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| This picture totally doesn’t do Saltwhistle Bay justice. |
Saltwhistle Bay on Mayreau is a postcard. Literally, looking at is while sailing past it looks like a photograph right off of a post card. Sparkling green and blue water running up to a curved white sand beach, it is scattered with palm trees in just the right way to look picture perfect.
On shore it is close to the idyllic Caribbean beach. The leeward (protected from the wind) side white sand beach is soft and protected from surf and chop yet the Easterly trades cool things off and keep it from becoming baking hot. You can stroll under the shade of palm trees or walk with your feet in the sand and warm, clear water. There is a windward side beach as well over a short of spit of land that looks out on the Tobago Cays. Being windy it is also a bit rough – more of the natural raw beauty type of beach rather than the paradise of the leeward side beach.
On shore there are a few low key tables and stalls set up which sell some local crafts, trinkets and souvenirs. So low key I think I would have had to go shake one of the vendors awake if I wanted to actually buy something; just my sort of beach vendor! There are a few small bar/restaurants that offer beach BBQ’s and dinner. Small enough so you need to call ahead so they know they’ve got enough for everyone. We didn’t end up eating ashore ($80 ECD per person plus drinks still seems a bit outside our regular dining budget), but if we did we would have gone to the Saltwhistle Bay Club with the really cool stone tables with individual thatched palm roofs over them; that place looked funky and different.
When we arrived at the dinghy dock we were adopted by a local pooch, a very cute and engaging little fellow that decided he felt like a walk with company. He joined us on our walk down the beach and to the far side beach, and when we started hiking towards the “village” – the only real settlement on this tiny island. Sadly this whole hike was rather impromptu and once again no one had the wit to bring a camera with us. So no pictures of the dog, and no pictures of the stunning panorama of the Tobago Keys from the deck behind the Catholic church at the peak of the hill. We lost our adopted dog to a larger group at the church, we think he was too comfortable laying down on the cool stone in the shade behind the church to give it up to stay with us.
As with almost any walk on these islands there are a lot of up and downs. When we reached the summit of the road we still hadn’t found someplace to stop for some cold drinks so we headed on down into the village. We eventually found “Paradise”, a well kept and comfortable restaurant overlooking Saline Bay. We regretted our timing, as we discovered that Paradise (and presumably the other restaurants in the village) had a more reasonably priced menu than the waterfront places. But it was too close to lunch and too far from dinner, and we weren’t about to make the schlep back to town a second time three hours later for dinner!
If you’d never seem Saltwhistle Bay, Saline Bay would impress you as a lovely idyllic Caribbean beach. White sand, palm trees, clear water yada yada yada. One end of it, where the village is, is a bit less pristine because of the buildings, ferry dock, and some industrial looking facilities. But the beach is so much larger you don’t really notice the parts North of the dock.
Mayreau sits in the Tobago Cays National Park and many yachts (including us) use it as a staging place for visits to the Tobago Cays. The park collects $10 ECD per person per day for use of the park, however this is not collected for staying on Mayreau. With the Cays only a short four mile sail way it is a pleasant place to stop before you head to the Cays the next morning or on your way out of the Cays. We stayed in Saline Bay on the way to the Tobago Cays, and stopped in Saltwhistle Bay for a night on the way out of the Cays, followed by another night at Saline Bay.
Even without the Cays nearby Mayreau is worth a stop for a night or two. We found the people on shore to be welcoming and pleasant and the scenery is tough to beat.
