Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Saint Vincent und die Grenadinen

The archipelago St. Vincent and the Grenadines belongs to the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean. it consists of St. Vincent and from the 32 islands of the Grenadines. Located in the south Grenada and in the north Saint Lucia.

Regions

• Saint Vincent - the largest island, has the largest area share.
• Grenadines - an archipelago of 32 islands south of Saint Vincent.

background

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are a group of islands in the southern Caribbean. They are a bit off the beaten track between Saint Lucia and Grenada. Saint Vincent is the main island and also the largest island in this group. Only the southern quarter of the island is developed, the middle and north are from the mountain Morne Garu Mountains and the volcano La Soufriere dominates. There is no road around the north coast.

The Grenadine Islands are all small, sometimes tiny and often little more than a rock, most of them are uninhabited. The southernmost island of this group is only a few hundred meters away from Petite Martinique, a small island that already belongs to Grenada.

The Grenadines

Arawak and Carib Indians were the island's first inhabitants. They called the Grenadines "Begos". France first laid claim to the islands in 1664. The sea powers of that time made few attempts to colonize the islands. On the one hand the Indians were very strong there, on the other hand they were too busy cultivating the larger islands. In 1762 the archipelago was divided up: CARRIACOU, PETIT MARTINIQUE and the more southern islands were ruled from GRENADA, the northern island fell to Saint Vincent. In 1763, Saint Vincent came to England in the Paris Peace Treaty. In 1779 France fought back the islands, but had to give them back to England in the Treaty of Versailles in 1783.

The archipelago is one of the most popular sailing areas in the world and can boast some of the most exclusive tourist hostels. Most of the islands are peaks of ancient volcanoes protruding from the sea, but also coral reefs that have built up on submarine volcanoes. Only about ten islands are inhabited all year round.

getting there

By plane

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines can only be reached with regional airlines. There is still no airport with international standards.

The Saint Vincent airfield has only one runway with a length of 1,500 m, but a new airport is being built eight kilometers northeast of it. This is to be released for international air traffic in 2012.

On the Grenadine Islands there are small airfields with runways from 760 m to 1,200 m in length on the islands of Bequia, Canouan, Mustique and Union Island.

By boat

There is a regular ferry service with several ships between the capital Kingstown on Saint Vincent and almost all inhabited Grenadine islands.

Kingstown is regularly visited by cruise lines during the season. The check-in facilities there are fairly new and of a good standard.

The archipelago is a popular sailing paradise. On the south coast of Saint Vincent there is a marina as well as modern repair shops for large yachts.

mobility

Rental cars can only be found on the two largest islands, Saint Vincent and Bequia. Minibuses, taxis and water taxis can be found on two or three other islands.

activities

There are 35 designated diving areas around the island. The diving schools offer an extensive diving program. Wreck diving is also possible. The wreck of the 21 m long “Gladdie” was put aground in 1978 for divers in 30 m water depth. The 35 m long freighter M / S “Lireco” was put aground in 1986 especially for divers in 28 m water depth.

language

The official language is English, but a large part of the population also speaks an English patois.

accommodation

Accommodation on the island of Saint Vincent has so far been limited to small hotels with an average of 30 rooms. The first 5-star hotel with over 300 rooms is now being built there on the west coast.

In the Grenadines, on the other hand, there has been a choice of several exclusive hotels and villa complexes for several years, of course with a wellness center and golf course and not affordable for ordinary people.

public holidays

meeting	Surname
January 1st	New Years Day	New Year
22nd of January	Saint Vincent Day	St. Vincent & Grenadines Discovery Day
the 14th of March	National Heroes Day	National Heroes Day
Good Friday		Good Friday
Easter		Easter
1st of May	Labor Day	Labor Day
2nd Monday and Tuesday in July	Carneval	carnival
1st Monday in August	Emancipation Day	Liberation Day
October 27	Independence Day	Independence day
25 December	Christmas	1st Christmas Day
December 26th	Boxing Day	2nd Christmas Day

security

climate

Daytime temperatures (28 to 33 degrees) and night temperatures (17 to 22 degrees) are fairly uniform all year round. February and March are the dry months, July and August have the most rain. The air humidity is constant at around 80%.

Cyclones

In 1980, hurricane "Allen" destroyed banana and coconut plantations. In 1987 it was hurricane "Emily" that destroyed 70% of the banana plantations. Further tropical storms followed in 1994 and 1995. In 1999, the plantations on the west coast of the island were severely damaged by cyclone "Lenny".

respect

literature

• St Vincent and the Grenadines, Lesley Sutty, 2nd Edition, MacMillan Education, 1997, ISBN 0-333-71353-2
• St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Evelin Seeliger-Mander, Reise Know How Verlag, 4th edition, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8317-1469-8

Maps

• Saint Vincent 1: 25,000, 2 sheets, Directorate of Overseas Surveys, Series E803 (DOS 317), Edition 5-DOS 1983 BWI
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 1: 50,000, Ordnance Survey, Series E703 (DOS 417), Edition 1-OS 1991

Web links