Sauteurs - city
Sauteurs (pronounced "Saut-ez") is a fishing village in Grenada, with a population estimated as 1300 in 2016. It's named for the cliff where the last Carib indigenous people leapt to their deaths.
It's the main settlement of the northern parish of St Patrick, and sights elsewhere in the parish are also described here.
Get in
For long-distance routes, see Grenada (island)#Get in.
Minibuses run from St. George's bus terminal Zone 5 up the west coast to Gouyave, Victoria and Sauteurs. Those from Zone 8 only go as far as Victoria.
Route 9 minibuses ply between Grenville and Sauteurs - from St George's take Bus 6 to Grenville then transfer.
Get around
Sauteurs itself is small enough to walk round, but you need wheels to explore this spread-out district.
See
- Leapers Hill 📍 is the spot where in 1651 the last three dozen Caribs on Grenada jumped from the cliff rather than be captured or slain by the French. It's nowadays within the town cemetery, with the centre of this straggling settlement just south.
- Levera Natural Park 📍 centres on a mangrove-festooned crater lake, with a circular trail. The French fortified the hill but the remains of this stand on private property. The nearby beach is a turtle nesting site.
- Sugar Loaf is the closest of a chain of three small islands off Levera Beach. It's privately owned and you can't visit.
- Green Island the next out is nowadays uninhabited. The beach is on its exposed northeast coast, so swimming may be hazardous.
- Sandy Island 📍 the last in this chain is the one visited by boat trips, as there's a sandy beach on its sheltered southwest side, and the lagoon has corals. Nearby is the ruin of a mansion. The island is wooded and measures 600 yards north-south by 300 yards east-west, with a boat wreck at its north tip. Don't confuse it with Sandy Island off Carriacou, which is little more than a thin sand bar.
- Bird Island is a dot on the horizon seen further east. It's exposed to the full force of the Atlantic and has no safe landing point, so it's best left to the birds.
- Lake Antoine 📍 is a crater lake surrounded by mangrove. The hiking circuit takes 90 min.
- Antoine Bay 500 m east of the crater is black volcanic sand.
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- Ronde island is the one seen away north of Sauteurs, with Caille Island tucked in besides it. It's privately owned. The island you hope not to see 3 miles further west is "Kick 'em Jenny". This is an active undersea volcano, which in normal circumstances fumes and froths away with no disturbance visible at this distance. The appearance of thick sulphurous clouds, let alone a black ash cone, would mean that the Grenadines are acquiring a new island while experiencing more than a little disruption on all the others.
- Mount Rich Petroglyphs, Belmont, St Patrick, 12.1938°, -61.6431°, +1 473 410 9170. The Interpretation Centre displays rock art and other artefacts from the Carib people of the St Patrick River Valley. It remains closed in 2023. 2023-01-26
- Belmont Estate, Belmont, St Patrick, 12.1748°, -61.6269°, +1 473 442 9524. Su-F 8AM-4PM. 300 year old plantation. The main produce is cacao beans, made into chocolate, so there's most to see during the harvest. Pods sprout direct from the tree trunk and are hand-picked after six months, with the main harvest Nov-Feb and a smaller one April-June. The pods are rested for three days, then the beans are scooped out and fermented for a week. They turn brown, and are dried on large roller-trays that can be moved between sunlight and shelter. Now they pass to the chocolate manufacturer, where they're roasted, the outer skin discarded, and the inner "nibs" ground up. The pulp becomes liquid and is blended with cocoa butter, milk and sugar to the required taste. Finally the chocolate is shaped into bars or coatings / fillings and packaged. 2023-01-14
Do
- Beaches: Sauteurs has the best, as it's protected by a breakwater. The others are exposed to the Atlantic.
Buy
- Stores in Sauteurs village are Kalico (M-Sa 8AM-8PM, Su 8AM-1PM), Philbert Bros (daily 8AM-6PM) and SmartBuy (M-Sa 8AM-6PM, Su 8:30AM-noon).
Eat
- Petite Anse Hotel caters to non-residents daily from 10AM to 8:30PM. Much of the fruit and veg is from their own kitchen garden.
- Almost Paradise is open to non-residents Th-Su for dinner. You need to reserve 24 hours in advance.
- Helena's Ocean View Restaurant, Main Street, Sauteurs, +1 473 442 0950. Daily 11AM-4PM. Helena's is a good place for roti, local food, or just rice, beans, veggies, and salad for the vegetarians. 2023-01-26
Drink
- River Antoine Rum Distillery, River Antoine Rd, Tivoli, 12.1759°, -61.6082°, +1 473 442 7109. M-F 9AM-5PM. Remarkable distillery where processes are little changed in 200 years. Almost all the produce goes to the domestic market. Export rum is sold at 69% strength so it packs a punch. Tours available. 2023-01-14
Sleep
- Petite Anse Hotel, Prospect Rd, Sauteurs, 12.2327°, -61.6543°, +1 473 442 5252. Secluded beachfront hotel with 11 cottages and two hotel rooms, in tropical gardens with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, bar and restaurant. B&B double EC$ 550 2023-01-14
- Almost Paradise Cottages, Prospect Rd, Sauteurs (just west of Petite Anse turnoff), +1 473 405 0608. Under new owners since 2020, this has five self-catering cottages, restaurant and bar. B&B double EC$ 350 2023-01-14
Connect
As of Jan 2023, Sauteurs and St Patrick parish have 4G from Flow and Digicel, with a few dead spots in Levera National Park. 5G has not rolled out in Grenada.
Go next
All roads loop back to St. George's the capital.