A Return Visit To Grenada
We were excited to return to Grenada on our cruise to the southern Caribbean. On our first visit, we did a very long tour of the island. We learned why Grenada is called the Spice Island and also marvelled at the colours on the island. We had just finished a visit to Bonaire. Snorkelling in Bonaire provided us with a great oppportunity to see the fish and corals underwater. On our visit to Grenada, we got a very different snorkel experience. A chance to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada enticed us back into the water.
The Underwater Sculptures In Bahamas
We saw our first underwater sculptures created by Jason De Caires Taylor in Nassau, Bahamas. Ocean Atlas is a very large statue located in the marine park. There are other small sculptures underwater but nothing that compares to Ocean Atlas. There is a reef close by that offers more underwater sights.
After was saw this first set of underwater sculptures, we were interested in seeing more of Taylor’s underwater work around the world. When we knew we were visiting Grenada again, we knew we wanted to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada.
Explore the Underwater Sculptures In Grenada With Grenada Seafaris
While we were planning our cruise to the southern Caribbean, we connected with Grenada Seafaris. We had run across Suzanne from Grenada Seafaris on many Twitter chats. We were happy to find that they still had open spaces on the day we visited Grenada. So we booked online using their chat system. They were very proactive in communicating with us before we showed up.
Suzanne met us on the dock. It turned out that there were 4 other people from our cruise ship on this tour. And two others from a local resort. The Grenada Seafaris boats held only 10 people. One of the main reasons we thought this tour would be so much better than many other cruise ship excursions. It was a short walk from the cruise ship to the local dock. Howard and Kimmie brought the boat up and we all settled in.
As we went through the tour, Howard and Kimmie provided us with a lot of information about Grenada. We learned about the great efforts being made to protect the marine life. And the work that has been done to expand the underwater sculpture park. A ship was being prepared in the harbour to be sunk to create a new underwater reef. Kimmie gave us information about the sea life. If you are looking to really understand more about Grenada, plan to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada with Grenada Seafaris!
Exploring The Underwater People Circles In Grenada
It was a short but fun high speed boat trip to the snorkel site by Moliniere Point. The RHIB had great chairs that let you be comfortable as we raced over the waves. We arrived in the bay to find several other boats already moored. Boats came and went while we were there. Everyone suited up and dropped into the water.
Kimmie took us from statue to statue and explained a little about each one as we went. The first couple of statues were very busy when a large catamaran dropped a boatload of snorkellers. Kimmie took us for a longer swim to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada. We started at a large circle of broken sculptures. We could see the frame with some standing figures but many of the figures were laid down.
From there we moved to the Circle of Children. Much work had been done to recover and fix the broken circle. The Circle of Children was a beautiful complete statue. When you got close, the coral growth could be seen.
The last underwater circle we visited was the Vicissitudes. This large circle was intact and quite stunning as we looked at it from many different angels.
Finding The Solo Sculptures Underwater in Grenada
As we snorkelled to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada we found a number of other solo works. The Mermaid lay on the sand bottom.
I stayed at the surface to snorkel. David was able to dive down to get closer shots. From the surface, the Nutmeg Princess and Sienna were hazy. But when David got close he saw the detail and the dense coral growth.
Christ of the Deep stood on the bottom with his arms spread wide. A similar statue also exists in the main harbour. The Correspondent was a sculpture of a man sitting at a desk far below the surface.
Scattered here and there we also saw several sculptures that looked a bit like Aztec relics.
Other Things To See When You Snorkel In Grenada
The sun came and went. So some statues had lots of light and others looked more gloomy. It also rained quite heavily while we were snorkelling. But we were wet, so who cared.
We saw some coral as we snorkelled. Curious fish came up to play. At one point we saw a giant parrot fish swim by. One by one we lost snorkellers back to the boat. Kimmie took David and I to see one more underwater treat. Just before we were ready to give up, we got immersed in a large school of fish.
It was a treat to see other things snorkelling when we went to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada!
Finishing Up With A Tour Along The Coast
After we finished snorkelling, Howard drove the boat along the coast. We pulled into a small cove with a long sand beach. Kimmie provided us with more information about Grenada animals and the local economy.
From there the boat moved to the smaller inner harbour at St. George’s. We had visited many of the spots around St. George’s when we last visited Grenada. It was great to see the town from the water. Colourful buildings went up the hills. Boats of all sizes and types were in the harbour. High above the town we saw Fort George. We learned more about the island and people of Grenada.
It was time to head back to our ship. As we neared the dock, we could see the large Azura ship beside our cruise ship. It was a great reminder how much smaller our ship was (630 versus 3600 passengers). We bade goodbye to Howard and Kimmie. I had been great to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada with them.
A Great Day In Grenada To Explore The Underwater Sculptures In Grenada
When we visited Grenada the last time, we missed seeing the underwater sculptures. We were so glad we planned it in advance for this trip. There are only 10 places per day with Grenada Seafaris. Â So if you want to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada, you should book in advance. Â There are other tours that take you snorkelling in this spot. But it certainly looked like we got a much more detailed tour of the sculptures than any other group we saw.
Grenada continues to enhance its marine parks. New sculptures have been added. We didn’t have perfect visibility, but it was still easy to see the sculptures from the surface when snorkelling. We would like to go back and scuba dive the site. The new wreck being sunk will join as a dive site between two offshore reefs. That will offer even more scuba diving options.
The underwater art of Jason De Claires Taylor is very interesting. If you are in Nassau, you might also want to visit the Ocean Atlas underwater sculptures.
The next day we took a catamaran trip in St Vincents and snorkelled again. It was not quite as unusual an underwater experience as we had in Grenada.
