All activities / Sailing / Tobago Cays
Sailing in Tobago Cays
A cluster of five uninhabited islets in the southern Grenadines sheltered behind Horseshoe Reef, a protected marine park of turquoise shallows, nesting turtles and coral, and the anchorage that most sailors call the high point of a Grenadines charter.
Why here
The Grenadines are one of the great sailing grounds on earth, a line of small islands close enough to hop between under sail in a day, and the Tobago Cays are their centre of gravity. Five tiny uninhabited islets sit behind the long arc of Horseshoe Reef, which takes the Atlantic swell and leaves a lagoon of flat, impossibly clear water where you anchor off a beach, snorkel with green turtles over a protected seagrass flat, and eat lobster grilled on the sand by boat vendors. A typical trip starts from the marinas on Saint Vincent and works south through Bequia, Mustique and Canouan, with the Cays as the turnaround. The distances are short, the anchorages are many, and the trade winds are steady, so this is a place to learn to sail as much as to charter a bareboat or a crewed yacht. For a first Caribbean sailing trip or a serious one, few archipelagos pack this much into so small a compass.
Best months
Sailing is a year-round activity, with the prime season running from about December to May when the trade winds are steady and the weather is dry. The islands are close together, so passages are short and mostly in protected water, though the run out to the exposed Tobago Cays and Horseshoe Reef wants a settled day. June to November is the Atlantic hurricane season, when charters still run but need weather watching. The Cays are a marine park with anchoring rules to protect the reef and turtle grounds.
Getting there & around
Most charters and courses start from the marinas on Saint Vincent, a short ride from Argyle International Airport, and sail south through the Grenadines. You can take a bareboat if you are qualified, hire a skipper, or learn on a certification course, and the Tobago Cays are reached in stages via Bequia and Canouan rather than in one long hop. The Cays themselves have no facilities, so you provision on Saint Vincent or Bequia and anchor overnight under park rules.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Barefoot Yacht Charters
OutfitterBarefoot Yacht Charters is a family-run charter company based at the Blue Lagoon marina on Saint Vincent, started by the Barnard family in 1991. It runs bareboat and fully crewed yachts through the Grenadines and operates the Barefoot Offshore Sailing School, the longest-established and most active American Sailing Association school in the southeastern Caribbean, teaching the ASA 101, 103 and 104 courses. The base handles provisioning, skippers and day charters from the same lagoon.