Grenada
& its routes.

Grenada is the southernmost charter base in the Windward Islands and the most favoured launching pad for cruising the Grenadines. Port Louis Marina on St. George's lagoon is the main charter hub, with Dream Yacht Charter, Horizon Yacht Charters, and several smaller operators running fleets from December through July. Uniquely in the Eastern Caribbean, Grenada sits below the standard hurricane belt at 12 °N latitude, so insurance windows extend later into the season than anywhere on the BVI–Antigua arc.

Catamarans dominate the Grenada fleet because the south coast bays — Hog Island, Clarke's Court, Prickly Bay — are shallow sand-bottomed coves where the 1.2-metre draft of a Lagoon 42 anchors comfortably while monohulls drop the hook further offshore. The northbound passage to Carriacou and the Tobago Cays is an 18-24-NM beam reach in steady 18-22-knot trades — exhilarating sailing for crews who want more passage than the BVI's line-of-sight hops.

The country's charter waters reach into Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Union Island and the iconic Tobago Cays Marine Park sit a short 12 NM beyond Carriacou. From Port Louis the standard one-week itinerary is a north loop — Carriacou (Tyrrel Bay), Sandy Island, Tobago Cays, Mayreau, Bequia, return — with the Tobago Cays anchorage among uninhabited cays the most photogenic stop in the Eastern Caribbean.

Charter season runs December through April at peak — steady 15-20 kt easterly trades, water at 27 °C. May and June are excellent value at 30-40% off peak with identical sailing conditions. Uniquely in the Caribbean, Grenada stays open July through November below the standard hurricane belt — insurance still issues policies through the summer at a 10-15% premium. The September / October low season is the cheapest Eastern Caribbean window for catamarans (35-40% off peak rates), with a smaller fleet selection because some operators move catamarans to the Mediterranean for the summer.

Roughly 150 catamarans operate from Grenada split between Port Louis Marina (the main hub, 280 berths, opened 2008) and Clarkes Court Bay (a quieter secondary base 10 NM east on the south coast). Dream Yacht Charter and Horizon Yacht Charters share the Port Louis fleet (~100 hulls combined). Sunsail operates through partner agreements; smaller operators (Caribbean Catamarans, Cooper Sailing) add ~50 hulls between the two bases. Brand spread is Lagoon-dominant (42, 46, 50) plus Fountaine Pajot Saona 47 and Bali 4.6. The fleet is slightly older than BVI / Martinique on average — Grenada runs charters into the shoulder season, so hulls log more weeks. Most are 4-5 years old.

Port Louis Marina runs a fuel dock, Spice Island Marine chandlery, three restaurants on the marina front (Victory Bar & Grill is the standard charter Saturday dinner), and the IGA supermarket on-site. The larger Foodland is a 5-minute taxi inland; the Saturday Market Square in St. George's (07:00-13:00) is the spice-and-produce stop. Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND) is 20 minutes south by taxi (~US$25) with direct flights from London (British Airways, Virgin Atlantic), Miami, New York and Toronto plus connections via Barbados, Saint Lucia and Trinidad.

The northbound Grenadines route is 180-220 NM round-trip on a 10-day charter — distinctly longer-passage cruising than the BVI Loop. Daily legs run 15-25 NM (Grenada → Carriacou 30 NM, Carriacou → Union 15 NM, Union → Tobago Cays 5 NM, Cays → Mayreau 3 NM, Mayreau → Bequia 25 NM, return south via the same chain). Tradewinds stay on the beam through most of the route; the one open-water stretch is the 15-NM Carriacou-to-Union crossing of the Grenada / SVG border. The Tobago Cays anchorage typically holds 30-50 charter boats inside the reef at peak season; nights are breezy and bright with no light pollution.

Costs beyond the bareboat fee: fuel runs US$200-350 for a 40-46 ft catamaran on a 7-day week, end cleaning US$300, Tobago Cays Marine Park fees EC$10-25 per person per night (the standard 2-3 nights inside the park run EC$60-150 per person all in), SVG clearance EC$150 each way (round-trip EC$300), Grenada port fees minimal. Provisioning runs US$130-180 per person per day — Grenada supply chain is mixed Caribbean / US sourcing, slightly cheaper than BVI but more expensive than Martinique. A peak-season 7-day Grenada-to-Tobago Cays charter for six adults totals US$15,000-22,000 all in; a 10-day Grenadines round-trip US$22,000-32,000.

Grenada suits second-week charterers, sailors after firmer trades and longer passages, photographers (the Tobago Cays anchorage is the most-shot Caribbean image after the BVI Baths), groups planning June / July charters when the rest of the Eastern Caribbean is closing for hurricane season, and crews chasing the photogenic Tobago Cays specifically. For first-time bareboaters and short-passage line-of-sight sailing, the BVI is the gentler start; for shallow-water cruising and the swimming pigs, the Bahamas.