Description:
Lying south of Mustique and north of Mayreau, in the middle of the Grenadine archipelago, Canouan is an island of only five square miles.
Despite that, Sandy Lane Yacht Club in south Glossy Bay (a multi-million dollar development and the first superyacht marina) opened to yachts in 2017. Situated next to the airport runway on the SW side of the island.
Both the north and south ends of Canouan are gated and while permission can be obtained to enter these areas it is not the comfortable and accessible place it was years ago. Anse Guyac is closed as an anchorage, ostensibly due to fisheries concerns.
Cruiser Highlights:
The island has incredible beaches and great walks and hopefully, Canouan will still manage to retain some of its sleepy, rural charms with all the new development.
Entrance Notes or Cautions:
Airport:
The safety department at SVG Air strongly urges yachts to avoid the area within 3.2 km (two miles) of the airport’s final approach area. On numerous occasions vessels have been crossing the final approach path at Canouan, at the same moment, an aircraft is on its final approach. This poses a problem to both the aircraft and the yacht alike, especially at night or in low visibility. This is especially difficult for a pilot unfamiliar with the area.
The airport closes at 19.00. Flight movements are pretty infrequent (4 SVG Air flights per day, one by Mustique Air and a few private flights).
Anchoring: Anchoring is banned on the east side of Canouan.
Kiteboarding: Kiteboarding is also banned on the east side of Canouan.
Yacht Security:
Cruisers need to be cautious if visiting Canouan. Unfortunately, boardings and thefts are common here, particularly in the summer months. Do not leave your boat unlocked when ashore or at night – make sure all hatches are properly secured and your valuables are carefully hidden from view. This should be best-practice throughout the Caribbean. Incidents continue to be reported in 2021. See Canouan Security Reports for more details.
Position:
12° 42.6’N, 61° 20’W.
Last updated: June 2022
Next Section: Profile: Clearance
Related to following destinations: Canouan, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, The Grenadines
Port Navigation
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We did spent few days at the new marina in south glossy bay named “Sandy Lane Yacht club” (VHF68)
When we were there the marina was empty but it seems to be more busy during holidays time in the year.
The marina had two restaurants, a small supermarket and a bakery. Water and electricity are provided at the pontoon.
Checking in the country is done at the small airport (just behind the marina) with the marina shuttle. First Custom officer (45USD or 116.25 XSD) ad then the immigration officer. All done in +/- 25 min.
We had a poor WIFI connection even after moving our boat. Personal are very friendly and professional.
5 Min by taxi is Charlestown where you can find a supermarket, fresh fruits and vegetable and an ATM machine at the only bank of the city and also a LIME shop where you can buy a Data mobile card (90 XSD for 10Gb).
The marina suffers from the Airport noise just behind but a good stop for check/out and Water + Diesel refill.
Canouan – Rameau Bay
A quiet night away from Charlestown, anchored near two huge superyachts which provided some good entertainment – hands-free wakeboarding at night! As warned in the guides – it took us a couple of goes to get the anchor dug in and we did swing a lot overnight – so make sure you have lots of room.
Reported by CSSN – 20th April 2018.
A bareboat charter catamaran with 7 persons onboard anchored close to the hotel beach and was left unlocked overnight. They awoke to find that they had been boarded overnight and that the thief had stolen a cellphone from the saloon, but left behind valuable cameras. They also discovered that the lifted dinghy had been tampered with, the outboard engines locking clamps had been unscrewed.
A report was made to the local police in Charlestown. The victims indicated that their Grenada based charter operator had not provided any safety/theft advice about any of the islands/anchorages on the planned itinerary. The victims did relate their experience to the charter base at the conclusion of their charter.
We stayed over at Rameau Bay and that was a good idea. The snorkelling was excellent. Coast guard did a sweep at night and that was reassuring. The only thing to watch is with the current and tides you do move in several directions when anchored, so leave extra room between boats. All round a good stop there after our last very unhappy Charlestown experience 5 years ago.
Reported on the Grenada Cruisers Information Facebook Page, July 26, 2017:
Just a quick heads up and warning for those planning to stop at Canouan.
We were on a mooring off the Tamarind Beach Hotel when at 0120 this morning it started raining. When I got up to close the cabin windows, I noticed someone in our cockpit sitting on the floor. When I banged on the door (which we always lock) he got up and jumped over the side and swam off.
Burglary in Charlestown 26./27. April 2017
We read regularly in Noonsite about the safety and security incidents. Today we are in the unfortunate position to report to you what happened to us.
We entered Canouan, Charlestown Bay on 26. April 12:00 on the anchor. Visited the town and went back to the boat around 17:00 and stayed on board the entire evening and night.
Closed all hatches except one in the salon of our catamaran. The front hatch was slightly ajar to get some air. It was a windy night and the wind-generator was working full power.
During the night while we were asleep, somebody entered the ajar salon hatch and went into the salon and stole money from the pockets of my pants and out of the wallet of my wife. The intruder also took two mobile phones that were on the navigation table for charging.
