Grenada Pick Pockets Warning on Grand Anse Beach

We were so excited to visit Grenada a few weeks ago. We decided to head to Grand Anse Beach via the water taxi. When we pulled in to port I thought the island looked absolutely beautiful. We headed to the water taxi. First of all, the water taxi is not set up to take passengers safely. Trying to get on the a boat that is moving in the water was not at all safe. Getting off the water taxi we had to jump off and walk through the water. Of course they did not tell us this until we were there. That's fine except I had my 90 year old mother and the driver was extremely rude and pushy, yelling at the passengers.

We enjoyed our day on the beautiful beach but wondered why there were so many police patrolling. We discovered as we were leaving on the water taxi that there were kids stealing out of bags. We watched 1 boy distract a couple with small children while the other went through their bags on the stroller. We were already moving in the taxi so could not warn them. We saw the boys pooling their money and handing it over to one of the water taxi drivers. We even got pictures. As well, the person that was assisting on the boat had his hands in several bags. This was very disappointing to see. I would love to go back to Grenada but would be extremely careful. Be warned to watch your stuff while in the water taxi and on the beach!!!

I am so sorry to hear that. If you do have pictures can you please send them as soon as you can to Mrs P Maher, CEO, Grenada Tourism Authority info@puregrenada.com with a copy of your transcript. We work hard on our island to ensure tourists and locals don't have to worry about things like this so thank you for your comment and we hope to deal with it asap.

Thanks for sharing your observations. We will be in Grenada on a cruise in a week's time and plan on going to Grand Anse beach. We will be sure to watch our possessions carefully. The beach looks gorgeous, so we are excited to see it in person.

What does it cost to take a taxi? We usually take the water taxi

Thanks Ontario Cruiser

We didn't have a problem with pickpockets on Grenada - just a variation on the theme. Handed over a US$10 bill for 2 x US$1 adult fares on the standard minibus and the fare collector tried to get away with just handing back EC$5! That would have paid for about 8 fares! The beach was great (Lockers were not available, though - perhaps explains the 'easy pickings') but that blatant attempt rip-off left a nasty taste. The amount doesn't matter - it's the fact that an employee of the Bus Company should have tried to fleece me.

Definitely the worst of the Caribbean Islands that we visited and not one that I would rush back to. There were others with equally attractive sites but with more honest service staff.

We didn't have a problem with pickpockets on Grenada - just a variation on the theme. Handed over a US$10 bill for 2 x US$1 adult fares on the standard minibus and the fare collector tried to get away with just handing back EC$5! That would have paid for about 8 fares! The beach was great (Lockers were not available, though - perhaps explains the 'easy pickings') but that blatant attempt rip-off left a nasty taste. The amount doesn't matter - it's the fact that an employee of the Bus Company should have tried to fleece me.

 

Definitely the worst of the Caribbean Islands that we visited and not one that I would rush back to. There were others with equally attractive sites but with more honest service staff.

Sorry you had a bad experience. May I check did you take a standard bus or one of the Taxi Association Buses? Taxi Association is usually US$5 per person to take you Grand Anse Beach but this can vary depending on numbers in your party. If a standard bus with a conductor that stops the whole way to pick up folk and drop off then yes you should definitely have called him out on it and also taken his numberplate and passed it to the tourism task force police on the beach. We do not need his sort ruining our island character.:mad:

Sorry you had a bad experience. May I check did you take a standard bus or one of the Taxi Association Buses? Taxi Association is usually US$5 per person to take you Grand Anse Beach but this can vary depending on numbers in your party. If a standard bus with a conductor that stops the whole way to pick up folk and drop off then yes you should definitely have called him out on it and also taken his numberplate and passed it to the tourism task force police on the beach. We do not need his sort ruining our island character.:mad:

Standard Bus with stops. I got most of the short-change back - in a couple of 'instalments'. In fairness, once it became clear that the Collector was trying to fleece me, a local resident young lady in the next row of seats joined in and helped the 'nagging'! The amount I was out of pocket was probably US3-4 - not a fortune but it is the principle. I didn't see any Tourism Police on the beach - it was raining quite hard so a great temperature for our first visit to the beach itself!

Every other port of call was really good and people were very friendly and fun. Just one of those things - I think we will take another Caribbean cruise - and if it involves Grenada, I shall make sure that I have small USD Bills so that there can be no repeat.

