watery

treasures
Since November 2003 the Romark, a 160-foot cargo vessel, has
been resting in approximately 130 feet of water. To this day no one knows why.
I follow Kay Wilson of PADI Dive Center Indigo Dive down the line and at 45
feet, the wreck comes into view. Its structure stands strong and intact against
the watery blue backdrop. The cool water adds to the mystery.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

By Tara Bradley Photos By Jonathan Bird

94 November/December 2007 spor td i ve r. co m p ad i. co m November/December 2007 95

 “To make sure I can see it, Bill [tewes] delicately uses his
pointer — a TV antenna — to guide my eye.”
We descend to the deck and approach a made with spinach and coconut milk),
hole the size of a one-car garage, opening spicy curries, cassava and breadfruit Quiet on the Set

into a room filled with weathered, knot-
ted ropes among stacks of debris — now
home to a green moray eel and a school
of black-bar soldierfish. Every inch is be-
must do
(local vegetables used as a starchy side
dish) and arrowroot (used to thicken
sauces and custards). But when Kay as
well as the other locals told me about
Visit Wallilabou Bay where they shot two
of the three Pirates of the Caribbean
movies. Stop in for some pirate -style
lunch and don’t forget to try their freshly
squeezed lemonade.
1. The Romark (St. Vincent)

ginning to show signs of growth, every
crevice signs of discovery. I want to lose
myself in the maze of passageways. With
each dark entrance, I fabricate another
detail in my version of the Romark’s sink-
ing. But the deep profiles are cause for
short bottom times, and my search for
answers is halted as I ascend, watching
the metal body slowly disappear into the
waters below.
I had heard about the small trea-
sures (a.k.a. little critters) I was going
to find on St. Vincent, but no one had
told me about the other hidden — and
larger — ones. I had only just arrived
on St. Vincent — an island just 75 miles
north of Grenada and the largest of the
30-plus islands that make up the nation
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines — be-
fore Kay was telling me about the insane
number of things I was going to see.
BOTTOMS UP
“Aside from the Romark, we’ve also found
rum and gin bottles hidden among the
coral, dating back to the 1700s,” she
says with a lilting English accent as we
sit at an outdoor table at Surfside (the
place to go for pizza on island).
St. Vincent cuisine consists of a
variety of exotic foods: callaloo (a stew
USA Atlantic
Ocean
Buccaneer Reef
their favorite pizza, I was intrigued.
Just when I begin to feel a bit guilty
about eating pizza instead of a native Vin-
centian dish, the steaming tray arrives,
bringing with it the tempting smell of
cheese bubbling over crispy thick crust
topped with fresh oregano and savory
tomatoes. I forget the guilt. From our
plastic chairs I can make out the dark
lush outline of Young Island Resort — a
private island where I’ll spend my next
few nights. Just a quick ferry ride away,
it looks like an enormous turtle sleeping
in a shallow pool.
The lights in the restaurant flicker
and then go out. Glowing candles are im-
mediately placed on the tables, and the
restaurant keeps moving. The pizza be-
gins to cool, and each bite tastes better
than the last. Pizza cravings satisfied, I
make my way to Young Island Resort, and
from my hilltop view watch the last of St.
Vincent’s lights go out for the night.
The Telltale Jingle
The next morning, I take the 115 steps
down the hill to the dock where Bill Tewes
from PADI Dive Center Dive St. Vincent
is to pick me up. Within minutes we’re
cruising underneath the steep ledges and
cliffs that make up the topography of St.
must dive
2. Buccaneer Reef (St. Vincent)
3. Back Behind Middle Cave (Bequia)
4. Steps (St. Vincent)
5. Boulders (Bequia)
Vincent. Occasionally a fisherman sends
off a friendly wave from a far-out rock
that looks almost impossible to have
reached by foot.
Our first dive site is Steps. Before
getting in, Bill explains the protocol on
his dives: “We all dive as a group — to-
gether. We are all each other’s buddies,”
he says with the authoritative voice of a
drill sergeant.
In between the regulator noise of
breathing, I can hear a light jingle ring-
ing through the water around me. I stop
and listen, recognizing the sound of Bill’s
noisemaker. He’s signaling that he’s found
another creature “not in books” (NIB). As I
approach, he’s hovering with perfect buoy-
ancy over what appears to be a pile of dead
coral resembling underwater tumbleweed.
He hands me a magnifying glass and then
writes on his slate, “a type of urchin shrimp
NIB.” I look through the small plastic lens
of the magnifying glass and focus on a tiny
critter carefully laying eggs half the size of a
grain of rice. It is so small I fear I’ll lose fo-
cus by simply blinking. Then, to make sure
I can see it, Bill delicately uses his pointer
— a TV antenna — to guide my eye.

