Safety Tips in Grenada

If you have hired a car, watch out for locals driving at night. Lights at full beam all the time, and drive in the middle of the road seems to be the preferred method. And away from St. George there are no road signs, so you get lost a lot the 1st few days.

1 more image

Grenada’s electricity is DOUBLE the voltage of the USA & Canada. It is 220 volts at 50 cycles, and British style three-prong plugs are used. If you want to plug in valuable electronics like a computer I would suggest a very good adapter, not a cheap one. Alternatively leave it at home and enjoy your holiday more.

Grenada is at the outer edge of the hurricane belt and is rarely affected by them, but about once every fifty years, it gets hit by a really bad one.

In September, 2004, Hurricane Ivan, one of the worst ever, scored a direct hit on the tiny island of Grenada, leaviing 34 people dead and devastating much of the island.

Hopefully, it will be at least another fifty years before the next one strikes.

Grenada in my experience is a very safe place. It is a very dense and mountainous island with lots of hills. My only warning is the driving conditions since the roads are very narrow and curvy whilst driving up the hills we came across some reckless drivers speeding around bends ''were thinking what the hell?lol'' apart from that no problems....just the usually precautions watch your pockets, hangbags in busy areas, the street lights at night are limited and dim so i wouldn't recommend venturing out of Grand Anse or to far at night.

While on our car tour of the island, be wary of the method cars use to go around bends or curves in the road. The local drivers do not slow down much when rounding the bend of a blind curve, they just honk their horn. Also remember that Grenada was once an English possesion and that they drive on the left side of the road!

We went in March, and enjoyed a day trip snorkelling around a few sheltered bays on a catamaran trip.

Anyway, a snrokelling we were, until suddenly in quick succession, I was stung on the arms and legs. I looked in the water and saw nothing. My husband, who was directly behind and didn't get stung by anything the lucky soenso, also looked and saw nothing. I quickly swam back to the boat, getting stung a few more times on the way.

We weren't to close to the bottom, and hadn't touched any fire coral, there were no jellyfish in sight.

There were three of four stings about 3mm round, in little groups on parts of my arms and legs......... They were in a trail so it was almost like my arm or leg had passed through a group of whatever stung me.

Having sensitive skin, they turned a bit red, itchy and uncomfortable for a couple fo weeks. After speaking to the watersport guys at the hotel, it was summised that it was 90% likely to have been 'sea lice', or 'thimble jellyfish larvae' which have a tiny brown speck in the middle and is the size of a pin head!

Just be warned that between March and July you can get stung in the Caribbean. I was stung in Grenada in March, but previous years in Antigua and St Lucia, both times in June, I had never been stung.

Normally you get stung where you bikini or bathing suit covers your body, and the larvae get trapped, but I was stung all over.

You can buy a lotion which is supposed to protect called Safesea , from www.ifsogo.com

I had heard that the Grenada roads were hilly and curvey, and I've driven on backroads in several countries, but I was not prepared for how bad the driving is on Grenada. No one should attempt to drive from the airport to distant resorts at night. The roads are bordered by 2' to 3' dropoffs, or bordered by concrete walls or 10" high concrete curbs- you have no where to escape. The roads are pockmarked with chug holes, and I didn't see more than a couple of road signs anywhere I went. Many people just park their cars on their side of the road, so drivers are constantly negotiating around parked cars in addition to traffic and chug holes, and cave-ins from Ivan.
But get this- Grenada probably has more speed bumps than anywhere I have been in the Caribbean- I don't understand why, when there are very few straightaways where you can speed up.

The Manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella- from Euphorbia Family -Euphorbiaceae) is one of the dangers which can ruin a vacation for those unaware of its poison. It grows along beaches, and lures people (and animals) by offering them shade and small yellow apple-like fruits. The tree can grow to 30’ high (or more), with gray/brownish bark and shiny leaves that have a round base, with a pointed tip, and may have jagged edges. Every part of the tree is poisonous, and the sap can cause blindness and severe burns or painful blisters, and the fruit can cause death if eaten.
An effort to mark the trees with red paint to identify them has been undertaken by many Caribbean countries, but you should still be on the lookout for this danger.
I've got an area of blistering on my hand about 1" x 2" to remind me to be more careful next time!