Beyond Barbados: island hopping to the Grenadines

About Beyond Barbados: island hopping to the Grenadines

By the ULTIMATE Barbados Editorial Team

Barbados is the easiest gateway to the Grenadines, the chain of small islands between St. Vincent and Grenada. A few nights on Mustique or Bequia make a perfect add-on to a Barbados holiday.

Flying to the Grenadines

SVG Air flies daily from Barbados to St. Vincent, Bequia, Canouan, Union Island, Grenada and Carriacou, and also offers private charters. SVG Air itself describes Barbados as the easiest way to the Grenadines, with its daily flights from the UK, the US and Canada. Check its news page before you book: in April 2026 it announced the temporary closure of Union Island’s airport for renovation.

Mustique

The Mustique Company runs its own airline, Air Adelphi, with 18-seat Twin Otters from Barbados, about 50 minutes away. Planes cannot land on Mustique after sunset, so your international flight needs to reach Barbados by 3.30pm, and the published schedule makes a same-day return from Barbados impractical; plan to stay. Stays on Mustique are arranged through the Mustique Company, with villas of two to ten bedrooms and the 17-room Cotton House hotel.

Planes cannot land on Mustique after sunset.

Bequia and the Tobago Cays

Bequia, with its harbour at Admiralty Bay, is a relaxed, friendly sailing island, and the Tobago Cays, a cluster of tiny islands and reefs further south, are reached by boat from the southern Grenadines. Arrange boat trips locally, and check the current flights to Union Island and Canouan.

Cruising from Bridgetown

Bridgetown is a homeport for cruises of the southern Caribbean: press reports in 2024 counted 19 lines homeporting in Barbados, including Seabourn, Silversea and the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Itineraries change every season, so check the cruise lines’ own sites for sailings that start and end in Bridgetown.

Good to know

Small planes have strict baggage limits, and the weather can delay them, so keep a buffer day before your flight home and pack overnight essentials in your hand luggage. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a separate country, so take your passport.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Beyond Barbados: island hopping to the Grenadines before you go.