La •
Deco Stops SVG We then approach a juvenile drum
that seems extraordinarily large because
Soufrière On St. Vincent, take yourself on a tour of the
Caribbean Sea Botanical Gardens outside of Kingstown. Make it doesn’t require the use of a magnify-
Map ST. VINCENT a stop at the Doctor Cecil Cyrus Museum, filled ing glass. Nearby a juvenile pipefish at-
area •
Kingstown with samples and images of strange pathological tempts to hide among the pilings. Arrow
• specimens. Viewer discretion is advised. And
The Romark • crabs are everywhere.
Steps Young Island for one of St. Vincent’s true natural wonders,
With every jingle, another creature
a BEQUIA visit the Falls of Baleine, which plunge 60 feet
se • Princess into a freshwater pool. On Bequia, make a stop is exposed. Another NIB. Another I cer-
Margaret tainly can’t identify. And another treasure,
at Princess Margaret Beach — there is nothing
n

Boulders Beach
ea

MUSTIQUE
wrong with quality beach time. just the smaller variety.
Back Behind
bb

Middle Cave CANOUAN

ri

Destination Primer rush of color Opening spread: One

brenda weaver (map)
ca

MAYREAU of Bequia’s prized treasures — a star-

A V ERA G E WATER TEM P : 7 8 - 8 3 ° F WHAT
eyed hermit crab. Clock wise from top
TO WEAR: 3 to 5 mm fullsuit AVERAGE VIZ:
UNION 60-100 feet WHEN TO GO: Year-round; rainy r ight: A spotted moray eel in B equia;
ISLAND PETIT ST. VINCENT season is May-October. sheep on the windward coast of St. Vin-
cent; a gorgonian sea fan off Bequia.

96 November/December 2007 spor td i ve r. co m p ad i. co m November/December 2007 97

 “I feel my body being carried up and out with the surge, like
the hand of a gentle giant guiding me back to the surface.”
in a strolling manner, just close enough
to touch, before quickly disappearing
out of sight.
I look up and see the waves thunder-
ing at the top of the wall, each crash of
water forming an underwater smoke show.
We round the bend and begin to ascend
through a school of yellowtail snappers
and blue chromis. Once again the drift car-
ries on without us, and we are forced to
ascend through the mix of color exploding
with the waves crashing above.
TOPSIDE DIVING
After the underwater rush, I’m ready to
discover things the books didn’t tell me
about Bequia. I head to Front Street. The
open-air market bustles with Vincentians
and a sprinkling of tourists filtering in and
out of the local art stores and fruit marts.
As I walk past, a man with long gray
dreads and dark weathered skin grabs my
hand and kindly hands me a strange piece
of pale green fruit with white flesh.
“Try it,” he says. “It’s like ice cream
in a fruit.”
After a cautious first bite — the tex-
ture so soft it requires a spoon — the faint
sweetness fills my mouth like a watery
scoop of vanilla ice cream. Within minutes
he is handing me armfuls of the cherimoya
fruit. And with each offering — like a chef
offering a taste of his secret recipe — his
eyes light up when he sees my reaction.
By the time I leave, my bags are filled
with a selection of mamey apples, passion
fruit, plum rose, coconuts, and of course
St. Vincent’s signature hot sauce — Erica’s
Country-Style Pepper Sauce.
For a faster-paced topside tour, I
join Larry and Ron for an open-air cab
tour of the island. We ride up steep
hills that feel like the beginning of a roller
coaster ride and down ones that are equally
thrilling. Along the way we pass pastel-col-
ored houses stacked along the hillside with
open front doors, kids playing soccer in the
streets and sheep munching wild flowers.
It’s like I’m on a dry drift dive. And similar
to drift diving in Bequia, we can’t stop for
long except when we arrive at the Old Hegg
Turtle Sanctuary. Run by “Brother” King —
a retired skin-diving fisherman devoted to
increasing the population of the endan-
gered hawksbill turtle — the sanctuary
houses turtles of all sizes in the hopes of
rehabilitating them and returning them
to the ocean just steps away. Here, tanks
of various sizes fill the indoor-outdoor
room. In each tank, turtles swim play-
fully and aggressively on and over one
another. Whether they’re missing a fin
or they hatched from eggs found on the
beach, thanks to Brother King, they get
another chance.
(Continued on page 136)

