Snorkeling in Grenada From a Private Sailboat

Sailing in the Caribbean is one of the world’s great pleasures. Slipping through sapphire water along emerald coastlines streaked with sand, rum punch in hand — it’s a travel cliché of which I never tire. Grenada is an ideal place to charter a boat. On the recommendation of Spice Island Beach Resort, we booked a private half-day venture with Savvy Tours.

The company’s personable owner, Danny, offered to bring us from the resort to the boat, but his car might be a little rough around the edges for some. I recommend having your concierge arrange for a taxi to take you to his ship. It may be only a few years old, but it has wonderful vintage-style details, including wood trim and candy-stripe cushions. I knew as soon as we stepped aboard that the day would be a success.

Captain Kenrick motored us slowly out of the picturesque harbor of St. George’s before hoisting the sails with the help of Sam, the first mate. Sam also guided us around the memorable Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park, created by artist Jason deCaires Taylor after the reef was damaged in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan. He sunk numerous cement sculptures around the bay in order to provide bases to which corals and other sedentary marine life could attach. We snorkeled over a ring of people holding hands, a replica of the Christ of the Deep sculpture standing in St. George’s, and, my favorite, the Lost Correspondent, depicting a man sitting at a desk with a typewriter. I loved the works’ eerie beauty.

Vicissitudes at the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park - Photo by Hideaway Report editor

In nearby Flamingo Bay, I snorkeled on my own along the reef for a good hour, spotting colorful parrotfish, a school of squid and numerous sea fans swaying with the current. But I’ll never forget the school of reef silversides I found. The shimmering mass parted and then re-formed as I approached, and I watched as the school morphed into all manner of curvaceous shapes: torpedoes, toruses, tornadoes. Sometimes the school looked like a silvery version of “The Starry Night,” by Van Gogh. It was magical to float for a time, watching the thousands of iridescent fish move in unison.

A school of reef silversides in Flamingo Bay - Photo by Hideaway Report editor

For our return trip to the harbor, we headed to the cushions at the bow. Reclining there, watching the Grenadian coast glide by as we sipped rum punch, it was hard to imagine wanting to be anywhere else.