Mayreau - Circumnavigation

Start Point: Saline Bay
Duration: 2 hours
Difficulty (1-5): 1
Height of Ascent: 200 ft

This is a pleasant hike around the coastline of Mayreau including the windward beaches, Salt Whistle Bay and great views of the Tobago Cays from the little catholic church at the top of the hill. It's a gentle hike along beaches and through scrub land.  There are some places where the path is very faint and you will be pushing through prickly bushes, so a long pair of trousers might be worth taking.  We did it in shorts and sturdy sandals and only picked up a couple of scratches.

Mayreau's Windward Beach

Turn left at the end of the dinghy dock in Saline Bay and walk towards the village.  Before the steep hill, turn right beneath the desalination plant and head East along a rough road going past a shipping container. The track slowly climbs and then turns to the left where there is a great view of the reefs to the east of Mayreau and the Tobago Cays in the distance.  Follow the track down hill and take the first track on the right near the bottom of the hill - this leads onto the windward beach.  

Take off your sandals and walk along the beach heading north, wading around trees that sometimes grow out into the sea. The sand is pristine white and the colours are fabulous. We've never seen anyone else on this beach, so you are almost certain to be alone. Eventually, you will come to a point where the trees become too thick and its impossible to wade around them, so put your sandals back on and head inland about 10 metres and you should find a faint path beneath the trees running parallel to the beach.

This path is very faint at times and cuts up through small sections of scrub land, but just keep close to the shore and you will keep dropping back onto the beach.  

Path around rocky headland

After a while, you will will arrive at a rocky headland that sticks out into the sea, where you need to follow a very faint path inland which climbs steeply up though some trees and into more scrub land (see picture aove)

Follow the path which is very faint at times, but always runs parallel to the coast.  You will eventually come to a lovely little bay which the locals call "Happy Hole Beach" - there are great view of the Tobago Cays from here.

Happy Hole Beach, Mayreau

The path goes slightly inland from here, but still parallel to the shore.  After ten minutes or so, you will come across a impenetrable wall of bushes at which point you turn left and head up the hill following a faint trail.  This will bring you down to another beach on the North-east coast of Mayreau.  Kick off your sandals again and walk along to Salt Whistle Bay. Walk along that beach past the charter boats and tourists and, at the small dock turn, left past the t-shirt vendors.  You now have a very steep road to climb to the top of the hill where you will find the Catholic Church on your left.

If you walk to the left of the church you will be rewarded by fabulous views of the Tobago Cays and down to Saltwhistle Bay and you can see most of the walk that you have just done.  The Catholic Church is quaint and worth looking at.

Now it's simply a matter of walking down the hill, through the village, back to Saline Bay.  There are a few bars and restaurants on the way down, so if you start your walk about ten o'clock, you'll just be in time to stop for a welcome cold drink and lunch.