Overview

Walk around the Saturday morning market in the port of Kingstown, and listen to the soundtrack of vendors and shoppers amid the stalls of tropical fruits and spices ... oh, it's so easy to imagine a West Indies unchanged over half a century. Here in the capital, the cobblestone streets lead to colonial buildings and churches built in the early 1800s, and the stone battlements of venerable Fort Charlotte still overlook the always-blue waters of Kingstown Bay.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines is a nation of 32 islands - some of them, including Mustique and Petit St. Vincent, among the more exclusive private islands in this tropical sea. Sailors and divers often see the island mostly as a gateway to other islands in the chain, but St. Vincent can be proud of both rich history and a rugged natural setting.

Travel to the leeward west coast for fishing villages and tranquil sandy beaches (and the island's best dive sites), or to the east coast for dramatic, wind-swept cliffs and rocky shores. For a close-at-hand private resort, you could swim to 25-acre Young Island, about 200 yards off St. Vincent's south coast. Still, even today much of St. Vincent's interior remains inaccessible by car (a fact that warms the hearts of serious hikers), including the lovely Falls of Baleine; located at the northwestern tip of the island, the falls can be reached overland by a long trek, but most visitors take the easy way and arrive by boat. Either way, a shower in the pool under the falls caps a St. Vincent day to remember.

 Plan Your Trip

DIVING

Great snorkeling and diving abounds throughout the coral reefs of the Grenadines, but for something a little different, head for The Bat Cave on St. Vincent's western coast. No, you won't find the Batmobile hidden away, but swim along a rocky point and into a well-lighted, narrow passageway, and you'll surface in an inner chamber populated by ... hundreds of tiny bats.

SAILING

Charter a boat in St. Vincent and set a course south to Bequia, a favorite layover for cruising yachties for generations. Then sail to Mustique, where Basil's Bar is a time-honored stop for cocktails (and perhaps a chance to rub elbows with some of the rich and famous who live here), before heading for a trio of isles famous for white-sand beaches - Canouan, Mayreau, and the Tobago Cays. Union Island, another charter base where both skippered and bareboat yachts are available, is near the southern reach of the island chain - and also close to a pair of upscale private islands, Palm and Petit St. Vincent. Then the big decision: You're about 45 miles from St. Vincent ... do you really want to leave the Grenadines?

HIKING

The island's most famous hike is the all-day trek through banana plantations and rainforest to the rim of the 4,000-foot La Soufriere volcano. But if you're intererested in trying to catch a glimpse of the rare St. Vincent parrot, head for the town of Vermont on the west coast, where a series of nature trails in the Buccament Valley pass through a rainforest favored by the endangered birds (which are most often spotted in the late afternoon).

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