Pistolpete2

IF one is thinking of renting in Grenada in the locals rather than short-term rental market and bearing in mind one might be in and out by air on a fairly frequent basis and would want to rely on local minibus transport, what are recommended areas for value accommodation with 'healthy' community vibes and access to decent mini markets, rum shops and restaurants etc. etc. as and when? Don't mind edge of urban but would prefer not to be actual urban. Thanks!

beachseeker

Based on your frequent flyer comment, it sounds like you need to be in the southern quarter of the island to be close to the airport. There are some clusters of residential areas that are close to shopping. Go to google maps and pull up Grenada and then click on "nearby". Type in grocery shop or supermarket and that should narrow your search quite a bit. Remax Realty has many listings, so does Century 21 and several others... Good luck!

Pistolpete2

Thanks for this! Hopefully we can come up with something that works what with me on the usual coat-tails of my Caricom citizen spouse, which does help.

Indications are then that the main residential area outside of the capital is well-situated for the airport, in the case of Grenada.

uk_grenada

The SW penninsula is where all the smart money is, not in the capital town - but this is a largeish area from grand anse beach to the further reaches of st davids parish. You are close to town and the airport but your biggest issue will be your need to be on or easily walkable to bus routes / the main road which is frankly incompatible with the quietest nicest places to live. EG being a few hundred feet up is important to your comfort. Having a clunker of a car changes the dynamics and might actually pay fot itself in lower rental.

I would suggest you rent for 3? Months and in that time learn where you want to be. Bear in mind that renting in some of the most popular areas is expensive because you are competing with hoards of american medical students who all rent.

uk_grenada

Just for info, the old money is in lance aux epines which is now overcrowded and not so nice now, true blue is the university students - as is all thr area a few miles around, westerhall and fort jeudy are the nouveaux riche areas, bit too far out imho, heaven is the area around the golf course directly above grand anse, or a few other similar locations - but not unless you have a car.

uk_grenada

NB you dont need to be married to a caricom resident, you will still need to have a visa but its easy to renew, and after 3-5 years you can have a residents permit. Theres also no ability to work in another caricom country unless you pass several hurdles. Have you not applied for caricom citizenship yourself, as a spouse its normally pretty much a formality [is here...]

Pistolpete2

Yep this is helpful stuff indeed! I had thought about demand for rentals from the student base.

Pistolpete2

I don't plan on gaining Caricom or any specific Caribbean citizenship any time soon. Work isn't involved as we are retired and that is part of the reason. That thought process might change in a few years though.

I'm a bit confused though because it doesn't look as though CSME has moved 'forward' at all in the last couple of years and I can only guess that national interests have still superceded regional ones with countries at the top of the food chain protecting their own first.

uk_grenada

In a way, caricom is like the european union but more sensible, they do business deals to make business better for the region and its supporters like venezuela, but they have openly strong identity and protectionism for their citizens so dont allow mobility of labour unless its a dire need. Caricom citizenship is worth a lot more than the little it costs, eg you'll never queue at the airport again. Investigate the relevant tax regimes and you will find why people get them. Also if you ever buy property alien landholding taxes are normally steep.

Plenty of retired brits and canadians here, few americans, and quite a lot of the above who are still working here.

beachseeker

We are arriving in a week and will stay for 6 months. Hope to connect with you there.

uk_grenada

I'll email you via this site [it apparently does this...]

beachseeker

Got it thank you - we will call.......

Pistolpete2

I looked at this again - We've been gone from the Caribbean almost three years - and discovered that in the interim OECS passport-holders have free movement in the OECS, together with their spouses. I would probably want to check this with the Grenada High Commission if we move things ahead in some fashion.

To help things further it is possible to buy excess private health insurance at 'reasonable' cost if you exclude the USA for stays of up to one year from the same provider as covers students at St George's University. This covers over-65s too, which is critical in our case.

Now whether that Florida-based insurance carrier's policy overall is straight-forward and reliable in its response/operation is another matter. We used Clico before and that had a learning curve when I was referred to the UK for some treatment.

uk_grenada

I hadnt heard about the oecs actually ratifying that, they have talked about it forever, but never seemed to actually enact it. Great! a theoretical question, I wonder if the BVI access to US green cards is affected? In theory if you live there for x years, you just apply.

Can you send me or post a link to the health insurance info? Might be cheaper? All the sgu links seem to point to login areas. I assume this is health insurance - i see theres an evacuation only option for us students too.

Are you aware of the changes coming to medical evacuation? The only real benefit was low flying, which given the small slower planes was only to miami or trinidad, but ba and virgin will soon change planes to ones that fly with higher internal air pressures. Evacuation either official or errm unofficial to the uk will be much better and actually about the same timeframe.

Pistolpete2

It certainly looks as though implementation was taking place by mid-2015 but the powers that be in the Working Group met on March 16th to see how progress towards implementation was going in the member states in terms of border procedures and identity security, amongst other things.

The healthcare provider was under internationalstudentinsurance.com - Envisage International Corporation.

Personally, if I thought private healthcare was unavailable or inadequate in my particular choice for Caribbean place of abode, I would probably in the first instance look to Barbados or Martinique rather than longer haul medevac.

Remember? that OECS is only Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts, St Vincent, Dominica, St Lucia and Grenada so far as free movement is concerned. I guess that they are better able to get things accomplished than the larger Caricom group.