Grenada Scuba Diving

This was an awesome trip 2 weeks of sun, diving in a group of 15.

The trip was arranged through the scuba trust who are a non profit charity created to promote diving for all abilities. Click here for a link to their website. I dived before my accident and I have been on many trips with this scuba trust which I will write more blogs on.

A lot of the trip was arranged through a travel agent but there was still some organising to do at my end. we flew with Virgin Atlantic and I had to phone special assistance with details of my manual and power wheelchair. I also requested extra baggage allowance due to the extra equipment for medical reasons. I requested a bulk head seat as the flight was 11 hours. Please see my information re flying. There was also a lot of planning around care as it was a lot of work for just two carers and I hired a private nurse whilst I was out there to cover some of the nights. This worked really well.

We stayed at True Blue Hotel, who couldn't do enough to help us as there were 4 wheelchair users in our group. Click here for a link to the hotel. The hotel had gone to a lot of effort and had several adapted rooms with wet rooms. There were a number of steep slopes but the hotel staff were always on hand to help out if necessary. I didn't have a problem in my power chair but some of the manual chair users struggled on the steeper slopes. They had recently built a ramp so that we could sit by the side of the beach swimming pool. Unfortunately, there was no hoist or ramp access into the pool so the only way of getting in was being lifted. There was also limited shade around this pool.






There was a second pool on a different level. The staff were very helpful and would bring drinks to us to save us wheeling all the way to the bar.

The restaurant area was all accessible as they had built ramps to all the areas. We went all-inclusive so there were plenty of cocktails to choose from at the bar!







The diving was all organised through aquanauts grenada who again couldn't do enough to help. I had to be in my manual wheelchair as I needed lifting on and off the boat which the guys were happy to do. Along with a carer the boat guys helped to get me into my wetsuit (not an easy challenge!) And ran through all the checks and helped me to get my kit ready for the diving.
I will write a separate blog about how I dive.

On top of diving alternate days and relaxing at the hotel we organised two trips. Market day at St Georges and a tour around the island. The hotel were able to source a large taxi with a makeshift wooden ramp. This would only accommodate one wheelchair however so we had to go in two vans.

Grenada market, St Georges

We went to the market on a Saturday morning as this is apparently the best time to go and it's at its most colourful and vibrant. Farmers and spice vendors sell their produce in abundance to locals and visitors. We found so many different tropical fruits and vegetables as well as spices that are grown locally on the island. We were really lucky and one of the chefs from the hotel came with us and introduced just to some of her friends so we had our own personal guide! The ground was uneven but it was okay for my powered wheelchair.  Not all of the market was accessible but having our own tour guide helped find ramps etc. And the locals were very helpful and friendly. We found a morning was plenty of time before it started getting too hot and we were ready to head back to the hotel. I would definitely recommend this trip to others.

Half Day Tour of the Island

I've titled this half day tour however, Caribbean time is very different to UK time! The tour started late and after 7 hours we decided to finish the tour early as it was turning into an all-day tour. Although the price didn't change. We started off with a view of St George's  (the capital) from a higher level. It was great to get an overview of the harbour and the driver gave us a bit of a history.

On the tour, we drove past a cafe that have made his garden completely out of rubber tyres! It was fantastic to see!

Grenada is renowned for its spices, in particular the nutmeg that it grows and exports around the world so part of the tour included a look at the nutmeg factory. This photo shows the ladies sorting through the dried nutmegs and dividing them on their quality. They were all working very hard but managed to stop for a smile for us. The smell was very intense of nutmeg! Again, it was all accessible and well worth a visit.





The tour also included a trip to a waterfall but this wasn't particularly accessible although I could see from the top and people took pictures for me from the bottom. As I said the tour was cut short and we missed the trip to the Rum factory but I was told that only the shop was accessible.we made up for it by having plenty of rum at the hotel though!

The picture below shows us on the last evening enjoying a final meal together,I think everybody on the trip had a good time (bar one but that's a separate story and not once through the blog-what goes on tour stays on tour!)