About Grenada
We wanted to get married in paradise, and we think that Grenada will be perfect!
Many consider Grenada to be the least spoiled, the most beautiful, and the most welcoming of all the Caribbean islands.
Where is Grenada?
Grenada is at the southernmost end of the Windward Islands. It's twelve degrees north of the equator, with Trinidad & Tobago to the south, and St Vincent and The Grenadines to the north.
The country of Grenada actually consists of three islands: Grenada, Carriacou, and Petit Martinique. Grenada is the largest of the three islands, with a width of twelve miles (18 km), a length of twenty-one miles (34 km), and with just over 100,000 people living on it.
Currency, timezone and language
The East Caribbean dollar is the currency used locally. It is linked to the US dollar, so the current pound-to-dollar exchange rate should work well for us Brits!
The timezone in Grenada is Atlantic Standard Time - 4 hours behind GMT.
The official language of Grenada is English, but most Grenadians speak "Grenadian Creole English" - basically English with some African, French, and Spanish words thrown in. Anyway, there shouldn't be a language barrier for us English-speaking visitors.
What's where in Grenada - a brief introduction
The majority of the hotels, villas and resorts are in the South West corner of the island, as you'll see on our accommodation page. Even in this area Grenada is not spoilt by tourism. By law, no hotel on the island can exceed three stories or the height of the palm trees!
The capital of Grenada, St George's, is one of the prettiest towns in the Caribbean. There is a large natural harbour where the cruise ships dock. Jumping in a water taxi from Grande Anse beach is a quick way to get to St George's.
St George's has plenty of history, with an old town to explore and two forts: Fort George and Fort Frederick.
It's also the home of St George's University a popular destination for British and American students.
Grenada's interior is mountainous, with rainforest, beautiful waterfalls, monkeys, colourful birds, and many tropical flowering plants. Grand Etang Forest Reserve lies high in the volcanic mountains, and is a popular area for hiking and trekking.
Provided he doesn't get too caught up with the rum punch and the infinity pool, Martin will be pretty keen to explore the center of the island, so bring some good walking shoes if you're up for it...
Around the island there are also numerous beaches, many of them secluded, and many of them difficult to reach without a four-wheel drive vehicle.
Grenada's climate
The average temperature on the island ranges from 24 to 30°C, tempered by the steady and cooling trade winds. The lowest temperatures occur between January and April and the driest season is between January and May.
Hurricane season runs from June through November, so, with our wedding at the start of April, hurricanes are not something we should need to worry about. Even in the hurricane season, they don't happen very often in the southern islands of the Caribbean - the hurricane that hit Grenada in 2004 was the first in 50 years.
Food and drink
Tap water on the main island of Grenada is safe to drink, although bottled water is readily available if you want to be cautious.
The popular drink on Grenada is rum punch... made with orange, pineapple, lime, grenadine, and the special ingredient: freshly grated nutmeg. There are a number of rum distilleries on the island that you can visit if you're interested.
Creole cuisine and seafood are Grenada's specialities, enhanced by the variety of spices grown on the island (nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, and ginger). There are plenty of restaurants in the Grande Anse beach and St George's area, and there are also a few on the Lance Aux Epines peninsula. There's even a Gary Rhodes restuarant - his only restuarant outside the UK is at the Calabash hotel, Lance Aux Epines!
Further information
We've found several sites with lots of information about Grenada:
- The Grenada Tourism Board has lots of general information about the island.
- Grenada Explorer is less official - it's packed with useful tips and it has a good forum that you can visit if you've got any particular questions to ask those more knowledgeable about the island.
- Grenada Guide isn't particularly well organized, but you can find a fair amount of useful information in there if you dig a little.
Of course, if you haven't looked all around yet, the first place to look should be this site: we've got pages on things to do, places to stay, and flights and packages.