Grenada offers a bounty of natural beauty, welcoming people and Caribbean pleasures

These days when we visit a Caribbean destination we rarely bother with tours. After all, with 25-plus years and 40-plus islands under our belts, there is a certain sense – good or bad – of “what is there left to see?” 

But on our recent visit to Grenada – after 13 years away – we decided to reacquaint ourselves with this lovely island. Our method of exploration was a private half-day tour into the interior, including two things – one old, one relatively new – that Grenada is famous for (and, coincidentally, go remarkably well together): rum and chocolate. We chose to skip the commodity the island is best known for, spices, as we’d covered that on our last visit.

Our tour started early. In fact, we arrived at our first stop, Clarke’s Court Rum Distillery, before 9:00 am. “A bit early for rum,” you may say. “No such thing,” would be my response and we managed to slip in and out before the first of the tour buses full of cruise passengers arrived.

Part of Grenada Distilleries Ltd., Clarke’s Court is the island’s leading rum producer. Situated in the southern part of the island, not far from the capital of St. George’s, it began life as a sugar processing facility. Visitors can put on a hard hat and tour the factory, now partially a museum, and learn about the fascinating process of turning sugar cane into rum. And, of course, you can sample the products. They offer up a large collection of award-winning rums, ranging from white through amber to dark, as well as a pure white overproof bottling – definitely not for the faint of heart. They also produce a line of exotic rum-based liqueurs.

I’m no rum slouch and have to say they know their stuff when it comes to West Indies-style molasses-based rums. My favourite was Black Gold, a premium dark rum subtlety flavoured with nutmeg, Grenada’s signature spice (it’s even on their flag).

After that we started up into “the mountains”, as the locals call the interior, stopping on the way at Tri-Island Chocolate, a boutique ‘bean to bar’ chocolate producer. The founder, farmer, host and chief chocolate maker, London-born Aaron Sylvester, and his sister inherited a small farm from their grandparents and decided to incorporate Grenada’s fine natural cacao products with the island’s exquisite fruits and spices.

The setting is worth the visit in itself. The visitor’s centre is surrounded by lush vegetation, peppered with the types of trees and plants that provide the raw ingredients: cacao, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut and more. The place smells amazing. And yes, chocolate does grow on trees.

Working on the perfect chocolate bar with Grenada-grown cocoa, spices and other flavourings at Tri-Island Chocolate.

The tours are informative, explaining the chocolate making process and offering tastings based on different percentages of cacao, up to 100%. My wife and I even got to make our own chocolate bars, mixing in various spices, nuts and other flavours. The results ran from minimalist (me) to all-in (her). The final products were pretty delicious, even if I say so myself.

We then continued upwards into Grand Etang National Park, with its spectacular views, mix of hiking trails and Grand Etang Lake, a natural lake in the crater of an extinct volcano, over 50 meters (1,700 ft) above sea level. It’s also home to the tiny, curious Mona monkeys – a species native to Western Africa that is only found on this one island in the Caribbean.

Our final stop was for lunch at the charming Wild Orchid, a restaurant featuring local food overlooking the scenic Annandale Falls. We enjoyed our meal of fresh local fish and watched visitors a lot more intrepid than me join locals to cool off in the pool at the bottom of the falls. The only cooling I required was provided by a frosty Carib (or two). Ah, the joys of not driving.

After that we started the journey down to our hotel, discussing local history and politics with our knowledgeable, engaging driver, Sheldon of Royalty Taxi & Tours. On the way we got the added bonus of a quick tour of St. George’s, definitely one of the Caribbean’s most picturesque capitals.

Annandale Falls plunges almost 10 metres (35 ft) through a grotto of lush vegetation into a pool deep enough for a swim.

Even though we had been on the road for over five hours, the time flew by, and we hadn’t even covered half of this remarkably diverse island.

So had Grenada changed drastically in those 13 years? Thankfully and selfishly, no. Sure there were a heck of a lot more cars and a few quite upscale boutique resorts had appeared, but the classic charm, appeal and all those special qualities of Grenada were just as we remembered. There are still the great stretches of golden sand, with Grand Anse and Morne Rouge (BBC) Beach being standouts. There are still verdant hills full of things to do. There are still the lovely welcoming people and (very important to me) there are still some of the most interesting beach bars in the islands.

Had our tour reacquainted us with the island? Yes, but in a way that made it clear that there was still a lot to discover.  Something we hope to do soon, this time adding a return trip to Grenada’s sister island of Carriacou, which we sadly couldn’t visit this trip.

Editor’s note: Our half day island tour was arranged by the Grenada Tourist Authority.

IC 2025