Tobago Cays

Anna Marie, Daniel, Jason and I had a pleasant sail down to Tobago Cays. There are reefs and shallow water all around the entire area so you have to be fairly careful coming in.

Our planned route into the anchorage

We dropped anchor off the north beach of Petit Bateau. The place was picturesque. My iPhone camera does not do the place justice. The water was crystal clear and the colors all around, on both land and sea, were just magnificent.

View to the north – Petit Rameau

View to the south – Petit Bateau

We were almost immediately greeted by Captain Nick who was offering us to sign up for dinner on the beach. I politely asked him to give us some time to get settled and then to return. He politely obliged The same was true for some of the vendors that came by to sell us t-shirts and such. They respected our wishes of giving us some time to settle in. No one was pushy or rude like some others we have met, namely in Saint Lucia. Not that all of the vendors in Saint Lucia were pushy, but a good number of them were. We didn’t encounter any of that in the Grenadines.

Captain Nick did come by later and explained that dinner included a BBQ of fish, chicken, and pork along with vegetables, potatoes, rice, and desert. The cost was $100.00 EC per person (about $35.00 US). When I looked in my wallet, I realized we didn’t have enough cash to accept. He offered to give me a free ride to Union Island the following morning to visit the ATM. I agreed. This would allow us to get some needed cash and attend the BBQ the following night, July 4, as our holiday celebration.

When the other vendors arrived and I told them I was low on cash and to stop by tomorrow, they were most polite and understanding.

We got the boat situated, checked the anchor, and headed out in the dinghy to do some snorkeling and try to find the turtles.

There were about 20 or 30 boats anchored just south of Baradal. The guidebook indicated that there was a great snorkeling area on the southwest side of Baradal and that is were we headed. We dragged the dinghy up on the beach where others were swimming, snorkeling, and kite surfing. We began snorkeling in the marked area and enjoyed seeing a good deal of marine life including turtles, sea rays, and numerous reef species. Unfortunately my GoPro was lost on one of our trips to Soufrière, and I have yet to replace it, so no cool underwater pics.

We snorkeled at the southwest dive marker off Baradal

We stayed a good hour or more before heading back to the boat to cook dinner.

The next morning, Captain Nick arrived to the boat for my ride for cash. Union Island was only about 4 miles away, but in a 15 foot boat with 3-4 foot seas, this turned out to be both a bumpy and wet ride – too wet for photos.

The orange boat on the right was my ride

My arrival on Union Island

To the bank for some much needed cash

A quick stop at the supermarket for some supplies

We have landed for the much anticipated BBQ – Mayreau is to the right and Union is to the left (background)

“Smile honey, make it look like you are having fun”

Jason and Daniel are loving the food and the holiday beer treats (something we don’t often allow)

Nothing like spending the 4th of July in Tobago Cays – the food was delicious!

Another beautiful sunset!

I wasn’t a big fan of the anchorage and mooring options in Union (where we had to check out of the Grenadines), so I enlisted the services of Captain Nick the next morning to take me for another exciting ride to Union Island to check out. I had to go to customs to check out the boat and walk to the airport to check out the peeps at Immigration. When we got back I asked Captain Nick how much I owed him for the ride, he said nothing! I threw him some money for his gas and time. The people here were really nice and accommodating. We had read otherwise in some resources.