Best Things To Do in Grenada

Grenada is known for its crystal clear blue water. Sadly, the lush reefs that once surrounded the islands were mostly destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Since then, the islanders have worked to revitalize the ecosystem, and one of their methods is the underwater sculpture park. Here, they have placed many sculptures from various artists along the seabed, with the intention of fish feeding on algae that grows, and coral attaching itself over time. There are many sculptures, from local mythical beasts, carnival celebrations, and symbols of the spice island. Taking a tour to the sculpture park is a highlight of and Grenada trip, and we wrote a whole article about it if you want to see more.

After entering the area there were several people offering full spa treatments. You can just get in the pools without paying, but Yemisi wanted us to get the full package. We ended up going to The Earth Spa, who has a shack towards the back where you can change into swimwear. She mixed up a sand, sulfur, and mud mixture, and they slathered it all over our skin. Then they sent us out into the hot sun to bake and let the mud dry. Apparently, the mud hydrates and soothes the skin, and it felt cooling in the sun. After it dried, she aggressively scrubbed it into our skin, exfoliating our pores.

As I eluded to earlier, Grenada was a colony with many plantations. One of the plantations is the modern Belmont Estate. Originally a slave-run coffee plantation in the 1600’s, the estate passed through many hands over the years. Finally, it was purchased by Grenadians Norbert and Lyris Nyack in 1944, and transformed into a chocolate farm. Here, they make the chocolate from bean to bar with as minimal. Processing as possible. You can take several tours including a chocolate making experience, but we chose the most popular option which was a general walk through of the grounds.

On our tour, we got to taste beans, learn about the fermentation and drying process, and had plenty of historical context added as well. I’ve never seen cocoa pods in person before, so I was very fascinated with the taste and the process. Of course, Yemisi grew up eating the fresh cocoa pulp, so for her it was like memory lane. At the end we got to sample some chocolate which was incredible. We didn’t buy any there because we were worried it would melt, but they sell their chocolate all over the island so we had plenty of chances later.

Only a few minutes drive from the Belmont Estate is and the Sulfur Springs the River Antoine Rum Distillery. If you didn’t know, rum is one of the alcohols of choice in the Caribbean, and Grenada is no exception. This distillery is the oldest colonial era distilleries in the Caribbean, and one of the last places in the world using completely original equipment. You can take a tour to see up close every single step, from crushing the cane to bottling, everything is done here.

I was shocked to learn the facility is still using its original water wheel to power the cane crusher, fed from the River Antoine, the namesake of the distillery. This massive wheel slowly lifts the can up the conveyor and crushes the sugary liquid out into a pipe running to the next building. Many of these parts are several ton castings from over XXX years ago, and of course these parts aren’t made anymore. Hopefully nothing breaks, but it’s incredible that one of the nations most popular alcohols is still made in the original way.

We then toured the rooms where the liquid is boiled down, and fermented. You can see every step of the process up close, which I’ve never experienced before. It’s made of straight cane juice, so the entire warehouse smelled amazing. The last step is the massive copper distillation chambers, heated over roaring hot wood stoves. One part of keeping the original process means absolutely no further processing. The only ingredient is pure cane juice, with no sweeteners, colors, or aging. It’s the most simple and pure type of rum you can get.

At the end, they gave us some sample of their two products, a 75% and a 69% rum. The 69% is so tourists like us can legally take it on a plane. I was surprised, usually rum has an off-taste I really dislike, but even at 75% this one tasted sweet like the cane juice it’s made from, with no bitterness at all. Of course it burned on the way down, but it was smooth and honestly very enjoyable.

One of the first things you’ll see in Grenada is Fort George, the largest fort on the island. It was constructed by the British who originally ruled the island, but was overthrown by the french in 1779. Wanting a more secure position, the French constructed Fort Frederick high on a hill overlooking St George. While not as visually impressive as Fort George, this was a great defensive position that offered a 360 view of the side of the island. We wanted to visit both forts, but at the time of visiting Fort George was under renovations.

Back in downtown St. George’s is House of Chocolate. This shop sells chocolate from local brands all around the Island. You can ask for a demonstration, where they explain every type of chococlate, the history of chocolate on the island, and the chococlate making process (albeit in less detail than at the Belmont Estate). This was the absolute best place to get chocolate, the walls are lined with chocolate bars and the smell is amazing. Not only do they have chocolate bars, but they also have home made ice cream.