You are now reading a part from the old site. This page only stays here for compatibility reasons.
Have a look at the new website of Paradise Inn
We recommend the following sites for Carriacou :
Carriacou Forum | Carriacou-Grenada-Grenadines.com  | Encyclopedia  | Community  | Pictures

Google

Web

This Site

Important : A whole lot of new games in the new gaming zone.
You can now become a member and record your scores, compete against other gamers.

Villages of Carriacou

L'Esterre, Hillsborough, Tyrell Bay and Windward on Carriacou .

Carriacou Description

  • Carriacou is the most southerly of the Grenadines, situated 20 miles north of Grenada, latitude 12,5 degrees. It has an area of 13 square miles and is the largest of the chain of islands between Grenada and St. Vincent.
  • Don't forget to visit the renowned Sandy Island just east of Carriacou (right in front of our hotel). This tiny island serves as the symbol of the ideal tourism destination - pure white sand embraced by turquoise blue waters (the Caribbean dream).
  • While in Carriacou whether your choose to explore, snorkel, swim, dive or simply stroll, you will experience the special lure of this gem and its islets. Come enjoy, retuning again and again to bask in what one might refer to as the 'paradise for water lovers', and escape from the routine of daily living, and when you leave take only good memories, leave nothing but footprints.
  • Boat building and launching is  a major tradition.
  • Pre-Lenten Carnival, August Regatta and the Yuletide Parang Festival have also contributed to its fertile heritage.
  • In April the last 3 years Carriacou has also hosted a Maroon Festival, a great success, featuring local and international artist performing in music, dance, drumming, etc. Local cooking is also a major part of the festival, and one day of the festival you can get everything for free, just like in the traditional maroons where one village invites the other villages to enjoy the crop-over and the harvest of the year.

 

L'Esterre Hillsborough, Tyrell Bay and Windward on Carriacou

Hillsborough

A small cluster of weather-worn buildings overlooking the sea, Hillsborough may be the main point of entry to the island, but has little to warrant a long stay and is easily explored in an hour or two. The town stretches along its  Main Street, which runs parallel to the beach. Here most of the town's places to stay and eat as well as banks and public services are to be found. The beach around the jetty is narrow and a heavily used part of the working harbour - though not for recreation.

The main focus of Hillsborough is its jetty, which punctuates the middle of the town and offers a view of nearby Union Island. Throughout the town old stone merchant houses serve as a reminder of the island's colonial, sugar-producing past, as does its small but interesting Historical Museum on Patterson Street (Mon-Fri 9.30am-4pm, Sat 10am-4pm; EC$5). Housed in the restored ruins of an old gin distillery, the museum features a varied collection of Amerindian utensils and pottery, and has sections devoted to the island's European and African heritage. There are no other attractions for visitors to Hillsborough, though Monday is a lively day in town when local fruit and vegetable farmers bring their produce to the market - a small, haphazard collection of stalls gathered around the jetty. There is much more to Carriacou than Hillsborough and to make the most of a visit to the island you'd do best to venture farther.
 

  • Hillsborough is the largest village on Carriacou. It is the place where the ferry from Grenada arrives, and here you can find most shops and services. Basically Hillsborough consists of one street along the shoreline, with a few streets going  inland.
  • From here you can make a trip to union on an original way : talk to the skipper of the Jasper, an old mailboat that crosses twice a week between the two islands. The trip only costs a few dollars, and is quite a nice experience. Mainly using windcraft, the Jasper hoists it sail for the crossover, but sometimes it uses a small engine if winds are not favourable.
  • From Lauriston airport at the end of Paradise Beach it only takes five minutes in a minibus to reach Hillsborough.
  • The harbour of Hillsborough is where you should check in at the customs office in case of arriving by boat. (If you are not coming from Grenada with the Osprey).
  • You can stay with your yacht in front of Hillsborough overnight, but it could be quite rocky. A better place to stay for a few days would be leeward of Sandy Island. If you like some more movement of fellow sailors around you and want to have a few rum shops and restaurants in your vicinity, then Tyrrell Bay is the recommended place for you.

Hillsborough shops

  • In Hillsborough you can find most kind of shops and services. You can find a few well stocked supermarkets, clothes stores, souvenirs, vegetable market, fish and lambi, hardware stores, telephone company, Barclays Bank and National Commercial Bank of Grenada Ltd., Post Office, Gas station, Internet cafes, Bakery, Police station with immigration office, Tourism Office, etc. etc. Here you also find the most hotels/guesthouses, restaurants and bars/rumshops.

L'Esterre Hillsborough, Tyrell Bay and Windward on Carriacou .

Approximately two miles southwest of Hillsborough past the airport, is the small village of L'Esterre, home of local artist Canute Calliste, who claims a mermaid visited him when he was a small boy and blessed him with the gift of painting and music. So productive is his gift that Canute, now in his nineties, has been known to finish sixteen paintings in one day. You can view his cheerful and vibrant paintings at the artist's shop and studio in the village. The main road then leads south away from L'Esterre, and on to Tyrrel Bay

