The nearest beach to Port Elizabeth is the pleasant Princess Margaret beach which shelves quickly into the clear sea. It was named after the princess in 1958 when she swam there while visiting the island by yacht. However, access is deliberately made difficult and there are no beach bars to spoil this stretch. At its south end there is a small headland, around which you can snorkel from Lower Bay, where swimming is excellent and the beach is one of the best on the island. Hurricane Lenny washed up extra sand in 1999 and the shore now shelves quite steeply into the sea. Damaged trees are further evidence of the swell but there are still trees for shade. Avoid the manchineel trees when it rains or you will get blisters. Local boys race their homemade, finely finished sailing yachts round the bay. In the village there are several places to stay as well as good restaurants and bars on the beach and up the hillside. Lower Bay gets very busy at holiday times.
The walk up Mount Pleasant from Port Elizabeth is worthwhile (go by taxi if it is too hot), the shady road is overhung with fruit trees and the view of Admiralty Bay is ever more spectacular. There is a settlement of airy homes at the top, from where you can see most of the Grenadines. By following the road downhill and south of the viewpoint you can get to Hope Bay, an isolated and usually deserted sweep of white sand and one of the best beaches. At the last house (where you can arrange for a taxi to meet you afterwards), the road becomes a rough track, after half a mile turn off right down an ill-defined path through cedar trees to an open field, cross the fence on the left, go through a coconut grove and you reach the beach. The sea is usually gentle but sometimes there is powerful surf, a strong undertow and offshore current, so take care.
Friendship Bay on the south coast is particularly pleasant, with a long sandy beach; there is some coral but also quite a lot of weed. It takes about 30 minutes to walk from Port Elizabeth to the Friendship Bay Hotel, at the east end of the bay, or a taxi costs EC$15. Alternatively, take a dollar bus (infrequent) in the direction of Paget Farm, get out at the junction (EC$1.50) and walk down to the west end of the bay.
The tourist office can help you visit the cliffside dwellings of Moon Hole, at the southwest, where a rocky arch frames the stone dwelling and the water comes up the front yard. People live here without any electricity or running water....
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