Carriacou by Sailboat: Why One Week Turned Into Three

We skipped Carriacou the first time through.No good reason.We just kept going.

This time we planned to stop for a week. We stayed three.

We wrote a quick postcard when we first got here. Read that one here. This is the rest of the story.

A short, easy sail

We left Île de Ronde on a calm morning with our friends on Mellow Puff beside us. The passage was short. The seas were flat. Nobody got wet and nothing broke.

After the season we had getting south, an easy day felt like a gift.

The first thing that surprised us in Tyrell Bay was the water. For a bay with that many boats coming in and out, we couldn't believe how clear it was.

What Beryl left behind

Tyrell Bay is where you see it. Hurricane Beryl hit Carriacou in July 2024, and the island is still carrying it.

But so are the people rebuilding. Everywhere we looked, someone was fixing something. Putting a roof back on. Getting a business open again. Nobody was waiting around to be rescued.

We got our tanks filled at Dive Carriacou. The owners had literally just reopened after Beryl, and we ended up talking for a while. They lost pretty much everything. Their boat sat sunk for three weeks. They got it back up, but the engines had been stolen. Everything took a very long time. And still, there they were. Open. Filling tanks.

We came for the beaches. This is the part we keep thinking about.

Under the water

We snorkeled the underwater sculpture park with Sophia and our friends from Mellow Puff. Honestly? It felt a little spooky. Conditions weren't the best that day, and the water was murky. Everything looked darker. And the faces. They just sit there, looking back at you. A little eerie.

The reef around them is devastated after the hurricane. There are some fish, but not many. It's a sad sight. It's being rebuilt, slowly. Same as everything else here.

Sandy Island

Then there's Sandy Island. A small strip of sand off Hillsborough. Pink sand. Water so clear it doesn't look real.

It felt like the Bahamas all over again. We've missed that water since we left it.

We loved everything about it. Palm trees. Crystal clear water. Every snorkel around the island, there was some new creature to see.

Snorkeling has always been one of our favorite things to do. Sandy Island kept surprising us. Spotted eagle rays. Big starfish. Turtles. A whole school of squid. A big pufferfish, big parrotfish. Pretty much every time we got in the water, there was something new. Just incredible.

Bolt felt free. He ran up and down the beach like he owned it.

Afternoons, a bunch of cruisers would just hang out in the water. Chatting. Sharing stories. Not looking at the clock. A true pleasure.

Sophia loved it most of all. The swimming. The sea creatures. The freedom to just head to the beach. It felt like the Bahamas again, where the kids just go off and play.

It was heaven. We don't use that word much.

Traveling with a buddy boat

Having Mellow Puff with us made it better. There's always someone to hang out with on the beach, and someone to have drinks with after.

It's not always easy. Everybody needs their own private time here and there. But we really do enjoy it. And it's always better when the kids have a friend.

Tacos and a seafood feast

We didn't expect the food. We went to Las Iguanas for pizza and ended up with chicken tacos too. The tacos were incredible. The kind you talk about for days after.

Then Tim's Grill. It's on a secluded beach, where Tim has a little bar. They catch whatever they need for the meal that day. You order per person, and they just prepare you a feast.

The platters kept coming. All different kinds of dishes. A whole table of seafood. Great atmosphere. Fantastic drinks. Just a really nice night out.

Our name at Paradise

We hung out at Paradise Beach Club a couple of times. The food was fantastic. Everything was exceptional.

There's a tradition here. Visiting boats paint their boat name on a board, and it gets hung up at the club with all the others. So we painted ours. It's hanging right next to Mellow Puff's.

Then we walked around the club reading all the other boards. So many boat names we know. So many we've never heard of. Every one of them passed through here, just like us. It's a really cool place. And now our name is up there too.

Good to know: getting to Hillsborough

Getting to the grocery stores in Hillsborough from Sandy Island is a bit of a ride by dinghy. So we just moved the boat right in front of town, did our shopping, and moved on to Tim's Grill after. It's not the best anchorage. But for a grocery run, it's convenient.

Hillsborough has lots of little shops, plus a dive shop. About as many shops as Tyrell Bay, just a different variety. What you can't find in one, you'll probably find in the other. Plan on visiting both.

We ended up hopping around the whole time. Tyrell Bay, Sandy Island, Tim's, back to Tyrell, back to Sandy Island. Need something from the store? Move the boat. Everything is within a 30 to 40 minute hop. Nothing is far.

One tip: stock up on good quality meat in Grenada before you come. It was hard to find here. Honestly, that was the only downside.

One week became three

Seriously, the time just went by. We didn't even notice. You can't do Sandy Island in a week. There's too much to see, and too much to just enjoy.

We were in awe of this island. The beauty is the first thing you see. What Beryl left behind is the second. The people rebuilding is what stays with you.

Carriacou is quiet and a little bruised. It's also one of our favorite stops this season.

Pulling the anchor was sad. It always is. But it's never goodbye. When we leave Grenada and start heading north again, we'll probably stop for a night or two.

We skipped it once. We won't do that again.