Grenada has always been the part of the Caribbean I dreamed of visiting at least once, but it’s never happened due to the very high cost of flights from Canada to this beautiful lush island.
The island which is known as the Spice Island of the Caribbean with its beautiful beaches and mountains, remains a mystery to many travelers heading to the Caribbean for a treat.
Taking my first ever cruise, gave me the opportunity to do a Grenada island tour which I am going to share with you in this Grenada trip report.
In addition to what I did, I will point out the best attractions to do in Grenada in case you had enough time to do a complete tour around Grenada island. I took Royal Caribbean cruise, from Barbados and Grenada was the first stop.
Related: Astonishing Royal Caribbean Cruise on a Budget – 7 Countries for $500
Related: Barbados in 2 Days Before A Fantastic Royal Caribbean Cruise
Rental Car or No Rental Car in Grenada
My initial plan was to have a rental car in Grenada. I love the freedom of moving around with my own wheels and planned to rent a car here as well.
I had a confirmed booking with a local rental car company for my day in Grenada. Unfortunately, on the day of arrival, they emailed and said that the car had an accident and they won’t be able to deliver it. I am trying to believe that this is a legit excuse!
A couple and I were supposed to share the rental so we headed out trying to find a reasonable taxi for the day. After spending some time asking around and talking with different drivers, we finally settled with a driver who agreed on driving us around for the day.
I provided the driver with the list of places we would like to visit and also showed him the pinned places on my app MAPS.ME to avoid any confusion.
How to Save on Internet While Caribbean Island Hopping
I used Airalo’s Caribbean package which is an eSIM offered by Airalo. It connected to the Flow network and gave me 4G internet (No call or text messages).
I’d say Airalo is the best option for Caribbean island hoppers to save money on roaming charges. The best part is that there is no shipping or waiting times. Create an Airalo account, download the app (Confirm your device supports eSIM), purchase your package, and done.
Driving Out of the Capital, Saint George’s
I am going to admit that driving in Grenada isn’t as easy as I expected initially. In addition to the drive being on the left side of the road with steering on the right, Grenada roads have deep gutters on the left side which means little room for error.
The is no significant elevation gain in Grenada but the roads are full of blind corners with lots of randomly showing up out of nowhere turns. However, the drive became much easier once we were outside the capital, Saint George’s.
First Stop, Seven Sisters Waterfalls in Grenada
After a short drive, we arrived at Seven Sisters waterfalls. We were told by our
driver that we can only go to the first two waterfalls. There was a 5 ECD (Eastern Caribbean Dollar) or $2 USD entrance fee and we also got a nice hiking stick to help with the muddy trail.
I used my Brim Financial Mastercard to pay for attractions wherever they accepted card payments in Grenada. To withdraw money, I used my Crypto.com Visa card.
Related: All You Need to Know About Brim Financial & Brim Mastercard Review
Both these cards don’t charge any foreign transaction fees plus give some cashback which is a great help when visiting other countries. Brim is only available to Canadians while Crypto.com card is a global card.
We hiked through a tropical lush rainforest with many shades of greens and occasionally colorful flowers.
It took about half an hour to get to the waterfalls which were magnificent. The pools were very refreshing and we got the chance to swim here. The trail along the waterfalls made for a great start of our Grenada tour.
After spending an hour swimming and taking pictures in Seven Sisters waterfalls in Grenada, we headed back on the same trail to the entrance.
Second Stop, Grand Etang Lake in Grenada
Honestly, I don’t know why this lake is one of the most highlights of any Grenada visits. Maybe it didn’t look too pretty or special because it was a cloudy day? The photos I’ve seen online made it look so spectacular and we were disappointed by our own high expectations.
Grand Etang lake within Grand Etang national park is located 1700 feet above sea level which was is an extinct volcano crater.
I also noticed that there were some gold fishes swimming in the lake just by the small deck.
Yes, Grand Etang Lake is beautiful but I think it will be prettier if you were lucky enough to have a sunny day. Our one day visit in March was a cloudy but pleasant day.
There are also some hiking trails around the lake with duration between 15 minutes to 4 hours. But we didn’t have time as we were expecting to see more of the island so didn’t do any hike here.
We saw some tourists posing with a Mona Monkey which is a protected species in the island. I wish this type of tourist attractions don’t happen often.
Third Stop, Annandale Falls in Grenada
It was a very easy walk to Annandale waterfall which is a short 30 fee waterfall with a big pool in Grenada. There are stairs to go all the way down but the waterfall’s pool color wasn’t appealing so we didn’t get ourselves wet here.
However, the river running in and out of the waterfall has a spectacular color. There is a restaurant with a bar in the restaurant but we didn’t buy anything here.
The short hiking trail around Annandale waterfall has some magnificent views.
After spending around an hour in this waterfall, we headed back to the car. Our driver was all ready to drive us back to the cruise despite our agreement that we wanted to tour the island until 3 in the afternoon.
Honestly, he started behaving weirdly and claimed we told him that we were planning to spend most of our day by the beach! We firmly said this isn’t the case which led him calling his boss.
At the end, we compromised by cutting our visit around Grenada short and instead of visiting more places on our list like Belmont Estate to just go have a nice view of the island and visit a beach.
Best View in Grenada Island
After visiting the 2 waterfalls and the lake, we headed to a viewpoint close to Fort Frederick. This view doesn’t go to the fort itself but it is by the gate of Her Majestys Prison in Grenada.
It is a very beautiful viewpoint with a full bird view of Saint George’s, the cruise terminal, and Grenada parliament on top of the hill.
After enjoying the views, we drove around and ended up in a La Sagesse Beach where we spent an hour admiring the beauty and swimming in its enjoyable shallow water.
While driving around we came upon this magically beautiful tree. Rainbow Eucalyptus is the most colorful tree on earth.
We then headed back to the the capital city and the cruise terminal.
What Else to Do During a Grenada Tour
If I had more time, I’d have loved to do a fruit and spice tour of Grenada island. The island is famous for its spices which include cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, vanilla, mace, and of course our beloved cocoa.
Grenada’s famous Underwater Sculpture Park is something I’d have loved to do but I know I can’t have both an island tour plus the diving.
If you’d like to learn more about the history of Grenada’s Underwater Sculpture Park, I encourage you to visit the official Pure Grenada site.
Of course hiking is my most favorite activity when traveling if time permits. For hikers, Mount St. Catherine is the highest peak in Grenada, 840m, with some amazing views on a clear day.
Final Thoughts on my Grenada Trip Report
As you saw in the photos, Grenada is a a very beautiful lush island full of hidden gems for nature lovers. There are activities for all kind of travelers to experience and enjoy in Grenada.
Food lovers can take a spice tour enjoying the many different types of spices offered in this island. There are also beaches, rivers, waterfalls, and mountains.
The capital, Saint George’s is full of beautiful buildings, history, and culture. I’d say it is one of the most beautiful Caribbean cities to visit.
I wish I had the whole day to see more of the island but I am happy with the short half-day tour of Grenada.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you soon!
Thanks for sharing your Grenada trip! I was curious to know if Airalo’s eSIM worked at sea while cruising between ports? Thanks!
Thanks very much for taking the time. I appreciated your insights! Cheers from Canada