A Volcano and the Grenadine Chain
One steep green volcanic island that erupted in 2021, plus thirty small ones running south that are among the best cruising grounds in the world — reached by the cheap local ferry rather than a charter, which is the better story anyway.
Kingstown
A working port capital of arched stone arcades. The Botanic Gardens, founded in 1765, are generally cited as the oldest in the western hemisphere, and hold a breadfruit descended from the stock Bligh finally delivered in 1793 — the second attempt, after the Bounty.
La Soufrière
Four to five hours up through rainforest and then bare volcanic ground to the crater rim at 1,234 metres. The April 2021 eruptions reshaped the summit and closed the trails for a period — check current access and go with a guide.
Falls of Baleine and the parrots
The Baleine falls at the northern tip are reachable only by boat up the leeward coast. Inland, the Vermont Nature Trail is where the endemic Saint Vincent parrot is found — brought back from a very low point by a long conservation programme.
To Bequia
An hour by ferry to the largest of the Grenadines: a boat-building island with a whaling tradition under a very small IWC aboriginal subsistence quota, which gets argued about in the harbour bars at Port Elizabeth and is worth listening to rather than pronouncing on.
Bequia on foot
Princess Margaret and Lower Bay beaches, the model boat workshops in Port Elizabeth where hulls are carved from single blocks, and the Old Hegg turtle sanctuary at Park Bay, which raises hawksbills to release size.
South to Union Island
The local ferry continues down the chain past Canouan and Mayreau. Union is the working island at the southern end — a small airstrip, Clifton harbour, and the base for the Tobago Cays.
Tobago Cays
Five uninhabited islands inside a horseshoe reef, a marine park, with green turtles grazing seagrass in water shallow enough to stand in. This is the reason people sail here, and a day boat from Union delivers it without a charter.
Mayreau and Salt Whistle
The smallest inhabited island in the chain — one village on a hill, one road, and Salt Whistle Bay, a sandbar with the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other about forty metres apart.
Back up the chain
The ferry north, or the small plane, with a stop at Canouan if the schedule allows. Kingstown for the last night, and a plate of fried jackfish and roasted breadfruit.
Out
Argyle International opened in 2017 and takes long-haul connections that previously had to route through Barbados or Saint Lucia on small planes.
Good to know
The inter-island ferry is cheap, slow, entirely local and does not run every day to every island. Get the current schedule in Kingstown rather than online.
La Soufrière is an active volcano that erupted explosively in April 2021 and in 1979 and 1902. Access changes; guides are required and are the people who know.
Mustique and Canouan operate controlled-access resort models and are not casual day trips.
Shorter or longer?
Saint Vincent and Bequia only — volcano, gardens and one island.
A week on a bareboat or crewed yacht through the whole chain, which is unarguably how this archipelago is best seen.
Continue south from Union Island to Carriacou and Grenada by boat.