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Few journeys retain the magic of childhood imagination, but the trip to Bequia by sea does. The island is visible for the entire trip across the azure channel from St Vincent, slowly changing from a hazy hump on the horizon to a towering hill of sheer sided slopes covered in trees.
These north-eastern shores are uninhabited, giving the island an undiscovered air. The schools of playful dolphins that frequently accompany boats and ferries add to the childlike pleasure of the approach.
The sense of discovery is crowned as the boat rounds a headland to reveal a huge sweeping bay, dotted with moored yachts and fringed with small, multi-coloured houses.
This is Admiralty Bay, a cove that embraces any visitors by sea as soon as they round the point.
At its centre sits the little town of Port Elizabeth, a community that embraces any visitor who smiles.
It can feel as though you are the first to discover this bay, but you are not. This has been a sheltered harbour for centuries. The infamous pirate Black Beard is said to have moored here, so too, Sir Henry Morgan, Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins. The bay got its name because Lord Nelson used it as a mooring before moving to Antigua.
The history of Bequia is tightly wrapped around the movement of people through the Caribbean.
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Read more about the history and culture of Bequia or explore the other islands