How to Spend One Day in St. Vincent: A Magical Untouched Island Paradise

Whether you’re spending one day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on a cruise port day or you’re looking for an adventurous outing during an upcoming island stay, this post has you covered. Our full day in St. Vincent included exploring waterfalls, immersing ourselves in the film set for the Pirates of the Caribbean and relaxing on a volcanic, black sand beach.

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One Day in St. Vincent Itinerary

Our one day in St. Vincent was an incredible experience on one of the few remaining Caribbean islands mostly untouched by tourism. The volcanic island is full of lush jungle, black sand beaches, beautiful lookouts and winding backroads.

Since we only had about eight hours to spend here, we wanted to make sure we used it wisely. We booked a tour with a highly rated local guide named Ronald and it was the best choice we could have made. Getting to see so much of the island in its current state is something we will never have the chance to do again. Multiple hotel companies (hey Beaches and Marriott) have already purchased large portions of land that will soon be demolished for resorts to drop in.

From beginning to end, Ronald was an extremely passionate, energetic guide with so much knowledge and information about the island where he has lived his entire life and I can’t recommend him enough.

Here’s an overview of everything we did during our one day in St. Vincent.

Scenic Drive to Where the Island Road Ends

We met Ronald right out of our port dock where he was waiting patiently with other tour guides. His guide partner Kingsley led us to the van where we joined a few others and quickly left for our two hour, scenic drive through the west side of the island.

While we drove through the hillsides and small towns of St. Vincent, Ronald explained a lot about the island, its history and what life is like living there. We saw amazing sights along our way such as the La Soufrière Volcano, coastal towns, local architecture, and lush jungle landscape. We could even see The Pitons Mountains across the way in St. Lucia when the rain cleared.

The road ends on this side of the island at the entrance to the falls so you will literally take the road all the way to the end. We didn’t make any stops along the way in order to get to the falls before other buses arrived so this scenic drive is long but worth it.

Tip: Because this drive is just over two hours without any stops, make sure to plan ahead if traveling with kids. Pack entertainment and LOTS of snacks to make it through.

Dark View Falls

Dark View Falls is located on the northwest side of St. Vincent in the lush jungle and consists of two falls, one above the other. Here you’ll go with your guide across a bamboo bridge at then up a short way to the lower falls with a natural pool. After spending some time here you can make your way up to the top falls which is definitely worth the additional effort. Both are beautiful in their own way.

Hiking to the falls is relatively easy for people of all ages and abilities. It is short (10-15 minute) hike from the parking lot to the base of the lower falls. Another short (10-15 minute) hike will get you to the top falls. There is some minor rock scrambling, which can get a bit slippery so be sure to wear good shoes. Sweet Kingsley, the assistant tour guide, was so great at helping the kiddos around the rocks and making sure they were safe.

End your time at Dark View Falls with a delicious rum punch before starting your journey back toward Kingstown.

NOTE: The tour we went on got us to the falls before any other busses arrived. This was such a game changer for getting to experience the falls without hoards of people. By the time we were heading back to the bus there were SO many people on their way up and it was chaos. This is one of the biggest advantages to taking the tour with Ronald instead of someone else. Reserve your spot here!

Wallilabou Bay: Pirates of the Caribbean Film Site

Your next stop is Wallilabou Bay, most recognized as the main filming site for Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Here you’ll have a half hour or so to explore the site, see props from the movie, and walk the same areas as the cast. A lot of the site has been left untouched and is a bit rundown but you can really get a feel for how it looked during filming.

The best part is getting to walk out onto the dock where Johnny Depp famously steps off his sinking ship in the beginning of the movie. The bay itself is beautiful so even if you aren’t a Pirates of the Caribbean fan it’s a cool experience nonetheless. Watch the iconic ship sinking scene here before you go!

Buccament Bay: Black Sand Beach + Lunch

Next you’ll make your way to spend some time on the black or white sand beaches in Buccament Bay. Here you’ll have the option of spending time on the natural, black sand beach or walking over to the Sandals resort where you can enjoy the white sand beach (man-made by Sandals Resort). Personally, I loved experiencing the volcanic, black sand beach because it’s something you don’t see often.

The amount of time you’ll have to spend at Buccament Bay will really depend on when you need to return from your tour (i.e. when your cruise is leaving port that day). We only ended up with about an hour here before we had to head back but it was still fun to experience the black sand beach.

If you end up having more time here, you can grab lunch at a local restaurant but the wait is usually very long and you could end up spending most of your time here just waiting for food. There is also a small bakery across the street and a local grilling bbq on the beach but overall the food selection is minimal. Plan ahead with snacks and other food to make your day a bit more enjoyable.

Tips for Spending One Day in St. Vincent

Bring Food and Water

Lunch is not provided on this tour and we did not have an option to buy food until around 2:30 p.m. and the options were very limited. I’d highly recommend packing your own lunch or snacks to enjoy on the bus while you drive around. Ronald did grab some fruit from a roadside market and had a few snacks available but I would plan on bringing anything you will want to eat during the day.

Plan to Spend a lot of Time Driving

This tour does involve a lot of time in the van. It is about 2 hours from port to Dark View Falls which is a straight drive. The drive back is broken up by sightseeing stops so it doesn’t feel as long but just be aware ahead of time that the initial drive will be long. Bring activities and lots of snacks to entertain any young kiddos. We always love having Yoto Players with us for longer drive days.

Wear Waterproof Shoes

Walking around to experience Dark View Falls is very rocky and can be slippery. You will want to wear stable shoes to get around but they will also get wet from the water. I’d highly suggest bringing and changing into water shoes before you head for the falls or wearing waterproof shoes so you aren’t dealing with wet shoes all day.

I absolutely love these Waterproof Reef Sandals which are super comfortable and go perfectly from walking through water to all-day wear.

Bring a Rain Jacket

As with any Caribbean island, rain showers come and go so it can be handy to have a rain jacket on hand. We started our journey to Dark View Falls in pouring rain so a lightweight rain jacket came in clutch.

Prepare for Winding Roads

The roads in St. Vincent are not for the faint of heart. If you’ve ever driven the Road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii, these are very similar. With lots of switchbacks and winding up and down, it can be a bit rough for anyone prone to motion sickness. Be sure to have motion sickness medicine or a nausea relief band on hand just in case.

FAQs

Is this tour kid friendly?

We brought our three young kids on this tour (5, 3 and 1 at the time of our visit) and they did great. It was a lot of time in the car but they had so much fun climbing around at the falls, exploring the bay and playing at the beach. As long as you plan ahead with snacks and activities, I think this is a very kid friendly tour.

How long is this tour?

Ronald and his team are great a catering this tour to the amount of time you have available. For us, our ship was in port from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. so the tour lasted from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. For ships that have longer port days, the tour will run a bit later with longer time to spend at the beach. Ronald and his team are great at making sure to get you back in plenty of time to re-board your cruise.

Read Next

• Family Cruise Tips: What I’ve Learned Cruising with Little Kids
• One Day Curaçao To Do List: Ultimate Cruise Port Road Trip
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Dark View Falls: Complete Guide to Visiting with Kids
• Packing for International Travel with Kids: Complete Packing Guide

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