A final dip in the Caribbean

Our penultimate island is done and dusted. Tomorrow morning, we’ll disembark in Barbados. Today we’ve been exploring St Vincent, the largest island in the St Vincent and the Grenadines archipelago. Our cruise boat docked in Kingston, the nation’s capital, shortly after 7:00am.

For our final excursion, I booked a catamaran snorkelling tour up the island’s west coast. I had a vision of us sailing silently through blue sapphire water and swimming among coral-fringed reefs. However, the reality was somewhat different. There were no sails or an internal cabin to be seen. Instead, our boat was a massive fibreglass structure carrying somewhere close to 80 people in rows of moulded white fibreglass seating.

We spent the morning cruising along the coast as far as the fishing village of Keartons. The village is famous for the film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). In the film, Jack Sparrow docks at the village wharf after passing a rock arch offshore near the northern entrance of Wallilabou Bay. For movie buffs, you can spot the natural sea arch nine minutes into the film. Three corpses are seen hanging from it during a gruesome establishing shot. I've also posted a couple of screenshots from the movie here.

I was disappointed that we didn't dock at Keartons. Our boat literally pulled up next to the wharf, hovered for a few minutes and then retreated. We could have easily squeezed in a short stroll along the compact palm-shaded waterfront and revelled in its Hollywood vibe. We're learning that these large group tours keep their formal stops to a bare minimum. No doubt it's a convenient, but rather lazy, form of crowd control. This limitation has proven to be an unexpected pitfall of booking an all-inclusive cruise. Many of the complementary options have tended towards large-group formats.

After viewing the arch from both sides, our catamaran backtracked down the coast in search of a sheltered snorkelling spot. The beach that the boat normally visits was plagued by swarms of tiny translucent white jellyfish. As a result, we ended up anchoring in a small bay called Byahaut. Sections of this bay were also filled with tiny white jellyfish, which we did our best to avoid.

Sadly, the snorkelling was rather naff. Mainly barren rocks with a few colourful parrot fish feasting in their crevices. However, the water was warm and staying afloat was effortless thanks to the buoyancy vests we were given. I eventually gave up snorkelling and flipped onto my back to relax and enjoy the warm tropical sun. It was a wonderful way to finish my last swim in the Caribbean.

Generous portions and refills of more local rum punch were doled out for an hour-long journey back to the wharf. Garry and I spent our time with a drink in hand, leaning against the railing, with the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces. It was bliss.

After lunch onboard our cruise ship, we ventured back into town to soak in the “colourful” atmosphere of Kingston’s weekend markets. These were easily the largest markets we’ve encountered on our cruise. Every man, woman and child had their stall set up in the street, including a few “umbrella bars” selling cold beers.

At times, there appeared to be no designated market zone. People set up shop on any footpath anywhere in town. Some merchants simply swung open a side door on their minivan, mounted a few shelves and waited for shoppers to arrive. We’ve come to appreciate that these chaotic streetscapes have a beauty all their own. And, as Garry discovered, there’s some great BBQ meat on offer.

During our walk through town, we passed St Mary’s Cathedral and its neighbouring cream-coloured Kingstown Anglican Church. I’ve seen photos of St Mary’s online. The black-stone building bears more than passing resemblance to a Gothic castle, while inside, a dramatic altar features a statue of Christ on the cross framed by a radiant baby-blue arch. Unfortunately, the church was locked. However, I successfully captured a glimpse of its stunning altar through a crack in the front door.

This evening, we’ve capped off two incredible weeks hosting a farewell dinner with friends we’ve made on board. Eric and Veronica come from Minneapolis (on the left below), while Paul and Wendy are from regional Ontario, Canada. Garry and I have met them most nights for a nightcap before bed and have dined with each couple on other occasions. I think they’ve become our role models for making the best of our retirement.

A whale of a time

The tranquil island of Bequia was a late addition to our cruise. A few months ago, SilverSea emailed us advising that Mayreau Island, our original port of call, had been dropped in favour of Bequia. It claimed that Mayreau, the smallest inhabited island in the Grenadines, was still recovering from Hurricane Beryl, which struck in July 2024. As a result, its infrastructure wasn’t up to the task of supporting our ship and its discerning guests.

The change proved noteworthy in that, much like Mayreau, it was another tender-only port. We’re finding that these smaller ports are more rustic, with a more colourful local character. Bequia definitely met the brief today. We saw more of the locals going about their daily lives than in larger ports. 

Bequia is part of the island nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and lies about 15 kilometres south og the nation’s capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. We’ll be visiting Kingstown towards the end of our cruise. At 18 square kilometres, it's the second-largest island in the Grenadines. 

Once again, once breakfast was done, we joined a morning tour of the island. Our tour took us to several scenic spots in open jeeps. This included a stop at the remnants of Fort Hamilton, located on a high bluff overlooking Port Elizabeth Cove. Here, our guides regaled us with stories of endless colonial tensions between the French and British.

However, the enormous caterpillars we discovered on frangipani trees nearby delivered the most memorable moment, along with picturesque views of our ship anchored offshore. Our guide identified the brightly striped caterpillars as those of the Tetrio Sphinx moth (Pseudosphinx tetrio), also commonly known as a frangipani hornworm. If you look closely, you'll notice they have the cutest red booties on their feet. Sadly, the moth they morph into is an ugly creature.

We also visited a local model boat builder. The handcrafted models on display were impressive. We even got to meet one of the artists hard at work, carving a new timber hull. In case you’re wondering, it’s USD260 for the smallest model yacht. If we had a way to get the home, I’d have been tempted to buy one. The craftsmanship was exquisite. They’re the perfect man cave accessory.

I also got rather excited to see my first breadfruit tree outside the model workshop. Our guide explained that the enormous fruit hanging from its branches wasn't ripe.  Apparently, they have a few months to go. However, I now appreciate why breadfruit is so popular in the Pacific. You could definitely feed a family a meal with one of these enormous things.

After this morning’s tour finished, Garry and I went for a walk along the waterfront in Port Elizabeth, the island’s only settlement. The town boasts a narrow 800 metre long boardwalk of timber and concrete linking the main wharf with a small beach at the end of Admiralty Bay. Belmont walkway continues over a small headland to a second white sand beach. However, we turned back once we reached the Plantation Hotel overlooking the beach.

Incredibly, as we walked, we could see fish teeming in the shallow waters. In the distance, pelicans were driving and fishing. Other highlights from our walk included a brief stop outside the Whaleboner. The bar and restaurant is named after whale bones that form some of its fittings. This includes whalebone trim along the bar and barstools made from the vertebrae of a 25-metre humpback whale caught in 1995. Guests are also greeted at the entrance by a door arch made from whalebone ribs.

Today’s fun fact: Bequia is one of the few places in the world where limited whaling is still allowed. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) classifies the island's hunt under the regulations concerning aboriginal whaling. As a result, Bequia’s people can catch up to four humpback whales per year using traditional hunting methods, i.e. sailboat and hand-thrown harpoon. The limit is rarely met, with no catches at all occurring in some years.

One final observation. Concrete is a popular building material in the Caribbean. Everywhere we go, we see concrete. If you look closely at the images in this post, you'll see that the road was paved with it and the boardwalk was built with it. Even the local church shown above was constructed entirely from concrete. Sadly, it's often poorly finished, creating a slightly shabby and impoverished streetscape wherever we go.