Caribbean Travel Dreams Blog

Grenada Travel Information
Trip Report, Coyaba Beach Resort, Grand Anse, Grenada

My husband and I traveled to the "Spice of the Caribbean", Grenada, for a too-short, 4 night stay at Coyaba Beach Resort on Grand Anse Beach 3/28 to 4/1/06.  Grenada is located in the Eastern Caribbean at the southern extremity of the Windward Islands, only 100 miles north of Venezuela. To the north lie St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to the south lie Trinidad and Tobago.  It's an island I'd definitely visit again ... too many things we didn't get to do!

AIR JAMAICA FLIGHT: My husband and I traveled to Grenada via a non-stop flight on Air Jamaica out of JFK.  We did upgrade to First Class at the airport for our 4-1/2 hour flight to Grenada for $180 per person. I honestly didn’t feel it was worth it – the food did not seem to be that much of an upgrade (if it was at all) and the complimentary beverages were limited. FYI - there was charge for Red Stripe for our flight home from Grenada where it used to be complimentary). The flight attendants were wonderful, and the seats were wider, but I just didn’t feel it was worth an additional $360. Of note, $20 Departure Tax was not included in the flight cost.

We were met at the airport in Grenada by Mandoo, who we contacted beforehand on the recommendation of Christine Noel at the Grenada Tourist Board. Mandoo is a prompt, courteous, reliable gentleman – he has been a fixture in Grenada for approximately 20 years offering airport transfers, island tours, etc. Mandoo also was our driver for our trip to Fish Friday in Gouyave (which I’ll talk about later). Each time we saw Mandoo, he was dressed in all white – white shoes, pants, & dress shirt.  It seemed like everyone on the island knew of Mandoo. E-mail: Mandoo@grenadatours.com. His website is www.grenadatours.com.

RESORT: Coyaba Beach Resort: This resort just reopened on 2/8/06 and was still under construction while we were there. The restaurants, bars, pool, gift shop, lobby, and some rooms were completed. The resort was empty – I think there may have been one or two other rooms occupied at any given time during our stay – but fully staffed (to say we received personalized treatment is an understatement). Even with the construction going on, it was never intrusive. It will be a wonderful resort once everything is completed – what had already been completed was beautiful, and each day we were there something new was completed. Rooms are nice-sized with a small fridge, cable TV, table & 2 chairs, balcony or patio and coffee maker (no clocks). All bathroom fixtures and furnishings were brand new; balconies & patios were arranged to provide privacy. The pool has a swim-up bar (where I had a few awesome rum punches with nutmeg made by our pal, Chris); plenty of chairs and umbrellas poolside. Lunch is served in an open-air dining area poolside, and we dined there twice. Breakfast and dinner are served in another very nice open-air dining area. We did not eat breakfast at the resort, just coffee and fruit on our balcony in the mornings, but we did dine one evening at the resort. Food was tasty, Grenadian & International fare. Cost was a little higher than you could find off the resort.

Coyaba is in a great location – only about a 10 minute drive from the airport, directly on Grand Anse Beach (next door to Spice Island), 10 minutes from St. George's, with a supermarket, bank/ATM, and local eateries in easy walking distance. It is highly recommended to have EC (Eastern Caribbean) money on hand for taxi drivers, etc., which is easy to obtain. We were able to exchange US for EC at the hotel, and there was an ATM across the street. Credit cards were accepted at most places, but still advisable to have a small amount of EC. Beaches are public, but we were only asked 3 times if we wanted to purchase items during our stay. I’m not sure if this would be different if cruise ships were in port, but for the most part our time on the beach was peaceful.

DINING; We had lunch at the resort twice, mainly for convenience while at the pool (burgers, salads, etc.). We also had lunch at the Morne Fendeu Plantation Great House in St. Patrick’s while touring the island (more on the tour later) and a quick lunch La Chateau across the street from Coyaba. Lunch at the plantation was all Grenadian fare – Calalloo soup, pumpkin, plantains, rice & peas, chicken, and ice cream – very good.

We ate the first evening at the resort, the fresh fish was delicious; other evenings we had dinner at Coconut Beach (located right on Grand Anse beach – walkable for lunch but a cab ride at night), and Aquarium (a cab ride – located near the airport next to Rex Grenadian and La Source). Of the three restaurants, Aquarium was our favorite.

Our last night, Friday, brought us to “Fish Friday”. Fish Friday is held each Friday from about 7PM to 1AM in the fishing village of Gouyave. It’s an eating and socializing event where locals and visitors come together, a great experience. – the streets are closed off and vendors sell a variety of fresh, home-cooked food, including lobster, fresh fish, fish cakes, kebobs … too many choices to mention here. On the Friday we visited, there was a performance on the street by drummers and dancers. We sampled lobster & shrimp with vegetables, shrimp kebob, homemade sweet potato pudding, lambie waters (“lambie” is conch – lambie waters is a Grenadian soup with veggies & conch). Lots of people were there, and it was a fun, friendly crowd. You can fine dine anywhere, but here you can get a good, fresh, home-cooked meal for a bargain. It was about a 45-minute drive from Coyaba to Gouyave. Mandoo did tell us that they plan to expand into the church for more vendors and tables – they must be sure the steeple is stable as it was damaged by Hurricane Ivan.

ISLAND TOUR: Drew and I were picked up at 9AM by our driver and given an extensive private tour of the island – didn’t return to Coyaba until 5PM . During that time, Roger was great company. We saw so much, too much to write down, but some points of interest included: Concord Falls , Dougaldston Estate, Grand Etang Lake , Carib’s Leap, Levera Pond, Antoine Bay , River Antoine Rum Factory, Grenada Chocolate Factory, lunch at Morne Fendue Plantation House. It was a wonderful day.

During our stay we also delivered a suitcase full of donations to BelAir Home for Children. This is a home for abused, neglected, abandoned children from the ages of newborn to 18. It touched our hearts to meet the children, and they are blessed to have the wonderful staff on hand to care for them.  A worthwhile charity.

All in all, our short time on Grenada was a relaxing and enjoyable getaway. If you’re looking for casinos, non-stop action, shopping, and loads of nightlife, you should look elsewhere. If you’re looking for beautiful beaches, rainforests, and friendly people, Grenada is the perfect spot.  Plenty of choices to stay throughout the island, too.

Pattie Mitchell, Travel Dreams
www.traveldreams.us