Bequia

Bequia is the first island south of St Vincent, and the one most Grenadines weeks either start or finish on.

Seven square miles at the top of the chain, about 4,500 people, and Admiralty Bay on the west coast is the best natural harbour in the Grenadines.

No access fee, no resort gate. You anchor, take the dinghy in, and walk.

For a charter it does two jobs. It is a genuine island stop with a working town, boatbuilding history and good diving, and it is the practical rendezvous when guests would rather not spend a night on St Vincent.

What to See and Do on Bequia

• Port Elizabeth and the Belmont Walkway. The town sits at the head of Admiralty Bay and the walkway runs along the water past bars and restaurants. It is the whole of the island’s nightlife and it is walkable from the dinghy dock.
• Model boatbuilding. Bequia’s yards built whaling boats and the skill turned into model making. The workshops in Port Elizabeth will build a model of your own yacht to order, which takes a few months and gets shipped.
• Moonhole. An abandoned house built into a natural rock arch at the island’s south-western tip, now a well-known ruin and an easy walk or taxi from the bay.
• Princess Margaret Beach and Lower Bay. Both are a dinghy ride or a short walk from the anchorage, and Lower Bay has the better swimming.
• Diving. Dive Bequia and Bequia Dive Adventures both collect divers directly from yachts in Admiralty Bay. Call either on VHF 16 or 68.
• The turtle sanctuary at Park Bay on the windward side, which raises hawksbills and releases them.

Admiralty Bay Takes Any Size of Yacht

Admiralty Bay is the anchorage. It is wide, deep and protected from the trade winds, and it takes everything from a 40 ft catamaran to a 200 ft motor yacht. Moorings are laid in the bay and are usually the simpler option in season, when the anchorage gets busy over Christmas and Easter.

Holding is good in sand once you are clear of the shallower patches near the beaches. The swell wraps into the northern corner in a strong northerly, so the southern side towards Princess Margaret Beach is the more comfortable side in winter.

Friendship Bay on the south coast is the alternative and it is quieter, with Bequia Beach Hotel ashore. It is more exposed to the south-east swell, so it is a fair-weather option rather than a reliable overnight.

Clearance for St Vincent and the Grenadines can be done in Port Elizabeth, which is one reason to make Bequia the first stop rather than the second.

You Reach Bequia Through St Vincent, Not Direct

Bequia has a small airport but almost nobody arrives that way. The normal route is to fly into Argyle International on St Vincent and take the ferry.

• Bequia Express and Admiral both run from Kingstown, several crossings a day, about an hour each way.
• Bequia Express weekday departures are 8:00, 9:30, 13:00, 16:00 and 17:00.
• Bequia Beach Hotel runs its own boat from St Vincent through the winter season, which is the cleanest option if you are overnighting on Bequia before boarding.

Ferry timetables change with the season, so we confirm the crossing against your flight before we build the boarding day around it. The flight routes behind it are in how to get here for your charter.

A Day and a Half Is the Right Amount of Time

Bequia is nine miles from Blue Lagoon, so it makes a comfortable first afternoon.

The standard shape is to board on St Vincent, sail down for the first night in Admiralty Bay, then carry on to Mustique.

The whole week, night by night with what each stop costs, is in a week in the Grenadines.

Run in reverse, Bequia is the last night before the boat goes back up to St Vincent, which suits a group that wants one evening ashore in a town at the end of a week spent at anchor.

A day and a half is the right amount of time. Long enough for the walkway, a dive and Lower Bay, short enough that the rest of the chain still fits.

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