A quieter corner of the Caribbean: Beautiful Bequia is a slice of sheer hideaway bliss

By HUNTER DAVIES
Updated: 15:42 BST, 8 May 2011

Bequia is my favourite small Caribbean island, but over the years I have never 設立する my favourite place to stay there.

I do have strict 必要物／必要条件s. I don't like to be 権利 on a beach as the sound of the waves keeps me awake, though I know it is a sound most normal people love. I don't want too many steps with my poor 膝. And I don't want to be inland, for surely the point of 存在 in the Caribbean is to be able to get straight out of bed and run into the sea.]

Climb 船内に: Bequia - 含むing the tiny town of Port Elizabeth - is the Caribbean at its quietest

And although I want to be on a beach, I don't want it to be empty and unspoiled. I want some sort of nearby 解決／入植地 to poke around in, and 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s and cafes to visit to watch the world go by.

One of the many delights of Bequia, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines, is that にもかかわらず 存在 only five miles long and with a 全住民 of より小数の than 5,000, there are so many good places to stay, eat and drink. The main town, Port Elizabeth, has a 素晴らしい harbour loved by yachties the world over. They arrive to 燃料再補給する, in every sense, so the waterfront 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s and small hotels are always bustling.

I have never stayed in the town as I didn't fancy all that bustle, and was worried that the noise would 廃虚 my beauty sleep. At home, I am always in bed by 10pm but in the Caribbean I am often zonked by 9pm. It's all that sun and heat, fresh 空気／公表する and swimming, not to について言及する the rum punches.

The beach I love best is Lower Bay, where my wife and I once stayed in a little rented 郊外住宅 at the end of some 激しく揺するs. In the middle of the bay is Kingsville Apartments, 始める，決める in a field わずかに 支援する from the road, yet 30 seconds from the beach, so perfect for an 早期に-morning 下落する.

About five years ago I looked at the apartments with my wife but she wouldn't stay there, put off by some 固める／コンクリート-looking 封鎖するs and the word 'Apartments', which does make it sound rather 残虐な.

But this year, I went to Bequia on my own and 調書をとる／予約するd myself one. They are, in fact, more like little self-catering 郊外住宅s or cottages. There are eight in all - six with one bedroom and two with two - and each has a 前線 garden and its own veranda.

I was delighted to find more foliage and flowers than on my last visit, more colour, and an excellent bed - which is how I always 裁判官 any place, whether it's a cheap apartment or a 高級な hotel.

My apartment had kitchen, bathroom, and 空気／公表する-条件ing in the bedroom. A 取引, so I thought, at £500 for the week. In Barbados, you would 支払う／賃金 that for one night on the west coast.

Bequia, and 特に Lower Bay, attracts a 確かな discerning, 独立した・無所属 older person - couples from North America and Britain, known as snowbirds, who 飛行機で行く south for warmth every winter. Many come year after year for three months, 調書をとる／予約するing the same place, which explains why it is hard for first-timers to stay anywhere decent. I talked to lots of them, and until recently they 設立する it cheaper to live for three months in Bequia as …に反対するd to Carlisle or Canada.

Snowbirds tend to eat in most of the time, perhaps going out once a week, usually to Fernando's Hideaway, known as Nando's. Nando is a fisherman who goes out each day to catch whatever he can cook for the evening meal. He must have caught a 大規模な snapper the week I was there as I had it on three occasions - but it was delicious each time. Nando does all the cooking, while his two sisters serve.

There are a few other places to eat and Lower Bay has a shop and an art gallery. The most 利益／興味ing 企業 is a little 有機の market garden called Nature Zone, run by Jacqui McLean.

Jacqui lived in London for ten years before, in 2000, she returned to her native land. She moved into her grandmother's house and was 決定するd make a living by growing vegetables. Now she sells her produce - packets of salads and oils, or individual fruits and veg - from her 前線 room, and also 供給（する）s three restaurants.

Kay King, who runs Kingsville Apartments, is also a 地元の woman. She and her husband, Bert, started from scratch 20 years go, buying part of the field, building two apartments at first and 追加するing more over the years. In the season, they are 99 per cent 十分な, year after year. When I heard that, I すぐに 調書をとる／予約するd for next year.

支援する in London, I told my wife she was wrong. The cottages, as I now call them, are charming. I also bought her a packet of mixed salad from Jacqui's. It is probably 違法な to bring 支援する such stuff, but if apprehended at customs I was going to say it was my lunch and start scoffing it.

My wife pronounced it delightful and tasty - just like Bequia.

Travel Facts

Elegant 訴える手段／行楽地s (01244 897515, www.elegantresorts.co.uk) 申し込む／申し出s a 13-night holiday in Cobblers Cove, Barbados, and Bequia from £3,350 per person, 含むing flights.

Other Bequia 操作者s 含む Caribtours, W&O Travel and Grenadine Escape. For （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） about Kingsville Apartments, go to www.kingsville-apartments.逮捕する.