The 7 best things to do in Grenada

Most of the islands’ dishes have made their way through Market Square, famed for its independent, small-batch cooking. Head there on Friday and Saturday to find fresh fruit, including guavas, soursop and breadfruit being sold alongside herbs and spices such as nutmeg and mace. You’ll also likely come across West Indian hot sauce and various forms of the native water vegetable: seamoss. 

Seamoss is generally regarded by Grenadians to be a superfood due to its high fibre and iodine content. It’s been linked to good gut health (true) muscle growth (true), workout recovery (true) and is often touted by locals as being as protein-rich as chicken (very very false).

Handcrafted goods are also up for grabs. Ox-eye beans are used to make bracelets and calabash is the canvas of choice for bespoke artworks of local beaches and waterfalls. But word of warning, beware the chorus of vendors flogging ‘fresh saffron.’ They’re peddling turmeric root, not the spenny spice.

A former seventeenth century French-owned slave plantation, Belmont Estate, found at the northern tip of the main island in St Patrick, is now a fully-functioning farm as well as an educational site. Set across 400 acres, the estate is home to a museum, sugarcane and orchid garden, restaurant and an IRL chocolate factory(!).

Today, Belmont is headed by a Black female attorney, Shadel Nyack Compton, who has transformed it into a thriving 21st century business that champions organic agriculture and eco-tourism. On site you’ll get the chance to take part in the cocoa processing production line by shuffling cocoa beans between your toes and sampling the final product. Keep your eyes peeled for roaming monkeys and tortoises and an irreverent parrot. And if you fancy learning more about the plantation's history, take a detour to find the recently discovered grave of the plantations' former owner.

Grenada offers a welcome respite from junk food (though you will find a solitary KFC and Subway on the main island). For a high-end meal served in a relaxed seaside setting, head to Armadillo, an intimate guesthouse run by a husband and wife duo. The kitchen is open to non-residents, which can only be described as a real treat as dishes that look savoury usually taste sweet and dishes that look sweet usually taste savoury. Make sure your reservation is made at least a day before and head to the cashpoint first as they don’t accept credit cards.

On Grenada’s South coast, True Blue Bay Boutique Resort is a climate-smart complex, complete with restaurant, rum bar, chocolate bakery and spa, run by the Fielden family. Rooms are as relaxed as they are turquoise, with flower petals generously scattered across all non-flammable surfaces - including the loo. But it’s the clan in charge that make True Blue special. 

The Fieldens live on site, so you’ll likely see Mexican-born matriarch Magdalena promoting the island’s organic chocolate or granddaughter Lilian hosting princess-themed treasure hunts on the beachfront. If you’re really lucky, Englishman Russ, who sailed to the Caribbean in 1981 never to return home again, might even regale you with colourful tales of his involvement in the 1979 Marxist Revolution. There’s also a spa on site where you can book in for a Calming Cocoa Soak. Think ‘Pretty Woman’ meets chocolate mud bath.

Being lodged into a rubber ring with a wooden bottom and dragged backwards down a series of rapids by a contingent of cannon-balling tubemen might not sound like the first choice for an adrenaline hit, but let me tell you, it should be. For someone whose usual level of risk taking extends to thieving the odd 5p bag from Tesco (sorry Mum), the contrast of gliding down the river with mini bursts of white water rafting was a rush worth almost peeing my pants for. Just remember to leave your phone bankside unless you want to get deep into the semantics of ‘waterproof’ v ‘resistant’.

For those looking for a more relaxing dip in the river, Annandale’s dreamy plunge pool should do the trick. The 30-foot waterfall does a pretty good job of besting the local leisure centre as the backdrop for a swim and/or perfecting the Instafamous mermaid hair flick. If you’re watershy, allergic to hikes of the Bear Grylls cannon or easily parched, fear not, it’s also only a two-minute walk from civilization and less than one from an open bottle of rum at the on-site wooden barrel bar. That is if you discount the man who offered us overproof mother’s ruin on the riverbank…

Taking home-cooked food literally, Dexters is a restaurant run by its namesake from his family home in St George’s. Mostly known for its five course dining menu, the meat offering can safely be called extensive, with steak, lobster, duck, pork and shrimp all being plated up alongside traditional Caribbean dishes like plantain cake and chocolate banana pudding. The slap up veggie menu also gives pumpkin soup a Grenadian glow-up thanks to the added zing of local spices. And let me tell you, the man works wonders with a christophine. The one hazard? The experience might remind you so much of home, you might find yourself scrubbing in to help with the dishes.

Time Out visited Grenada on an organised press trip with the Grenada Tourism Authority. We received complimentary access to Belmont Estate, Armadillo, Dexters, True Blue Bay Resort, Calabash and Annandale Falls. For information on our policies around editorial independence, reviews and recommendations, see our editorial guidelines.