He took cash and mobile phones only. Also, he was very diligent and even closed the zipper of my wife’s wallet.
In the morning at first, it was difficult to detect the theft. We reported the incident to the local police station in Charlestown.
It was the first such incident that happened to us.
Though I don’t want to give up my dream of continuing to live on my boat, the incident left us with some thoughts.
Do we have to be glad he or they did not wake us up at gunpoint and wanted more valuables from us?
Yet while we were on shore and locked the boat up anybody could go on board start the engines and sail away with the entire boat. How does the sailing community take further measures to prevent robbery and theft?
In conclusion, I recommend NOT to stay any longer in Charlestown Bay nor in front of the Tamarind Hotel, where a mooring was faulty and a 61.5 ft catamaran was washed on to the other side of the bay on to a reef and the sand.
The solution is the newly opened (April 2017) beautiful marina behind the airport on the SW side of the island. The charge is 1 USD per ft, an easy price to pay vs. the USD 2500 damage the burglary cost us.
The sad thing about it is that if you go to the insider bar near the fruit and vegetable markets people say that it is just one guy notorious for doing so. And he lives in the bay above where the coast guard is located!
Canouan as such is a friendly island with a nice ambience. It has a very good – not to say the best – deli shop in the southern Caribbean and even stocks Italian Grappa!
We found Charlestown bay to be unpleasant with very strong gusts. Landing a dinghy on the Tamarind Hotel pontoon is easy, the pontoon is in good condition. You can get wifi at the hotel for 10 USD. Drinks are expensive at the hotel so we found a local beach bar right beside the commercial pontoon where you can run your dinghy up onto the beach and buy a beer for 7 EC$. The North half of the island is not accessible (it’s private) so don’t bother renting a golf cart. Signs of construction at the South of the island where they are putting in a new marina beside the airport.
Security Update and other cruising info. from Chris Doyle (8 February 2016):
In Canouan, I am happy to confirm the story that a man was put in Jail for robbing a boat. He is in for at least two years, and since he was in jail they have not had a single another incident.
One of the water vendors caught him coming out of the water naked at night and recognized him and reported him to the police. He had stolen money on him and I am told he pleaded guilty.
There has not been a single incident since he was arrested so we can say Canouan is as safe as anywhere else and maybe safer at the moment.
There are now two moorings and water vendors. Markus, whose son Mark is usually running the boat aided by Sharka, and John Compton, who is not yet in my guide but he can be contacted: Channel 16 or 1-784-593-0875. Both are excellent and will help in any way you want. They charge only $1 EC a gallon and deliver alongside. Their moorings are good and cost $50 EC.
New yachting regulations have been put in effect for Canouan by Government order (rather than a new law). The first is because a rich Italian has bought Corbay (Anse La Guyac) and put in a ton of sand and a huge restaurant that is private and only open to his friends and associates.
He desires the bay to be completely private so the government have banned anchoring in this bay, which is a pity as it is one of the most secure anchorages in Canouan and I have ridden out much bad weather here.
At first, he put a line of buoys across the entrance which caused an outcry among locals who had it removed. Beach access is still allowed and yesterday well over a hundred locals had a beach party to send the message this kind of privatization was not on. They were very peaceful and respectful and had a great party.
The government has also banned anchoring and kite-surfing on the east side of Canouan. The locals at the party let us know in no uncertain terms they want us to be able to anchor in these places and are angry at what is happening. Do visit Canouan soon, and use the local services to help support them.
Charlestown Bay Canouan
We have been told from several independent sources that the ‘petty thief’ targeting yachts in the Bay has been apprehended and is now serving 5 years.
The local businesses are frustrated that the ‘bad press’ persists and, as a result, the number of visiting yachts is significantly diminished.
This is a delightful destination and we took a mooring, eat and provisioned ashore and filled water from Marcus’s ‘bowser boat’ with absolutely no problem.
It is such a shame that the community is suffering to such an extent as a result of (apparently) out of date information.
Nick Mines
SY ‘Hejira
This was posted on Grenada Cruiser’s Group Facebook Page – 14 July 2015:
Our boat was just boarded on Canouan while on a mooring at Charlestown Bay. The gentleman (John) who rented us the mooring had suggested we close our entry door while sleeping and lock up securely if we leave the boat, he had even warned my husband a second time later that afternoon when he dropped off his business card.
We had closed our door when we went to bed but were awakened by a noise on deck. We hollered and he quickly jumped back into the water. Thankfully he didn’t have time to steal anything and didn’t offer to hurt us but I am a little shaken!
Charlestown Bay, Canouan, (St Vincent and the Grenadines)
In Canouan, I can recommend John, from John’s Marine VHF 16 for moorings, Ice, and high quality desalinated water from the Tamarind Hotel complex at $1 EC per gallon (.37 US). John has his own moorings and his own water boat. He is a really good guy. He used to work for Marcus, but Marcus’ son is now working with his father and John is on his own. They are all nice folks, but hopefully, people will give John a call.