Grenada

Area: 133 sq miles (340 sq km)
Population: 97,600 (growth rate 0.66%)
Capital city: St George's (pop 30,000)
Language: English, French-African patois
Grenada

Just 60 miles (100 km) north of Venezuela, Grenada is the largest of the three small islands that make up the Caribbean nation of the same name. Completing the threesome are Carriacou and Petit Martinique, the most southerly of a long string of coral islands stretching north to neighboring St Vincent. Trinidad and Tobago are Grenada's only Caribbean neighbors to the south.
Temperatures in Grenada are balmy year round, with daily highs averaging around 80ТАF (30ТАC). The rainy season lasts from June to November, and rain falls on average on 22 days a month during this period. Even in the driest months, between January and April, it rains 12 days a month - which accounts for the island's lush vegetation.
With warm weather and temperatures averaging 80ТАF (27ТАC) yearround, there really isn't a bad time to visit Grenada. The rain falls each month, though not every day, with a bit more during the rainy season between June and November. The second weekend in August is when to catch Carnival, the island's biggest and busiest event, so make sure to reserve in advance to enjoy the festivities. Winter is prime fishing season and, accordingly, the Spice Island Billfish Tournament, which draws anglers from around North America and the Caribbean, is held annually in January.

Grand Anse
Grand Anse, Grenada's main resort area, is a long lovely sweep of white sand fronted by turquoise blue water and backed by hills. Throngs of vendors hawk T-shirts and spice baskets along the beach, while others offer to braid hair, so if you want total peace and quiet, cross the peninsula of Quarantine Point (once a leper colony) to the sleepy, picturesque U-shaped bay at Morne Rouge. A boat also connects the two beaches.

Grand Etang Road
This road cuts across the mountainous center of the island through the Grand Etang Forest Reserve, passing close to waterfalls and a number of hiking trails. While both tortuously narrow and twisting, the road is lined with ferns, bamboo, heliconia and buttressed kapok trees, making for a rousing if formidable drive through the rainforest. Annandale Falls, close to the village of Constantine, is a 30ft (10m) waterfall in a grotto of lush vegetation with a pool beneath the falls that's deep enough for a swim. A short drive past Constantine is the Grand Etang National Park, which has some grand views of the western coast, numerous hiking trails and a crater lake.

St George's
The picturesque hillside town of St George's surrounds a deep horseshoe-shaped harbor and is widely regarded as one of the prettiest spots in the Caribbean. It has a charming setting, steep twisting streets and pastel-hued 19th-century Creole houses, many of them roofed with red fishscale tiles brought over as ballast on ships from Europe. Cargo vessels, cruise ships and colorfully painted wooden schooners from Carriacou dock in the busy harbor, known as the Carenage. It's surrounded by mercantile houses, warehouses and quayside cafes, then by the steeply tiered streets of St George's and, finally, backed by Grenada's lush green hills.