Whether a honeymoon, anniversary or a time to celebrate each other, Petit Saint Vincent island is the place
Conjure paradise and then multiply that image by ten. And, there you have Petit St. Vincent (PSV), one of the most exquisite islands in the Caribbean.
The low key and luxurious 115-acre private island is flung into the sea – part of the nation known as St. Vincent and the Grenadines – located in a stunning spot where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. Part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection, PSV has 22 cottages that are staggered amid the beaches and hillside of the island. With so few cottages on property, even when the island is at full occupancy you can go all day without bumping into a fellow guest.
On PSV you feel more like a luxurious castaway than a tourist. This is a place intended to give you space to fully immerse yourself in island life without forcing “fun” upon you, as so many other amped-up Caribbean resorts do. In fact, PSV is the antidote to the over-choreographed trip. There is no Wi-Fi (except near the main office) and there’s no TV to be found. From your villa, communication with staff is simple and elegant, operating through an unobtrusive flag system, where you hoist yellow for service and red for privacy.
The experience of getting to this tiny island is an adventure of its own. My husband Scott and I flew into Barbados. The moment we touched down, a PSV rep whisked us through customs and immigration before leading us to the tarmac where a four-seat plane run by Mustique Airways awaited. We set off on a one-hour journey across the Caribbean Sea to Union Island, a colorful outpost where locals sell supplies to sailors who blow in from around the world. From the tiny airstrip we took a three-minute taxi ride to the dock, where PSV’s private motorboat fetched us for a 15-minute ride to the lush island. There we were greeted with a potent rum drink (in a proper glass) before being sprinted to the cottage that would be our home for the next several days.
Our cottage, perched over a bluff, had stone walls, beamed ceilings and sliding glass doors that opened to the ocean. Every cottage has outdoor space; ours had a wraparound terrace with lounge chairs, a dining table and, my husband’s favorite amenity – a hammock.
Of course, the star of any Caribbean holiday is the beach. PSV has many beaches to choose from along its two-mile shoreline, some near the beach restaurant for convenience, and others secluded, like our favorite stretch known as the West End, where palapas-capped hammocks swing in the breeze. Each day, Scott would putter to the little dive shop to pick up snorkel gear so we could ogle spotted rays and colorful parrotfish gliding amid the reefs just offshore.
The little dive shop happens to be a Jean-Michel Cousteau Diving Center, and it’s here that Scott took his very first scuba lesson. After a short instruction, he was able to go out and do two 45-foot dives, where he encountered barracuda and a moray eel amid the reefs just yards from the island, an unforgettable experience he has recounted almost daily since we’ve returned home. While he dived, I wound my way up a hill to the spa, where treatment rooms are tucked amid the treetops. I surrendered to a Balinese–style massage said to improve blood flow while being lulled to the sounds of doves cooing in the brush.
The next day we took a five-hour sail on Beauty, a 49-foot wooden sloop that was constructed for the owner of PSV by a master boatwright from a neighboring island. We snorkeled in a pristine reef (now a national marine park), where fleet-footed starfish scurried. We swam alongside large sea turtles cruising gentle waves. And, we explored an island inhabited only by iguana.
On our final morning, gulls swooped overhead as I nursed my freshly squeezed beet-ginger juice outdoors on the terrace (the island’s bar turns out healthy juices by day and craft cocktails come evening). Rain clouds in the distance tossed a lacey screen over the sea. Scott and I were silent, soaking in the last of a place that had so wholly transformed us in just a few short days. We were relaxed and rested, yes, but we had also banked a few new adventures. Granted, we were reluctant to leave, but we knew we were heading home a slightly improved version of who we were. What more could we ask?