After leaving Union Island late in the morning, we had a smooth sail north to Mustique, a privately owned island about 17 miles just south of St Vincents. We arrived in time to catch a drink at Basil’s popup bar (a new Basil’s is currently being built – looks like it will be pretty swish, right on the waterfront) before dinner on board boat – attempting to replicate one of Justin’s meals from Mayreau – jerk chicken and rice, not too bad!
The main shops of Mustique – 1 upmarket clothes, 1 souvenir shop (closing down) and a bakery/ice-cream parlour
Whilst I cooked, the crew checked out the Firefly hotel, about 2 thirds the way up the hill overlooking the bay. Definitely the spot for catching sunset, plans were made for a revisit the next night. With rooms cost $600 US a night, we had full crew on board as we rolled around the bay!
The island is a getaway for the rich and famous. All the privately owned houses and villas are managed by a collective, the Mustique Company. There are about 500 permanent residents, and just over 100 villas/homes that are rented out, swelling the numbers on the island to around 1300 in peak season. Wills and Kate have been here 7 times, however during our stay, we didn’t manage to run into anyone famous as we explored the island.
We hiked to the Cotton House resort for lunch during our stay, a beautiful exclusive resort about 30 minutes walk away. They are happy for folk to swim at their beach if using the bar, so we stayed until about 3pm before hiking back. Mei-Lin and I sneeked away from the gang to explore the resort. The main reception empty so we took a few snapshots of the the lovely bar and lounge area.
On our walk back we spotted a tortoise crossing the road……
That night, the adults escaped to the Firefly bar for sunset and farewell drinks, as we were dropping the Jane’s back to St Vincent the next day for their flight back to St Lucia, before home to UK.
It was sad to see our friends go – it was so much fun having people to share our sailing adventure, and they were soooooooo tolerant and accepting of all the fun and games the Garrett boy’s antics introduce into a day at sea (all currently suffering a bit of cabin fever unfortunately!).
We are now back in Union Island, blog is finally up-to-date, and we are preparing to leave the Grenadines today and head to Grenada via Petite Martinique. I can’t believe that we have reached the end of the Caribbean islands that we have planned to visit, and although the journey is not yet over, it is a good feeling to be in the area which is less exposed to hurricanes, and have a couple of months to chill out in Grenada, with only small trips around what we are anticipating to be another beautiful spot to visit!
Mahia 