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-   -   Check out Grenada.... (https://britishexpats.com/forum/caribbean-121/check-out-grenada-909991/)

beachseeker Mar 4th 2018 11:41 pm

Check out Grenada....
 
We have spent the past year here in the island of Grenada West Indies. We have enjoyed every day discovering the physical beauty and wonderful people of the island, while travelling to all corners to understand its history and interesting culture. We live in an apartment in the south west of the island and found shopping, great restaurants and beach bars, interesting sites to explore, and have made many new friends – locals and expats. Grand Anse Beach has been in our daily activities and we totally agree with the voters who crowned it the best beach in the Caribbean. Take some time to visit this beautiful and interesting slice of paradise. Lots going on here. The people are friendly and we feel very safe here. Retired, and on a travel adventure....

uk_grenada Mar 5th 2018 9:40 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
Let us know how the next adventure continues sénor, hopefully we’ll see you before you depart, my next ones Santorini, then Santiago de Cuba.

The important thing is you never suffer a winter up north again � ����

beachseeker Mar 5th 2018 12:04 pm

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
We will look for you at Esther's Beach Bar - one of "the" meeting places for those in the know... and then stay tuned to our blog as the next adventure unfolds. :) We loved being in Grenada. Thank you for your help uk_grenada. :)

Pistolpete2 Mar 7th 2018 7:41 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 

Originally Posted by beachseeker (Post 12456157)
We have spent the past year here in the island of Grenada West Indies. We have enjoyed every day discovering the physical beauty and wonderful people of the island, while travelling to all corners to understand its history and interesting culture. We live in an apartment in the south west of the island and found shopping, great restaurants and beach bars, interesting sites to explore, and have made many new friends – locals and expats. Grand Anse Beach has been in our daily activities and we totally agree with the voters who crowned it the best beach in the Caribbean. Take some time to visit this beautiful and interesting slice of paradise. Lots going on here. The people are friendly and we feel very safe here. Retired, and on a travel adventure....

Thank you for this!

We return to the UK from a Portuguese winter on Friday which we have absolutely loved (it's our first time here) but are now mobilising all forces to if at all possible spend winters in the Caribbean when we check out of Brexit-UK for good :fingerscrossed: come autumn 2019. St Lucia, Grenada and possibly the Grenadines and the BA UVF-GND link will likely feature in these plans but we have to look at the potential for a long winter-only stay (November to March incl) rental at the 'right' price - I don't 'do' hurricanes, so we are looking to move to Portugal for the remainder (bulk) of each year. We have the advantage of free movement in CSME/Caricom, so it seems, but would need to check with the Grenada High Commission to confirm this works cleanly in practice.

When we check out of the UK we will not be able to entertain the idea of returning for medical reasons (TAX) so we have to reside permanently somewhere, hence Portugal, and it should be easier to get health insurance cover for the shorter (less than six months) period in the Caribbean (we will be in our sixties so age is an issue for coverage). We were very happy with our doctors, dentists and specialists in St Lucia before so they are always there if needed.

uk_grenada Mar 7th 2018 9:09 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
Just an NB, Grenada is on 12 degrees N, this officially puts it out of the hurricane belt. This is highly significant if you have a yacht to insure but to me, what it means is that while every year a number of these monsters passes 100-300 miles north of us, they only touch us every 10 years or so. If you have a modern house and have observed the ‘rules’ about where to live, you have little to fear.

PM me if you want any Gda specific info.

Pistolpete2 Mar 7th 2018 11:17 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 

Originally Posted by uk_grenada (Post 12457785)
Just an NB, Grenada is on 12 degrees N, this officially puts it out of the hurricane belt. This is highly significant if you have a yacht to insure but to me, what it means is that while every year a number of these monsters passes 100-300 miles north of us, they only touch us every 10 years or so. If you have a modern house and have observed the ‘rules’ about where to live, you have little to fear.

PM me if you want any Gda specific info.

Thanks for that!

Myristica Dec 18th 2018 6:00 pm

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
@UK_grenada is so positive & helpful 😊☺️ Feeling the positive vibes

Pistolpete2 Jan 24th 2019 12:29 pm

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
We are kind of stuck in a Brexit nightmare loop here, because we had decided that from October this year we wanted to spend the bulk of each year in Portugal and the remainder predominantly in Grenada (and to a lesser extent St Lucia where we have a house that needs to be considered).

Unfortunately, our plans don't seem to be panning out as the days go by and nothing happens re Brexit and we may have to go without Portuguese residency, so our time there would be strictly limited with it in the EU and the slant would need to be more towards Grenada, as a result.

Also unfortunately, we haven't actually been to Grenada yet to scope it out, though we have received positive feedback here and elsewhere and the Grenada Immigration rules work for me as well (spouse is an OECS citizen).