Standard Bus with stops. I got most of the short-change back - in a couple of 'instalments'. In fairness, once it became clear that the Collector was trying to fleece me, a local resident young lady in the next row of seats joined in and helped the 'nagging'! The amount I was out of pocket was probably US3-4 - not a fortune but it is the principle. I didn't see any Tourism Police on the beach - it was raining quite hard so a great temperature for our first visit to the beach itself!

 

Every other port of call was really good and people were very friendly and fun. Just one of those things - I think we will take another Caribbean cruise - and if it involves Grenada, I shall make sure that I have small USD Bills so that there can be no repeat.

oh yuck raining too :o Never a good first impression. Please do give us another chance as we are a lovely and proud people and hate to read experiences like yours. We wish you a wonderful 2018 and hope to see you again in better circumstances.:cool:

oh yuck raining too :o Never a good first impression. Please do give us another chance as we are a lovely and proud people and hate to read experiences like yours. We wish you a wonderful 2018 and hope to see you again in better circumstances.:cool:

The rain was good! It kept the temperature at a better level for us and we had a lovely time on the beach! I was annoyed about the Bus Fare episode but I wasn't going to let it spoil the day for USD4 maximum! It was a little disappointing that the lockers weren't working so we had to keep an eye on our possessions (and cover them with our rain jackets - but we also do a lot of camping in France so no problem with keeping kit dry and reasonably secure!).

Our cruise sailed to/from London and lasted for 46 wonderful nights - probably the best holiday we have ever taken! WHEN (not if) we return, I'll try to contact you - maybe see you at the beach and Elaine (Mrs Marchie!) and I will get the beers in! Your pride in Grenada is a credit - I really appreciate your comments and kind words. Thank you.

Steve

Wow! We spent two weeks in Grenada and didn't run into any of this. Everyone we met was nice and friendly and honest. In fact, at the grocery store the driver let us know up front how much it would be to take us back to our condo and what a short walk it was (albeit all uphill with groceries - we took the taxi).

We spent most of our time on BBC Beach, but did go over to Grand Anse and didn't have any issues at all. We can't wait to go back!

so disappointed to hear about the lack of dock and the stealing.

Grand Anse is my husband's favourite beach.

They used to have a dock. I guess it was destroyed.

We used to leave stuff on our chaise without a problem.

I would hate for our books or sunscreen to disappear. We need them.

Wow! We spent two weeks in Grenada and didn't run into any of this. Everyone we met was nice and friendly and honest. In fact, at the grocery store the driver let us know up front how much it would be to take us back to our condo and what a short walk it was (albeit all uphill with groceries - we took the taxi).

 

We spent most of our time on BBC Beach, but did go over to Grand Anse and didn't have any issues at all. We can't wait to go back!

We're looking for a beach to go to, other than Grand Anse. Where is BBC Beach? I don't seem to be able to find it on the map! Thanks for any info you can provide!

I am so sorry to hear that. If you do have pictures can you please send them as soon as you can to Mrs P Maher, CEO, Grenada Tourism Authority info@puregrenada.com with a copy of your transcript. We work hard on our island to ensure tourists and locals don't have to worry about things like this so thank you for your comment and we hope to deal with it asap.

So good to know that you folks appreciate tourism. Thank you for posting this!

We were there in December as well and didn't appreciate being told by the water taxi staff at the ship dock that we could come back whenever we wanted to, only to be held up on the beach until there was enough people to fill the boat.

The dock at Grand Anse was destroyed in the hurricanes from last fall. It is currently being rebuilt. We were there last month and they were just putting the support pilings in the ground. Locals said the dock was already supposed to be done but got caught up in red tape. I expect it will be another month or so before it’s done. Until then, yes, you have to make an in-water exit and entry at the beach for the water taxi. Also, they drop you off at the far left side of the beach (when facing the beach from the water). If you are a fan of the Umbrellas beach bar that is way on the other end of the beach so you will have a lengthy walk and will have to walk around the dock construction on the way.

Where they drop you off at the water taxi now there is a place with beach chairs right in front of you. Don’t go there. They were extremely pushy with drink girls almost trampling over each other to get our order which was weird since they appeared to all be working for the same business. There were also wild dogs running around and some shady locals all hanging out in the area behind the beach chairs. And at the end of this beach chair area there was a drainage ditch which when it rains brings down all the street runoff (black sludge) down into the ocean in front of the beach. It was gross so we only stayed for about 45 minutes as it kept raining and causing lots of runoff to come into the water. We were not impressed with the beach as it stands now.

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