9 Things to Do in Grenada if You’ve Been, Never Been, or Never Even Heard of Grenada

Photo: Nasilele Photography

Folks, I spent 10 glorious, magical, stupendous, incredible, joyous days on the beautiful island of Grenada. Nas (my friend since college and photographer) has been talking about how much she loves going every single year for like the last three years and reps hard for the Spice Island anytime we go to a Soca fete (which was plenty in 2014…lol). Right after Christmas 2013 I was in cold Georgia in my family’s house planning to watch the ball drop with my mom and older sis—except they both fell asleep HOURS before any of the NYE shows started SMH—and scrolling through my Instagram timeline when I saw person after person jetting off to some place warm. Even my then 19 year old niece and 21 year old nephew had better NYE plans than me. I vowed then that I would be somewhere warm for NYE 2014 and then Nas mentioned going to Grenada after Christmas and I was all like “HECK YEAH!”

So here’s the thing: I’m a first generation American born and raised in New York City to Trinidadian parents. I grew up and still live in an area that just might have the largest Caribbean-American population outside the actual Caribbean (and probably Brooklyn—okay and maybe Miami might have us beat, too…lol). I grew up around West Indians—I’ve been to Trinidad. I’ve been to Barbados. I’ve been to Antigua (okay only for a hot second, but I was there…lol). I eat doubles and roti and pelau and pholourie. I go to fetes and I wine. And I was of the impression that you see one island, you see them all.

I WAS DEAD WRONG and Grenada showed me just how wrong I was. I was SO wrong…lol.

So first of all, the country’s name is pronounced GRUH-NAY-DUH. Not GRUH-NAH-DAH. Granada is in Spain. Grenada is a small island country in the Caribbean that’s has Trinidad south of it and St. Vincent to the north of it. There’s also six smaller islands in the southern tail of the Grenadines (as in St. Vincent and the Grenadines—in fact I learned all of the Grenadians belonged to Grenada but it was lost to St. Vincent when Grenada fought for independence) that make up Grenada. Though the island is not much bigger than Brooklyn, don’t let its size dictate its character. This place is to be seen. You will be like me and not want to leave it.

Fun fact: My great grandmother was born in Grenada.

While there for 10 days I got to do and see some amazing places and be among some amazing people. Even with 10 days there was still SO much I wanted to do that I didn’t get to do (welp, gonna have to just go back, huh? lol) like going to Carriacou (one of the smaller islands that make up the country), visiting Tobago Cays, Grand Etang Lake, partaking in the island’s national dish oil down, etc, etc, etc. But like I said—perfect excuse to go back…lol. Also when I go back it will be for Grenada’s Carnival in August.

This post contains some things to do in Grenada that I did that I’d highly recommend for you to do while there—when I posted on social media (check out hashtag #TSABDinGrenada) SO many first and second generation Grenadians living here in the U.S. commented about how the last time they went was in their teens and they didn’t nearly enjoy the country as much as I portrayed through my pics.

ALSO THIS IS A SHORT LIST of things to do in Grenada based on my likes and what my friends and I did. There’s more than just these things to do in Grenada of course and I still have TONS more to show you from my trip so stay tuned :)

(These are in no particular order)

1. Grand Anse Beach

Grenada has HUNDREDS of beaches and I’d love to explore more when I go back, but Grand Anse is the biggest. We spent plenty of time there as some of the major hotels and resorts in Grenada’s capital city/parish of St. George’s are there along with plenty of lime (hangout) spots. Like I mentioned in my “How to Travel with Friends and Come Back with Your Friendship Intact” post, I wasn’t a big beach person. I’d go but then like after an hour I’d be ready to do something else. I knew my friends loved the beach so I carried a book with me to pass the time while they relaxed on the beach BUT because the beaches in Grenada are so beautiful—particularly Grand Anse (I’m biased though…lol) I never took that book out…lol. I wound up REALLY loving the beach.

Many of the hotels and resorts along Grand Anse offer easy access to the beach (we stayed at a luxury resort in a luxurious beachfront suite—I’ll tell you more about that soon in another post) and many of them also offer day passes so you can use the facilities and even have access to the rooms so if liming on the beach is your thing, you can do it in style. There’s also bars and food places along the beach where you can eat, drink, and have fun.

Um, and this goes without saying but the beautiful sand and crystal clear waters on Grand Anse are the perfect backdrop.