BEQUIA
The following afternoon I travel to Be-
quia — a small island just nine miles
south of St. Vincent. I leave the ferry
station in Kingstown and watch as the
far off islands in the distance slowly dis-
appear in time with the sun. The dark-
ness hides what the morning light will
soon expose: colorful houses draped in
bougainvilleas and deserted beaches.
As I get off the ferry, I’m met by Larry
continuing education
JG<:@8CKP;@M<I
Get your Drift Diver specialty. For
more info, go to padi.com.
and Ron from PADI Dive Center Bequia
Dive Adventures coming to take me to
Village Apartments, a set of quaint cot-
tages a short walk from the beach. I
climb the dark steps up to my room and
am promptly greeted by owners Val and
George. They walk me around the prop-
erty with the hospitality of well-loved
relatives. That night I fall asleep with
the aroma of the ocean swirling in un-
der the canopy of my bed. And just as
I’ve been told, the next morning I wake
to a view of bougainvilleas and crystal-
blue waters. A few short steps away on
the water, I find Bequia Dive Adventures
and Larry and Ron. My gear is set up and
ready to go.
I soon discover that, although St.
Vincent and Bequia are not far apart
in distance, the dives are worlds apart.
Our first dive is at Boulders where, al-
though the current only allows us quick
glimpses, the attractions are more obvi-
ous. Spotted moray eels and giant lob-
sters slither and scamper along the wall,
mouths agape and antennas out in a
welcoming hello. The moving water de-
mands attention, and I can’t stop to ex-
amine every coral head we pass. I feel
the urge to look for the near-invisible
critters finding shelter from the veloc-
ity of the current — a long list of NIBs
waiting to be discovered. I can hear Bill’s
noisemaker in the back of my mind, as if
he’s subconsciously calling me via sonar.
Everything begs for a second look. But
here the current won’t allow it.
The water continues to move me
past sea fans blowing in the breezelike
current and butterflyfish delicately nib-
bling on gorgonians. A large patch of sea
l i q u i d l a n d s c a p e s Clock wise from
left: An aerial view of the Tobago Cays,
Grenadines; Kay explores the prop of the
Romark; black-bar soldier fish huddle at
Sub Rock off St. Vincent.
rods moves in rhythm with the surge. I
follow Ron to a chimney-shaped swim-
through large enough to hold at least two
divers at a time. Once he enters I slowly
follow him into what appears to be a se-
cret passageway to a dark forest of coral.
Just when I think I can stay to explore,
I feel my body being carried up and out
with the surge, like the hand of a gentle
giant guiding me back to the surface.
Our short surface interval is fol-
lowed by another drift dive at Back Be-
hind Middle Cave. Trying hard not to
miss anything, I pass over a coral head,
its small crevices revealing a gold spotted
eel’s decorated skin. Following the trail
in hopes of finding the owner’s face, I’m
rewarded with a free-swimming show.
The eel weaves in and out of the coral
like a yellow-gold streamer. From the
outskirts of the open blue, the shimmer
of tarpon comes into view, their frown-
ing mouths like those of proud knights
in shiny suits of armor. They approach