Tyrrel Bay

In Tyrell Bay you will find most of the nautical related activities. Even though windward is the traditional boat building center, the yacht haulout is in Harveyvale, the village behind Tyrell Bay. It is perfectly sheltered against possible hurricanes, in the past the boats have sheltered in the swamp which can be entered on the left of the bay (seen from the seaside)Tyrrel Bay is also known as Hurricane Bay. The three-mile journey to this large horseshoe bay on Carriacou's western side is covered by a frequent bus service from Hillsborough. Here the waters are well protected and the beaches golden, and it is a favourite anchorage for yachts, especially during storms. Though hurricanes are not much cause for concern on Grenada, in 1955 Hurricane Janet broke the rules and stormed into the region with 150mph winds, causing extensive damage. Tyrrel Bay is also famous for its oysters, and here protected tree oysters grow amongst mangrove roots which you can reach by boat. .
  • It is a cozy , sleepy bay with the village of Harveyvalea few streets going inland. Not many shops, but a few places to dine out and several bars and rumshops as well.In Tyrell bay you will find diveshop Lumbadive , and there's a fine Italian restaurant as well.
  • Floating in the middle of the bay there's a catamaran shaped floating bar. This is a fantastic place for a cool night of rum sipping. Check in advance on which days there is live music, sometimes the "steel band king" performs here and he might even show you how to play a tune on his oil barrels. By the way... did you know that the steel pan is the only non-electrical instrument that was invented during the past century?

Harvey Vale

Just yards inland from the bay is the pretty village of Harvey Vale. There's not much here to explore, but do take time to visit an old Amerindian well, whose waters are thought to have therapeutic qualities.

Belair

Looming over Hillsborough about a mile to the north is Belair, a peak 719ft above sea level that commands sweeping views of the Grenadines - especially Sandy Island and Grenada. Here you will find scenic walking trails and the ruins of old French and British plantations nestled amongst white immortelle trees.

Anse La Roche

Anse La Roche, a peaceful beach where turtles swim ashore to lay their eggs at night, lies on the northwest coast of the island. The beach is only accessible by water from Hillsborough or by foot from the small village of Bogles, which is the terminus of a bus route from the capital. With its sea life-infested coral reefs lying just offshore, this crescent-shaped gem of a beach is one of the best places to snorkel in Grenada. It's also a pleasant spot to simply lie back and watch the yachts sail by, but make sure to bring food and drink as there are no facilities.

Gun Point

A short walk from Anse La Roche is the northernmost tip of the island known as Gun Point, named for the cannons that used to contribute to the region's defences and which falls under the jurisdiction of the island of St Vincent. On the east side of the headland is the 955ft High North Peak, the highest point on the island and a protected national park, and the tiny and picturesque fishing village of Windward. The windswept community's occupants are boat builders and descendants of Scottish immigrants who brought the craft here from Glasgow, back when the island was still under British colonial rule. Claiming to use plans passed down through the generations, many of these crafts people now work at Tyrrel Bay.

Petite Carenage Bay

Petite Carenage Bay is also nestled in the northeast corner of the island, between Gun Point and Windward, and is home to a mangrove restoration project managed by Kido Research Station (Kido Ecological Inn). You can explore a unique and ancient eco-system whose dense vegetation and shallow waters are home to numerous fish, insects and birds. Kido organizes guided tours of the mangrove swamp, as well as whale and dolphin watching tours, both of which are recommended.

L'Esterre Hillsborough, Tyrell Bay and Windward on

Windward

  • The village of Windward was home to a group of Scottish boatbuilders who settled here in the 19th century. The Scottish names and boatbuilding skills have been passed down through the generations. Many locally built boats from small fishing sloops to large trading schooners are seen in the Carriacou waters. Boat building is still carried out in the traditional way on the beaches but fewer have been built in recent years.

> Following text was kindly provided by Ulla and Dave from Bayaleau Point Cottages

  • Windward, Carriacou  and the reefs of Watering Bay still defy the otherwise ubiquitous yacht charter community, opening its harbor almost exclusively to West Indian cargo schooners and engineless fishing sloops plying their trade. While the feeling of 19th century simplicity is evident,
  • Carriacou usually attracts the more seasoned Caribbean traveller, however, this should not be a deterrent for the newcomer. The island's name means "Land of many reefs" which speaks for itself for divers and sailors alike. While the duty-free shopping and hotel-style night life cannot be compared with the more sophisticated hot spots like St. Thomas and St. Maarten, the laid-back ambience and genuinely friendly attitude of the local people is clearly a breath of fresh air for those who are interested in getting away from the hustle and bustle of the daily rat race. This is truly LIMIN' at its finest.
  • For those who like to walk and hike there are many tracks and trails as well as miles of beaches, which are not very heavily trafficked. Nearly every step of the way you will be turning over ancient shards of Arawak pottery or stumbling across vestiges of French and English colonial rule. Or, if you want to meet the colorful characters of Carriacou, settle down on a bar stool at any one of the innumerable rum shops or bars and sample the best rum in the West Indies: Carriacou JACK IRON.
  • The pre-tourism industries of the island still predominate. The signs of fishing and boat building, farming and animal rearing can be seen everywhere. A visit to a typical island dwelling will reveal neat rows of field corn and pigeon peas, a pig, several tethered sheep, a chicken coop, a boat in some state of completion built with naturally grown Carriacou cedar frames and a roll of fish pot wire in the shade of a mango tree. All of this in addition to what seems to be a disproportionate number of children of all ages happily at play.

Transport

Daily flights on the islander and Twin Otter Aircrafts of SVG Air and TIA travel north bound form Grenada's Point Salines International Airport and south bound from Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Lauriston Airport, Carriacou.

  • Ferry services are also available between Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The ferry departs Carriacou to Grenada Monday - Saturday 6 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. Sunday 3.30 p.m. only.From Grenada to Carriacou, Monday - Friday 9 a.m. and 5.30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.only, Sundays 8 a.m. and 5.30 p.m.

         Transportation on the island

  • Taxis, mini buses and twin cab vans provide regular and efficient service. Jeep rentals are also available. For an idea about the prices of jeep rentals , have a look over here: Jeep Rentals