Wow! I offered to take suggestions for ports to feature so this is the first of my requested Port posts. The lovely island of Grenada is on both Ventura’s voyage to the Caribbean in 2022 and Ambience to Cuba and the Caribbean in 2023 Plus lots of other Southern Caribbean cruises. I visited with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Grenada twice and loved every second of each visit!

One of the most famous attractions to visit is Fort George, good news, if you are fit and able it’s walkable from the cruise port, but it’s quite a climb with some steep steps

The views from the top are spectacular though, a quick visit here is included in a lot of ship tours, either on the way out or the way back to the ship as the drivers and guides try to stagger times

Grenada in a nutmeg shell had to be my favourite tour, we had a fabulous guide, if you overlook his hay fever attack early on, bless him he carried on despite my and our guests pleas for him to take a break

As well as all the standard stops, Fort George, the Beach, Crater lake, Grand Etang, Spice Farm, Nutmeg factory, Rum distillery he showed us the trading of cocoa on the street, jumped out and plucked a ripe nutmeg from a tree, drove us up the narrowest roads ever to see the magical egg plant, and even did a detour when one guest complained she hadn’t seen any devastation and the brochure clearly said she would see devastation! This would have been from the hurricane (15 years previously) so he took her to the Church they are still rebuilding

It was a fabulous full day tour and I really enjoyed it

Grenada I find is quite authentic, not as developed as a lot of the Caribbean islands and has a fabulous, welcoming, laid back vibe

The people are just so friendly. When we stopped at the spice farm I got chatting to the farmer while our driver/guide was doing the demo and he was telling me about losing his 48 year old son the previous year, it’s a tough life for them without that. I bought some spices, the least I could do, as did s lot of guests and I remember that lovely family every time I’m grating my nutmeg at home Another souvenir it’s nice to buy at Grand Etang or at the beach is the Spice Necklaces for about $5 each. Your cabin will smell fab if nothing else

The previous year when I visited they’d had rain, which had brought the monkeys down from the higher ground, lucky us! We had a great samba band, a boogie and ‘some’ cocktails all before lunch – gotta love the Caribbean! This tour was also great for people with mobility issues, you don’t see a lot of the island but a lot of the culture

On a budget or simply don’t fancy a tour, wander round the town, climb up to the fort, take the water shuttle over to Grand Anse beach. It never seems to get crowded. Apparently there’s river tubing available in the centre of the island but that’s for another adventure and I’m also told the diving is excellent here with an underwater sculpture park, if that’s your thing! Another amazing thing to see would be the waterfalls, some of which you can swim under. In a normal world it’s easy to pick up a tour at the port

All the main attractions and the beach are well covered on google etc so I’ve tried to show you some real photos from my experience there. I hope you like them and choose to visit this island yourself. It’s truly magical. Enjoy!