Have you snorkelled to explore the underwater sculptures in Grenada? Which was your favourite sculpture?
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What a great adventure. The island looks beautiful to explore too, I noticed some mountains to climb and ruins that look fun!
Cathy, This was our second time back to Grenada. The first time we did an island tour – spices, chocolate and rum! Lots to see. This time it was great to head underwater. It wasn’t the clearest days underwater but we got a good sense of the different statues. And you can see them all snorkelling! Thanks for checking out our island adventures! Linda
Amazing pics! Particularly love the circle statues! What an adventure 🙂
Thanks Lynn! We were so glad that we booked to do this. A great find through the Twitter chats. It was great that you could see them from the surface. But even better that David does not float and he can get close. Thanks for following our adventures! Linda
What a great way to do an excursion and visit this really wonderful artistic and coral restoration project. I didn’t know you could see as much just by snorkeling and this is a fantastic experience.
Noel, We had heard about this underwater sculpture garden before we visited. But it was so much better than we expected. The water was a little murky but you could see everything from the surface. Even better when my husband did a shallow dive with the camera. Thanks for reading about our adventures. Linda
Those statues look incredible, it must’ve been so surreal snorkeling and diving around them! Beautiful photos and write up as always!
Thanks Audrey. We were so glad we planned to do the underwater sculptures in advance of arriving. These guys did a great tour. I float like a cork. So I am lucky that David can get down under the water to get a little closer. Will be interesting to see how they grow the sculpture park. Linda
This was like a fairy tale to me. So real yet so unreal to me. The tour was conducted and guided well it seems. You got the pictures of all highlights and the structures down there from all angles. Best captures were the that of the fish around.
I am glad you enjoyed the views of the underwater sculptures. We were interested to find so many different themes. I am lucky that my husband doesn’t float like me, so he can get the different perspectives. Something to plan to do if you are ever in Grenada. Linda
What a lovely adventure. I would have never imagined the mermaid sitting on the seabed is man-made. An underwater art walk – what a fascinating concept. The underwater life is always beautiful, but to see that mad is adding its own touch there is interesting, though not sure how sustainable.
Anu, The underground statue park is being maintained and expanded by the dedication of the local people, including the group we did the tour with. There is a very concerted effort being made in Grenada right now to expand and protect the marine areas. I was so glad to see this. Will be excited to go back in a few years and see how it has changed. Linda
This is crazy, sculptures underneath the water. Makes me wonder why they did this. I would love to check this out. 🙂
Danik, I had heard about these underwater sculptures before we visited. And had snorkelled on another one by the same artist in the Bahamas. The underwater sculptures are nice art but they also form a reef for the fish. You might have seen some coral already growing on some of the statues. A great way to bring the fish in too!. Linda
We just came from Cozumel and Chankanaab had Sea Trek and SNUBA in a stretch that also had submerged sculptures including one of Christ! Must be a tradition!
Carol, I had heard there were other underwater sculptures in Mexico. We will have to add these to our snorkel and scuba travel too! Thanks for sharing that. Linda
The giant parrot fish looks amazing! Wow! I would love to go on a seafari and get a closer look at those sculptures. Amazing job on capturing these beautiful underwater shots. What an exciting and unique adventure!
Alli, Thanks! We love to capture the life under the water. The sculptures were definitely a great treat to see in Grenada. Linda
This must have been such an interesting experience, I would love to do this myself sometime. I Know the sculptures were placed there must it must have been quite eerie seeing them there, especially the circle of children – I have to try this 😀
Amit, This is definitely something you should see if you are in Grenada. Some of the statues have been damaged by storms. The people statues that have fallen down are being put back up into smaller circles like the Circle of Children. It is great to see the local community continuing to support and grow this. Linda
These sculptures almost give me goosebumps. I’m terrified of the ocean, so I don’t always get to see this type of thing in person. I did see one in spring in Florida last week and that was pretty cool, but these are UNREAL. I do love that you don’t have to do a full on dive to see these.
Paige, Thanks for your comments and glad I could share this with you. There is so much to see under the water. The underwater sculptures were particularly interesting to see. I am always glad when you can see things like this from just snorkelling. We do scuba dive but did not have scuba gear for this trip. Linda
Wow this looks fantastic. Unfortunately, I am not much of a diver so I’m not sure if this is something I can do but I would really love to! I saw a similar experience in Bali with an underground Buddhist temple and we could go there with underground water scooters but I missed it due to the lack of time. I haven’t been to Grenada but when I do, this is something I’d love to do!
Media, I was happy that even with the murky water I could see the underwater sculptures from the surface. We did not bring scuba diving gear on this trip. I was sick when we visited Bali so we did not get to go underwater at all. But I heard that there is some great snorkelling and scuba diving in Bali. Grenada Seafaris provided a great trip and an extensive review of the underwater park if you ever visit Grenada. Linda
I have been hearing more and more about these underwater parks. how many of these underwater sculpture gardens have you heard of around the world?
Mike, We have visited the underwater sculpture park in Grenada and Nassau, Bahamas. We know there is another similar park in Mexico. We have heard there are others around the world but I don’t remember where they are. But we always look for interesting underwater sights when we travel. We will certainly share them when we find them. Linda
I stumbled upon your blog whilst googling Southern Caribbean trip reports and am really enjoying your posts.
I have this same excursion booked for the day we’re in Grenada and I’m extra excited about it after reading this.
Thanks for the time and effort you have put into this blog.
Karina, I am glad you found this blog post helpful. The Grenada underwater sculptures were definitely worth the visit. If you go with Grenada Seafaris, say hi for me! Linda