I've checked out properties in the south-west parish area and what we basically need is furnished, reasonably quiet, on a bus route, close to shops and the locals scene, no need for a car or to be a mountain goat. Happily there is supply at roughly the right price but we need more choices so we can be comfortable with this Plan B.

It's Plan B because Portugal offers decent state healthcare and much lower cost of living as well as cheap easy access to the UK. However, as I have basically hinted, it's still likely to be roughly seven months Grenada/St Lucia & misc and five months Portugal, instead of the other way around.

We need other recommendations for estate agents and other accommodation sources - can the OP help with this as well as UKGrenada? - so we know we are covered if we need to go this route come late December 2019. It is likely that we would need a base in Grenada for seven continuous months each year (Jan - July) and I accept that we could possibly negotiate the entire year for only a bit more than the seven months.

Thanks!

uk_grenada Jan 24th 2019 3:23 pm

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
There are only 2/3 estage agents, terra have a decent website, remax too, with rental properties, there are then a few lesser companies like altman.

If its in a good area near the university, students pay 1000 us a month for a rabbit hutch which defines the base of the market. You are also possibly competing with holiday lets in some areas. You can be in the deep countryside for a lot less but then you are probably encountering issues getting round.

The OP stayed his entire time at bouganvillea apts which are 1/2 bedroom serviced apts with aircon behind grand anse - ideal location - rent by the month - ask them about their experience, which overall i believe was positive with a few issues.

If you are there you definitely dont require a car. Remember using busses though cheap eats up time.

I assume you want residence permits in time, till then you both have to get visa stamps which means visiting the ministy complex every few months but is cheap and not an issue, they just want to know you have somewhere to live, can afford to live here and arent ‘known to the police’. Whether you drive or not get local visitors driving permits. When youve had 12 months worth you can apply for a license which is a form of id.

Do you have a halifax clarity mastercard or one of the other perfect use abroad cards ? If not read martin lewis’s moneywatch website - cheapest way to get local currency.

Pistolpete2 Jan 25th 2019 6:19 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 

Originally Posted by uk_grenada (Post 12626670)
There are only 2/3 estage agents, terra have a decent website, remax too, with rental properties, there are then a few lesser companies like altman.

If its in a good area near the university, students pay 1000 us a month for a rabbit hutch which defines the base of the market. You are also possibly competing with holiday lets in some areas. You can be in the deep countryside for a lot less but then you are probably encountering issues getting round.

The OP stayed his entire time at bouganvillea apts which are 1/2 bedroom serviced apts with aircon behind grand anse - ideal location - rent by the month - ask them about their experience, which overall i believe was positive with a few issues.

If you are there you definitely dont require a car. Remember using busses though cheap eats up time.

I assume you want residence permits in time, till then you both have to get visa stamps which means visiting the ministy complex every few months but is cheap and not an issue, they just want to know you have somewhere to live, can afford to live here and arent ‘known to the police’. Whether you drive or not get local visitors driving permits. When youve had 12 months worth you can apply for a license which is a form of id.

Do you have a halifax clarity mastercard or one of the other perfect use abroad cards ? If not read martin lewis’s moneywatch website - cheapest way to get local currency.

Thank you for that!

Doesn't look like we have much to worry about then. I thought Terra's website quite helpful in terms of price and variety so that's good for starters. I looked at Bouganvillea's website, but unless we can get some sort of Caricom/OECs discount or longer-stay discount that would appear to be an expensive way to go so I'm not sure. Hopefully, whatever we find comes with all bills so we don't have to worry about connecting and re/dis-connecting to the local utility companies.

They couldn't be any worse, but hopefully Grenada annual tax filings are easier online than other local islands are - if they are even necessary with no local source income.

Indeed, Grenada's stay conditions of 3 months then extend for a moderate fee compare very favourably with say St Lucia, where it is only 42 days then fairly substantial fees to extend.

I take your point re using buses and its possible we would get access to a car when we need it and to explore.

We would be back and forth to St Lucia on BA from time to time and we have doctors and dentists etc. there so we might not hook-up with anything new in Grenada.

We have First Caribbean and Scotia bank accounts and USD income to tap into so can either live out of ATM machines or use their cards as needed. We will largely sever links with the UK we suspect, which is pretty much the point of this exercise. Need I say more?

uk_grenada Jan 25th 2019 10:08 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
Well, i might suggest that properly managed uk investments on or offshore are easier to manage than the us and you can of course place your money anywhere in any currency from london or channel island operations, though there is a move to hong kong given its healthy attitude towards the us and eu. You will find the tax regime here favourable [you’d be surprised how many whales live here in theory] and there is no requirement to do returns if theres no income here. Think of yourself as a green industry.

