After leaving beautiful St Lucia to start making our way south we were really excited to see what we would find next. Yet after reading up on NoonSite and talking to some fellow cruisers before we left, we learnt that St Vincent could, at times, be a dangerous place.
The Chateaublair anchorage in the north is currently deemed off limits due to the violence against cruisers, so instead we made our first stop Wallilabou bay. The entrance to the bay is incredible; like something off a movie! Well, actually make that like something off of three movies. All three Pirates of the Caribbean films were set for a large part in this bay. Mainly the Port Royal scenes for those movie fans of you. Yet when you get closer and after you have been through some quite aggressive interactions with the 'boat boys', you just see a run down, dilapidated beach that is scattered with debris and a lot of unwelcoming faces.
We spent two days there. Saw the most magnificent waterfall and abundance of fruit trees that mark the start of a thick jungle - fantastic exploring! However after two days we left in a hurry and we would not go back.
Every boat that came left straight after clearing customs (an insanely difficult process here by the way), and the only boat that hovered overnight stayed far enough away from the shore to (hopefully) deter any unwanted guests.
Why all this bother? Well we wondered that too until we had the first smiling face since arriving ask for a moment of our time and, very politely and genuinely, tell us to leave... and soon.
An old ex-US Military solider and now local security officer, Tony explained to us the dangers of the area. Robbery's, dingy thefts, boat boarding and violence being used in all. Only 2 weeks before our arrival a young American couple's boat was boarded by 3 men with machetes who tried to attack the man when we wouldn't give everything up. Luckily after his partner screamed and alerted another boat they left. The police response? Turn up late, shout at the couple and leave. This behavior is known by the police and the criminals are known as well yet nothing is done.
These incidences will end up turning all sailors and tourists away from the areas. No one want to put their loved ones in danger and so people may start to skip St Vincent all together (as a lot of people i know have). This would be such a shame to miss out on seeing such a beautiful place but when there are possibilities of meeting real Pirates of the Caribbean... people, including us, are not going to take any chances.
So, bye bye St Vincent - we are outta here!
Tia and Jarvis, over and out!
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| Jarvis in 1 of the coffins from the Movie |
We spent two days there. Saw the most magnificent waterfall and abundance of fruit trees that mark the start of a thick jungle - fantastic exploring! However after two days we left in a hurry and we would not go back.
Every boat that came left straight after clearing customs (an insanely difficult process here by the way), and the only boat that hovered overnight stayed far enough away from the shore to (hopefully) deter any unwanted guests.
Why all this bother? Well we wondered that too until we had the first smiling face since arriving ask for a moment of our time and, very politely and genuinely, tell us to leave... and soon.
An old ex-US Military solider and now local security officer, Tony explained to us the dangers of the area. Robbery's, dingy thefts, boat boarding and violence being used in all. Only 2 weeks before our arrival a young American couple's boat was boarded by 3 men with machetes who tried to attack the man when we wouldn't give everything up. Luckily after his partner screamed and alerted another boat they left. The police response? Turn up late, shout at the couple and leave. This behavior is known by the police and the criminals are known as well yet nothing is done.
These incidences will end up turning all sailors and tourists away from the areas. No one want to put their loved ones in danger and so people may start to skip St Vincent all together (as a lot of people i know have). This would be such a shame to miss out on seeing such a beautiful place but when there are possibilities of meeting real Pirates of the Caribbean... people, including us, are not going to take any chances.
So, bye bye St Vincent - we are outta here!
Tia and Jarvis, over and out!
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