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If you are looking for a Caribbean Vacation Special in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, then perhaps you need to do some investigation about the private island of Mayreau. It is a quiet destination found just west of the Tobago Cays. There is no airport on Mayreau so visitors arrive by small cruise ships that dock at Saline Bay on the south west corner of the island.

Mayreau is the smallest inhabited island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, being only one and a half square miles in area with a permanent population of about three hundred people who all live in a village on the south west of the island.

The real charm of Mayreau, is the fact that this island of all islands in the Grenadines isn't rich from tourism, so what you are going to see is a side of the Caribbean untouched relatively speaking by the 21st century. If that is important to you, then you must visit.

What you will find is a few dozen simple houses, a few restaurants owned by the locals, all beautifully and colourfully decorated, and a guesthouse. There are also rum shops and pool tables.

You'll need to hike up the steep hill to the village from Saline Bay or the nice bush path from Saltwhistle Bay, but the reward is a stunning view over Saline Bay to Union Island, whilst you reward yourself with a nice cold drink.

Walk even further and you will find a beautiful little church.[most of the population are Catholics].

The views on all sides from the church are just stunning, across the reefs to the Tobago Cays, and south to Palm Island, Petit St. Vincent, Union Island, as well as Petit Martinique and Carriacou. Loking north you will see Canouan behind which is bequia, and on the horizon you can even see the hills of St. Vincent.

Technically Mayreau is a private island, as one would guess from its name, there is something very French about it, and if you think that, then you wouldn't be wrong. The British seemed to have forgotten all about it, which has resulted in a number of people who seem to hold ownership. In typical Caribbean style this seems to mean a total lack of coordination as to how it is to be developed.

This is a large part of the charm of Mayreau, but it also means it is quite untidy with no effort apparently made to control the rubbish. There is no supplied electricity, but the hum of generators adds to the feel of old Caribbean

Most visitors to Mayreau come by yacht and arrive at either Saline Bay which has a beautiful clean and very long beach, or Saltwhistle Bay a lovely anchorage at the north end of the island, and site of the Saltwhistle Bay Resort, one of the most exclusive hotels in the Grenadines.

Saltwhistle bay is absolutely beautiful, very much a tropical lagoon in appearance. Most visitors who aren't either yachties or off small cruise liners, only on Mayreau for the day, stay at the Saltwhistle Bay Resort.

It is small, exclusive, and a world away from the sleepy hillside village.

You may well find it paradise because Mayreau has no roads or cars, and indeed seems at times far from civilization, and that is the main reason that some people will find it to be the place to go for the best Caribbean Vacation ever.

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