2. Snorkeling (or diving) to the Underwater Sculpture Museum

This is a sight to see! (No, that’s not a picture of it—that’s a picture I took on the boat on the way there…lol) It’s the world’s first underwater museum and I specifically took swimming lessons just to do this. Seriously. (I seriously use seriously a lot in this post…lol). There are companies set up along Grand Anse (or you can inquire with your hotel to get info) where you can hop on a boat and snorkel or dive to the museum. We paid about $50 USD each to get on the boat which sailed for about two hours—there were two points where they allowed us (and a group of about 10 other people) to snorkel/dive and then there was a little mini tour of the coast. I got seasick while the boat was docked but was fine when we were moving. May I strongly suggest you NOT take Walmart’s version of Dramamine? That mess had me nauseous AND sleepy—not a good combo on a boat…lol. It’s exactly why there aren’t any pics of me snorkeling…lol.

But snorkeling is amazing—I’m going to take an advanced beginner swimming class at the YMCA so maybe next time I can try it without a life jacket. The water is only about 8 feet deep near the Underwater Sculpture Museum which by the way as its name would suggest is an underwater sculpture museum…lol. While we were there another brand new sculpture was being prepared to be added to the museum as one floated away. But get to see it—it’s beautiful and very interesting to see and again it’s the world’s first.

3. Bananas on Tuesday night

(or whenever drinks are BOGO…lol)

So Bananas is an outdoor night club that draws a mix of tourists and locals—mostly locals depending on the night you go. I went straight here after Nas and a friend picked me up from the airport (speaking of—every trip I go on now when I arrive I must go STRAIGHT for drinks…lol). I thought the DJ was pretty good—he played a decent mix of genres though not nearly enough Soca for me but good enough music to get you dancing. The crowd both Tuesday nights I went seemed to be there mostly to lime and not really dance. We danced though…lol.

And one of the lovely things about Grenada is that once you convert the price of the drinks from EC to USD you realize you pay SO little for a drink that is potent and tastes SO good. And when Bananas does BOGO you pay like $4USD for two drinks that to me were pretty strong. And if you’re more of a heavyweight, well then another $4USD will get you two more drinks…lol.

Check out their site here.

4. Hiking at Seven Sisters Falls

Photo: Nasilele Photography

Since my Lake Placid/Adirondacks trip last August, I’ve become an even bigger fan of hiking. I have a bad right knee and you would think hiking would be the last thing I’d want to do but hiking actually HELPS my knee. I’m obviously not a real doctor but I think it’s all the movement. Don’t go hiking with your bad knees listening to me…lol. Make sure you inquire with your own REAL doctor first.

Mr. Telfor Bedeau

Anyway, so Seven Sisters is named for the seven waterfalls in this area—you can hike through the rain forest to access them. Some are pretty easy to get to but it’s recommended you take a guide with you so you don’t accidentally take the really long way to get there…lol. We got a special treat set up by the Grenada Tourism Authority and had Grenada’s Indiana Jones Telfor Bedeau (seriously, Google him) guide us on our hike. Mr. Bedeau is 75 years old and has hiked for over 50 years—he was also the first man to row around the entire of Grenada. Right now he does two professional hikes a week and several hobby hikes daily with his friends. He’s seriously the real MVP.

It can get seriously muddy up there especially if it’s rained recently (it IS a rainforest after all…lol) so be prepared to hike in something you don’t care much about…lol. At the end of the hike though there are guys who can clean your shoes for just $2 USD so you don’t have to be completely muddy…lol.

The place is under construction as they’re building zip lines which will be open in a few months from what I hear. So that will be another reason to get to Seven Sisters.

5. Eat at Patrick’s

Yes, there’s a gazillion places to eat in Grenada and I haven’t been to them all, but one we went to that I would totally need to go back to is Patrick’s. It’s a tapas style restaurant and the food was SO good. It’s funny because growing up in a Caribbean household, NOTHING was tapas about any portions of anything…lol. You filled up your plate and you ate all or felt the wrath of your parents. I wasn’t sure how much a tapas Caribbean restaurant would fare with our group (there were five of us in total), but I was surprised that I was stuffed by the end of the meal. Tapas Caribbean. Who knew!

Patrick’s also has a DELICIOUS rum punch sprinkled with what the island is best known for—nutmeg. More on this soon :)

Check out Patrick’s website here.

6. Evening cruise (or day cruise) on the Savvy

Danny

We took an evening cruise aboard Savvy with our captain Danny who is so gully with his, he can steer his boat with his foot. We had an amazing time drinking rum (we brought our own) and dancing to a really good 80s mix Danny was playing from DJ Private Ryan (you’ll hear more about him in my next point) all while the sun set and we got a great view of the Grenada coastline. You can find out more about Sailing Savvy here.

