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Special Travel Tips for
guests staying at Tamarind Cottage (due to constant changes, we urge
you to check with ALL carriers):
How to get to Carriacou in one day from the US
- From the US, the best way, currently, is via
Caribbean Airlines from JFK/New York.
The flight leaves at 7:00AM gets you to Port of Spain by noon where you
can catch the 14:00 LIAT flight to Grenada, which gives you plenty of
time to catch the afternoon flight/ferry to Carriacou. Delta has
announced a twice weekly flight, beginning in June. -
All other US departure cities require a change of planes, usually
landing you in Grenada in time to catch
the 5:30PM ferry. The taxi ride from the airport to the ferry is only about 10
minutes, but if your flight is very late, or you stop for a beer, you may have to stay
overnight in Grenada and take the morning SVG Air flight or the Osprey ferry.
- If your schedule allows you a choice, we recommend SVG Air versus the
Osprey ferry. It’s faster and easier on the stomach (especially in the Grenada to
Carriacou direction) and about the same price as taking the ferry from
the Carenage in St. George's.
- When flying SVG Air, you should call them directly (1 473 444 3549 or
0328) to
make your reservations with a real person (they are not on the Sabre
system), as far in advance as is practical. These are small planes,
seating 9 passengers with just one or two flights a day from Grenada to
Carriacou. (During Regatta or the winter holidays, it’s advisable to
make these
reservations even as far as two or more months in advance.) Also, it is
wise to confirm your reservation a few days in advance of your flight.
To get
to Carriacou from Europe
We
are told this is not
difficult and so we are not providing special tips. for some options,
see our "How to get there" section.
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No
matter where you're traveling from: Avoid Saturday
- While you can travel to Carriacou any day of the week, the most challenging
is Saturday. Unless you are taking the the new Delta flight from JFK that
arrives early Saturday morning (allowing you to catch the Saturday morning SVG
Air flight to Carriacou), try to travel on a different day.
-
Arrivals late
Saturday afternoons are especially difficult. There’s an SVG Air flight on Saturday
afternoon, but if your plane is late or cancelled, there’s no Osprey ferry "safety
net." The next
opportunity to get to Carriacou is on Sunday morning. As well, the banks are closed
on Saturday afternoon (making it impossible to change money) and the police station may
be
closed (making it impossible to get a temporary driver’s license). In turn,
this could delay your ability to get your rental vehicle until Monday.
Worst Case Scenario
- If you find yourself stuck on Grenada overnight (there are far worse things),
you have many hotels to choose from, at many price points, from budget options such as Tropicana (near the ferry in St. Georges)
to high-end alternatives such as the
Grenada Grand Beach Resort (near town) and Rex Grenadian (near the airport).
Obviously, the closer you stay to the ferry or airport, the easier it
will be to catch a morning boat or plane.
Hurricanes
- Grenada and Carriacou are outside the hurricane belt. Which is why Hurricane
Ivan – a once in 50 years event that struck in 2004 – was such a
surprise. Now, six years later, the damage from Ivan (and its smaller sister
"Emily") has been cleaned up. Looking back, these storms
helped the islands; teaching us to be more prepared.
Insects
We are meticulous about keeping down mosquitoes. But lately, there has been some construction going on
and the workers are not always as careful as they should be about standing water. Therefore, we suggest you pack a can of DEET (Off). Most likely
you will not need it much, but, what the heck, you can always throw unused
cans "overboard" at the end of the trip.
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