Palm Island, Grenadines

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Palm Island, Grenadines

Palm Island Resort.  The Grenadines. 

Coordinates in degrees decimal:  N 12.586229, E -61.399326

Visited in  February, 2013.   Photographer: Nigel Thomas.    Cameras:  Pentax WG-II and Sea & Sea 1G with DX1G housing

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Palm Island is one of the 32 smaller islands that make up St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  It is located to the southern end of the chain, east of Union Island.   The island lies on a west to east axis. The best snorkelling is largely restricted to the sheltered, western end of the island, as the prevailing winds are from the east and north east. Average wind speeds exceeding 10 knots occur between January and June, while during the rest of the year only gentle breezes blow, generally below 10 knots.  The eastern shore, for snorkelling, is largely inaccessible, due to the continuous swell, created by the easterly winds.

Average temperatures vary from 27C in the winter to 29C in the summer (August to September), although peak temperature may exceed 31C.  Rainfall is limited to around 23cm per month between August and November, with minimums between February and March (<10cm).

Several areas of easy access to the sea can be used to view the variety of marine life.  Despite the degraded condition of the corals in some areas  a good range of habitats can be found including live coral outcrops, rock ledges with numerous overhangs, seagrass beds, mixed sand and coral debris as well as clean sandy seabeds.  During our visit in 2013 we recorded approximately 100 species.

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Three easy to access snorkelling locations are numbered 1 to 3 in the following text. Offshore wavebreaks indicate the prevailing, strong easterly winds.
The easiest entry point for snorkelling on the island is adjacent the landing jetty (location 1), to the left of the jetty as you face the sea. This area has a mixture of rock ledges, mixed coral debris, seagrass, sand and small coral outcrops.
Numerous ledges around area 1 provide shelter for a wide variety of fish species, while the shallow top of the reef supports a variety of small hard corals, soft corals and gorgonians, including seafans.
Entry point 2 is on the north-western point of the island, just before the reef emerges on the shore. Entry and exit from the sea is on a steep but safe sandy beach, next to the beach path. This area had the greatest variety of open water fish species.
Entry point 3 is at the furthest (eastern) end of the southern beach, adjacent a small shelter. In this area the water is largely shallow, with sand and some coral debris. If you swim out you will reach a large reef feature including live coral. You need to exit at the same point from which you entered, as further west a very shallow ridge of rock appears (see photo), making exit uncomfortable.
Three easy to access snorkelling locations are numbered 1 to 3 in the following text. Offshore wavebreaks indicate the prevailing, strong easterly winds.
The easiest entry point for snorkelling on the island is adjacent the landing jetty (location 1), to the left of the jetty as you face the sea. This area has a mixture of rock ledges, mixed coral debris, seagrass, sand and small coral outcrops.
Numerous ledges around area 1 provide shelter for a wide variety of fish species, while the shallow top of the reef supports a variety of small hard corals, soft corals and gorgonians, including seafans.
Entry point 2 is on the north-western point of the island, just before the reef emerges on the shore. Entry and exit from the sea is on a steep but safe sandy beach, next to the beach path. This area had the greatest variety of open water fish species.
Entry point 3 is at the furthest (eastern) end of the southern beach, adjacent a small shelter. In this area the water is largely shallow, with sand and some coral debris. If you swim out you will reach a large reef feature including live coral. You need to exit at the same point from which you entered, as further west a very shallow ridge of rock appears (see photo), making exit uncomfortable.

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