing, the food delicious and the service superb.

The Petit St. Vincent Resort, one of the most celebrated private island resorts in the Caribbean, features 22 intimate bungalows, each within a stone's throw of a stunning minimalist composition of sand and surf.

World-famous as a sailing ground, the Grenadines also contain the “Tobago Cays,” an area of atolls and reefs celebrated for the clarity of its water and the quality of the snorkeling and scuba diving. The beaches are some of the most inviting in the Caribbean. Perhaps the most interesting of all the islands is Bequia, where, for centuries, the inhabitants have constructed distinctive wooden boats and inter-island schooners. The island's main town, Port Elizabeth, has a superb natural harbor, famous among yachtsmen around the world.