7. New Year’s Eve/Old Year’s Night

OK so my primary reason for visiting was to not spend NYE anywhere cold but obviously if you’re not visiting during NYE this wouldn’t apply BUT I think NYE is a great time to visit. There were two major parties for me and my friends to choose from one of which was a Barrington Levy performance (we decided to skip as we thought it would be a little “grown” for us but we heard it was actually really good) and a party at Rex Resort. The party at Rex was great because DJ Private Ryan from Trinidad was one of the DJs and he’s just SO good…lol. Seriously, go on Youtube and listen to any of his mixes. He gets the party started from anything from Soca to Reggae to Hip-Hop to EDM to throwbacks. I really wish I hadn’t worn heels—no clue why I wore them anyway—I NEVER wear heels if I know I’m going to be dancing to Soca but I guess because it was NYE I lost my mind temporarily…lol. Next time I won’t even waste the space in my suitcase for heels and will just bring some cute gladiator sandals or something. My feet were throwing up gang signs by the end of the night…lol. BUT I had an amazing time.

My dress is from MissGuided. Shoes are Via Spiga at Bloomingdale’s, but have since sold out.

8. More places to drink/lime/eat

Other places we went to lime (hang out) and drink that I’d say you should check out…

Cloud 9/True Blue

This place reminds me of a cool Brooklyn bar type of place. The food is good, drinks are good, and there’s a pool in the back. I do believe they’re open pretty late, too. Check out their Facebook page here.

The Owl at Flamboyant Hotel

This place is open until 3 AM most nights which is probably one of the latest places open in the area. There’s pool tables and good drinks—this is where I paid $17USD for four drinks and according to someone who tweeted me that’s the “tourist” price. Shoot—ONE drink in NYC can be $17 at some places so the tourist price for four drinks was an obvious steal for me…lol. There’s also access to Grand Anse beach from right outside. Nice place to hangout late and chill. Check out their site here.

Club Fantazia
I didn’t actually make it out the night my friends went to this club (I was POOPED and it was the night before we were going to hike Seven Sisters and I needed to have ALL my REM sleep for an early morning hike and then snorkeling…lol) but Nas and Marie seemed to have a good time when they went with some of our Grenadian friends. I heard mixed things about this club—one of our Grenadian friends said it gets too crowded and hot inside and then someone from the Grenada Tourism Authority told us it’s a great time especially if you like to wine (as in the dance, not the drink). I also heard the guys who go to this club can be a bit aggressive with staring you down but since Nas and Marie went with some of our male Grenadian friends, they didn’t experience that. You can visit the club’s Facebook page here.

BB’s Crab Back
One of the island’s most famous restaurants—shoot Oprah’s been there…lol. The portions are huge even with the appetizers so make sure you go with an empty stomach and a group of folks. I had the BBQ ribs (a HUGE appetizer and SO good) then the Meaty Mia (chicken breast marinated in twelve herbs and spices cooked in coconut oil) along with rice and peas. The food was good—wish I had room for dessert…lol. I didn’t get pics of the food because we had just taken an evening boat cruise and I didn’t bring my good camera and my iPhone was all like “but I can’t.” You can check out the BB’s site here.

Umbrella’s

This was one of our favorites along Grand Anse Beach. It’s a pretty popular bar/grill that has really good food—I suggest the Carriacou bites (fried mahi mahi fish bites) and the Bourbon wings. The drinks were okay I pretty much OD’d on the strawberry daiquiris and rum punch. I’m pretty sure all four of the pounds I gained while I was away came from Umbrellas…lol. Check out their Facebook page here.

Me in front of Umbrella’s. Photo: Nasilele Photography

9. Take an island tour

Best way to see the island. In fact I’m doing a post on everything I saw on our island tour soon so stay tuned.

And that wraps up some things to do in Grenada! I’ll be back soon with more Grenada posts! I’ve got hotels and resorts to show you, the island tour I just mentioned, things I wore, stuff I packed, etc. Keep my Grenada tag bookmarked so you don’t miss a thing ;)

Check out my Instagram for more pics and posts! Also check out Danielle Travels for more of my traveling adventures and posts. Also check out #puregrenada and #followgrenada on social media to see TONS more!

Disclosure: Thanks to the Grenada Tourism Authority who generously sponsored portions of my trip.