Petite Paradise
Written by Bridget Williams
Te 115-acre island boasts nearly two-miles of white sand beaches.
A diminutive private isle in the Grenadines is big on luxury Outside of its 115-acres of secluded, jaw-dropping natural beauty, arguably what is most notable about Petite St. Vincent (PSV), a private island located in the Grenadine Island chain in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is what is lacking: in-room phones, internet and televisions, a formal check-in and even room keys! Being happily positioned of the tourist mainstream means that there are no direct flights to PSV, but the adventure in getting there is part of the fun. Barbados is the major gateway for most travelers and offers the chance to stay a few days to gradually settle into the Caribbean’s lenitive mores. For the 50-minute connecting flight to Union Island, guests are met by a representative of PSV and escorted through immigration formalities. The lower flying altitude mandated by the small twin-engine aircraft afords breathtaking vistas of crystal clear
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blue-green waters dotted with tiny islands. After landing at one of the tiniest airports you will likely ever visit, PSV’s jovial ferry boat captain and his crew collect your bags and escort you to the dock for a 25-minute ride to PSV. As the island slowly comes into view, signs of habitation are limited: thatched roofs of the beach bar restaurant main pavilion, private palapas scattered along the West End beach and a few generously spaced hillside cottages. Tanks to an outlying coral reef, calm water waves gently lap at the beach on this side of the island, which faces Petite Martinique. After quenching our thirst with a fruity tropical beverage ofered after disembarking from the ferry, we loaded into one of the island’s iconic powder blue mini-moke vehicles for transport to our cottage. Operated as a resort since the late 1960s, its first three decades were under the careful direction and ownership of
