Tuesday, April 7, 2026 – Carriacou, Grenada
We spent the afternoon on Paradise Beach on nearby Carriacou island. That is the real name of this sandy beach in a traquil protected cove with a few houses and stores. No hotels, no resorts, mostly locals in the water and few colorful fishing boats. We had planned to get a beach chair, umbrella, and maybe lunch at the Paradise Beach Club, but most everything was closed. The club said it was for deep cleaning and the other said that the Easter Monday party went so long, that they weren’t up to serving food.
Fortunately, the Bayside Cafe was open and our server, Nina, is a local who has barely made it off the island. She has six kids from pre-teens to adults and is happy with the island life. We enjoyed the recommended strong Rum Punch and on the way out had a tasty frozen passion fruit pie.
We enjoyed the shallow bay and explored the sea grass with our snorkel gear. We could have stayed all day under the shade of the trees with an occassional dip in the cool water. But, we are on a schedule today (!) , so after a full afternoon, we now have to pack up the gear and head back to catch the return ferry. Next time we will need to plan to spend the night.
On the morning trip out, it was much more crowded, maybe people still returning home after the Easter holiday. There was a group of missionaries and their families as well as lots of packages to be stored. On the way home it was a few other tourists who had also done the day trip.
I did strike up a conversation with a retired Catholic missionary Fr. Sean from Ireland, who had been in Grenada for 46 years. He had been here during the US invasion in 1983 and talked about how some of his own young adult parishioners had been killed believing they were defending their homeland. He went out through the military checkpoints with the parents to find their children’s bodies. Whereas most Grenadians welcomed the US intervention (their prime minister had been executed and the country was on a mitary cuefew Fr. Sean felt that the locals would have figured it out on their own in time. It seemed clear that this small island bore the brunt of being a pawn in the cold war.
We have a much smoother 2-hour boat ride home with an OK sunset. But as Mike reminded us “You know, even an OK sunset, in the Caribbean on the ocean while on vacation, is still pretty good.”
We have to agree.
Siri and David Adventures 