"The day you arrive everybody knows you and if you come back a second or third time you're actually becoming a villager."
Dennis Ford
Mayreau lies just to the west of Tobago Cays National Park. There is a small local community of around 200 people who live in the hill top village of Old Wall. The village has commanding views across the rest of the island and both ways, north and south, of the other islands in the Grenadines. Old Wall has only had electricity since 2002 and until recently almost the entire population were employed either fishing or farming. Now there are several bars and restaurants where locals and visitors mix most evenings.
Although it is only one and half square miles, Mayreau is blessed with several beautiful beaches. The near perfect half-moon white sand and palm fringed, Saltwhistle Bay is a popular anchorage for visiting yachts and also has a small secluded resort with a well renowned restaurant and several holiday cottages.
At the other end of the island is Saline Bay, named after a salt pond that for generations provided local people with salt. There is only one road connecting the north and the south and there are only a handful of cars on Mayreau but there are numerous walking trails.
To windward of Saltwhistle, the other side of a narrow neck of land is a beach that stretches almost the entire length of the island. It is often deserted, as although pristine, the waves are often larger, not so great for swimming but ideal if you want an entire stretch of Caribbean sand all to yourself.
This windward beach is also internationally regarded as a prime windsurf and kite surf location.
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