You have no need to visit st lucia for any medical needs, and though you can fly ther every day its usually via liat or caribbean air, via trinidad, be aware the ba and virgin connection may go away, there is talk to reroute some/all grenada flights via the new st vincent airport or go bck to the older antigua link. Let me know when you want to meet a friend who is not just a dentist but a max fax surgeon who does implants etc for a lot less than youll find in the us or uk. He works in a NY hospital 2 months out of 3 and has a few dentists working for him here fulltime.

There is a very good private hospital, but its not cheap, but think of it like this, in 10 hours you can be in the uk and if you havent lost domicile or severed links you can get help there. Trinidad ‘next door’ has some of the best hospitals in the caribbean - 40 mins away for peanuts. They and cuba send surgeons to the general hospital here for bulk operations like hip and knee joints - they do a bunch of them then leave after a few days. Cost to the patients 400 pounds a leg! which is the cost of the implant to a 3rd world country plus the operation. There is a health service, which is adequate for normal needs, you can see specialists of most sorts, costs less than 2 pounds a visit.... If you really are unwell, you cant fly, if you are able - fly yourself. NB you are aware that dedicated medical evacuation flights are no longer needed. 787’s and the newer airbus planes operate at a cabin pressure of 5000ft not 8000 which means you can go [at greater cost than normal of course] even when being ‘medevac’d’ by normal service.

uk_grenada Jan 25th 2019 10:14 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
Oh - bouganvillea does do long term rates, our canadian friends thought it good value, given its location and amenities, with aircon included.- they stayed for a year. NB we have about the most expensive electricity on the planet - seriously - if you need aircon its going to cost...

Personally i prefer to live somewhere a little more breezy and cooler, you may know its not good to live at sealevel / near a beach if tou want cool/dry conditions, but thats not by the main road, where i live you need a car.

Pistolpete2 Jan 25th 2019 10:29 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 

Originally Posted by uk_grenada (Post 12627032)
Well, i might suggest that properly managed uk investments on or offshore are easier to manage than the us and you can of course place your money anywhere in any currency from london or channel island operations, though there is a move to hong kong given its healthy attitude towards the us and eu. You will find the tax regime here favourable [you’d be surprised how many whales live here in theory] and there is no requirement to do returns if theres no income here. Think of yourself as a green industry.

You have no need to visit st lucia for any medical needs, and though you can fly ther every day its usually via liat or caribbean air, via trinidad, be aware the ba and virgin connection may go away, there is talk to reroute some/all grenada flights via the new st vincent airport or go bck to the older antigua link. Let me know when you want to meet a friend who is not just a dentist but a max fax surgeon who does implants etc for a lot less than youll find in the us or uk. He works in a NY hospital 2 months out of 3 and has a few dentists working for him here fulltime.

There is a very good private hospital, but its not cheap, but think of it like this, in 10 hours you can be in the uk and if you havent lost domicile or severed links you can get help there. Trinidad ‘next door’ has some of the best hospitals in the caribbean - 40 mins away for peanuts. They and cuba send surgeons to the general hospital here for bulk operations like hip and knee joints - they do a bunch of them then leave after a few days. Cost to the patients 400 pounds a leg! which is the cost of the implant to a 3rd world country plus the operation. There is a health service, which is adequate for normal needs, you can see specialists of most sorts, costs less than 2 pounds a visit.... If you really are unwell, you cant fly, if you are able - fly yourself. NB you are aware that dedicated medical evacuation flights are no longer needed. 787’s and the newer airbus planes operate at a cabin pressure of 5000ft not 8000 which means you can go [at greater cost than normal of course] even when being ‘medevac’d’ by normal service.

I think I have my various investments covered, though it has been a pain the neck to track things for UK CGT purposes, which is a motivator for moving offshore again. My USD income is my pensions from Bermuda employment.

Let's hope the BA link - Virgin does not allow GND - UVF traffic - stays for a while as the other way is expensive. we'll check out Grenada medical as and when but at least we know what we have already and we will have to travel to St Lucia for one reason or another. We have checked out Envisage Insurance which offers coverage for expats in spots like Grenada (Patriot Insurance) and hopefully it would be relatively easy to have and use.

Good to hear ref Bouganvillea.

Does TUI operate 787s into GND? They do just once a week into UVF ex LGW.

uk_grenada Jan 25th 2019 11:03 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
Tui doesnt fly here. Condor does which is the same co i believe, to frankfurt

uk_grenada Jan 25th 2019 11:11 am

Re: Check out Grenada....
 
I use an active investment director with rathbones to manage and report on my investments, seems to be working. Of course i am using ISAs over decades so no tax implications at all.


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