Palm Island is a fifty-five-hectare islet in the south of the Grenadines, ten minutes by boat from Union Island. There is no road, no car, no shop and no village: a single property occupies the island, five beaches ring it, and the reef starts metres from the sand. It is a rare format in the Caribbean, and its rules are worth understanding before booking.
The essentials in four lines
- Fly to Barbados or Saint Vincent, then a regional flight to Union Island (UNI) and a ten-minute boat transfer.
- One address on the island, sold all-inclusive: there is nothing else nearby.
- East Caribbean dollar, US dollars accepted. One hour ahead of Montreal in winter.
- December to May for the dry season and the trade winds. Hurricane season runs June to November.
Getting there
This is the part to plan carefully. From Montreal you first reach Barbados or Saint Vincent, then take a regional flight to Union Island, and finally a ten-minute boat shuttle.
The regional flights use small aircraft of ten to nineteen seats, with stricter baggage limits than international flights and schedules that change. Allow a comfortable margin between connections, and accept that an overnight stop in Barbados may be necessary depending on your flights. Your advisor will build the sequence.
The island
It is a kilometre and a half long. A path circles it in forty minutes, between coconut palms and sea almonds planted from the 1960s onward, when the islet was only a sandbank covered in scrub and mosquitoes. Draining the marshes and planting the trees transformed the place.
Five beaches share the perimeter. The western one, the longest, has pale sand, flat water and the sunset straight ahead. The others are shorter, windier and often empty. The reef is reachable by swimming from several of them.
What there is to do
Little, and that is the point. Snorkelling from shore, kayaking, paddleboarding, tennis, walking. Boat trips to the neighbouring islets make up most of the programme.
The Tobago Cays, about thirty minutes of sailing away, are the outing that justifies the journey: five uninhabited islets behind a horseshoe reef, a marked zone where you swim with green turtles, and fishermen grilling lobster on the beach at midday.
Mayreau, Union Island and Petit Saint Vincent are also reached as day trips.
Who it suits
This private-island format is for the traveller who wants isolation, quiet and the sea, and who needs neither a choice of restaurants, nor nightlife, nor varied excursions within taxi range. A week here is spent on site.
Conversely, if you like going out, changing table every evening and discovering an island by covering it, a larger destination will suit better. Bequia, further north in the same archipelago, offers the compromise: a real village, beaches, restaurants and far more accessible prices.
All-inclusive here is a practical necessity rather than a commercial choice: no alternative exists on the island. Our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel help verify what the plan actually covers, in particular the transfers and the boat trips, which weigh heavily in this kind of stay.
When to go
From December to May the trade winds blow, the air holds around 29 °C and rain is rare: the best period and the high season.
From June to November, showers multiply and the cyclone season peaks; properties of this type often close for several weeks at the end of summer. Check the opening dates before planning. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal sets out the pricing calendar.
To plan this trip, see also our St Vincent et les Grenadines page, St Vincent, Bequia and judging value for money.