98 November/December 2007 spor td i ve r. co m p ad i. co m November/December 2007 99

St. Vincent (Continued from page 99)
“They bring the schoolchildren here
to teach them about the importance of the
ocean and taking care of its inhabitants,”says
Larry. “It is a good way to start them early.”
Proof that some of the most important
lessons are indeed NIBs.
As I make my way back to St. Vincent,
the sky darkens. But this time I know what
to expect. It is toward the end of my week
here and when I see Kay waiting for me at
the ferry station, she’s already like an old
friend. Over an authentic Vincentian dinner
136 November/December 2007
of warm buttery bread and callaloo soup at
the French Verandah Restaurant at Mari-
ners Hotel, we plan my last day of diving
to include checking out some of the new
caverns she’s found — and looking for
vintage bottles along the way.
THE CIRCLE
Our first stop is at Sub Rock — named after
its obvious resemblance to a submarine.
“Back during World War II, approach-
ing ships would fire at it thinking it was a
sub so there are a lot of holes and broken
areas on it,” Kay tells us.
Once in the water, clouds of fish in reds,
blues and yellows, from blue tangs to par-
rotfish to sergeant majors, decorate the reef.
They are everywhere, making it hard to de-
cide whether to enjoy the obvious scenery or
search for the more hidden denizens. The fish
continuewiththeirever-changingunderwater
patterns while crowds of butterflyfish dance
below them. An arrow crab covers up behind
a netted barrel sponge, and a slipper lobster
resemblinganoversizecockroachcreepspast.
A lone yellow frogfish tries to appear invisible
on the edge of a color-coordinated sponge
while a nearby mantis shrimp hides in the
speckled sand. The cloud of fish continues to
circle above, mixing in with our bubbles ris-
ing up to the surface like a magic potion.
for more information
More on the Web:
For a guide to St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, visit
sportdiver.com/svg.
For our surface interval we explore a
black-sand beach — created by the island’s
volcanoes — not looking for rum bottles,
but for sand dollars. The shoreline is filled
with a thick forest of palms, and crystal-clear
water laps the shore. We can easily swim the
nine feet to the bottom where we spot the
clean white circles dotting the black canvas.
After our beach swim, it’s time for my
last dive of the trip — and for the newly
discovered caverns at Buccaneer Reef. Once
submerged, we are greeted by another frog-
fish, this one performing a balancing act on
the edge of a barrel sponge. Bermuda chubs
aggressively swarm overhead, and Christ-
mas tree worms close their featherlike arms.
Along the reef, a bashful seahorse hides be-
hind a sea fan, refusing to let me see its face.
The caverns are only a short distance away,
and the openings are easy to spot — they’re
big enough for a bus. We slowly enter, shin-
ing our lights on the walls and ceilings,
careful not to miss anything hiding in the
shadows. The deeper we swim, the lower
the ceiling falls. As if frightened of the light,
a lobster hiding in a dark crevice of the cave
scurries past. A nearby porcupinefish moves
away in annoyance. To my left, a few strag-
gling blue damselfish lurk in my wake, as if
they too want to see what hides in the shad-
ows. Soon the lobster slowly gains comfort
with our presence and ventures to a comfy
new hidden corner. Deciding to give it its
spor td i ve r. co m
sought-after privacy, I return to the open
reef with the blue damselfish trailing along
behind me as if they too are satisfied.
The sunlight and clear water above re-
veal the boat waiting on the surface. Before I
make my final ascent, I give the reef one last
look with the hope that I’ll spot a rum bottle
or a secret passageway to a lost cavern. I hov-
er motionless in the water for a moment, and
that’s when I see it, the telltale rim of a bottle
hidden in the coral. A closer glance reveals
barnacles and crusty coral lining its dark
shape, making it almost unrecognizable — a
whole civilization growing on what was once
someone’s trash. I’ve come across not a rum
bottle but a coral-decorated Red Stripe bot-
tle. Stubbornly I stare at it a bit longer, and
I notice the smallest of creatures carefully
crawling along the edge — a NIB. Satisfied
with my new find, I leave the inhabitant to
its home and make my way to the surface.
It might be my last dive, but I know I’ll
be back, in search of NIBs, drift dives, cav-
erns, and of course, that ever-hidden bottle
of rum.
Special thanks to St. Vincent Department of
Tourism(svgtourism.com),IndigoDive(indigo
dive.com;seepage146),BequiaDiveAdventures
(bequiadiveadventures.com),DiveSt.Vincent
(divestvincent.com),YoungIslandResort(young
island.com), Mariners Hotel (marinershotel
.com)andVillageApartments(villageapartments
.grenadines.net).
Svg listings
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Ministry of Tourism and Culture
svgtourism.com
Bequia
Dive Centers
Bequia Dive Adventures
bequiadiveadventures.com
Dive Bequia
bequiadive.com
Resorts/Hotels
Village Apartments on Bequia
villageapartments.grenadines.net
Grenadines
Grenadines Dive
grenadinesdive.com
St. Vincent
Dive Centers
Dive St. Vincent
divestvincent.com
Indigo Dive
indigodive.com
Resorts/Hotels
Mariners Hotel
marinershotel.com
Young Island Resort
youngisland.com
p ad i. co m November/December 2007 137