Grenada launched new COVID-19 entry protocols for international travelers on July 31 this summer, including a change in policy mandating that all visiting U.S. travelers now be fully vaccinated and undergo PCR testing for the virus before their departure — and again at the airport upon arrival.
“We are prioritizing the safety of our people and of our visitors,” said Petra Roach, CEO of Grenada Tourism Authority, during an interview late last month. “Therefore, we thought it was expedient for us to just limit the number of persons who were traveling to fully vaccinated persons. … It's just ensuring that we've got that double layer of protection.”
We thought it was expedient for us to just limit the number of persons who were traveling to fully vaccinated persons. It's just ensuring that we've got that double layer of protection.
U.S. travelers headed to the tri-island destination of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique will need to have received their final required vaccination shot at least two weeks prior to their departure. They will also need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before they leave, complete a Pure Safe Travel Authorization Certificate online and then undergo an additional PCR test when they land at the airport in Grenada, a requirement for everyone over 13 years old that will cost $150 per traveler.
Visitors will then be required to quarantine for as long as 48 hours at their accommodations in Grenada until they receive the results of the PCR test taken at the airport.
Grenada’s more than 40 beaches, 15 waterfalls and 30 acclaimed scuba diving sites are open again to international visitors.
Credit: 2021 Orlando Romain Adelphi/ Grenada Tourism Authority
"We generally get [those test results] back quicker," Roach said. "Once that test is returned negative, [the travelers are] then assimilated into the population and are allowed to leave the accommodation."
Just 134 square miles in size and home to 112,000 residents, Grenada closed its borders to international visitors in March last year but reopened in August 2020, according to Roach, who said future bookings to the destination this fall and winter look “amazing.”
"I've been talking to most of the hotels, and a lot of them are in the 60 [percent range for occupancy] for the months of November and December," Roach said. "We're expecting to have a really bumper winter season."
What’s Open in Grenada Right Now
Two of Grenada’s most popular all-inclusive luxury resorts are set to open in early fall this year, according to Roach. The beachfront, 269-room Royalton Grenada Resort and Spa, which fronts Tamarind Bay, and the AAA Five Diamond Spice Island Beach Resort, located on Grand Anse Beach, are set to welcome guests back in October.
Roach also said about all of Grenada’s restaurants have now reopened.
"They're buzzing, and they're lively," she said of the destination’s eateries. "But again, people are being very sensible in terms of [wearing] their mask, doing their social distancing and sanitizing."
Many of the Caribbean destination’s most popular visitor attractions are also now open, according to Roach, including its many beaches and waterfalls, as well as Grenada’s popular chocolate factories and rum distilleries. The tri-island stop is also a popular place for scuba enthusiasts, featuring more than 30 dive sites — including the well-known Bianca C shipwreck and the Underwater Sculpture Water Park.
Roach also noted that nonstop flights to Grenada’s Maurice Bishop International Airport from the U.S. are now available on segments operated by American Airlines and JetBlue. JetBlue flies daily from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, while American flies twice per week on Wednesdays and Saturdays from Miami, and once a week Wednesdays from Charlotte, N.C.
"With American [Airlines], we're actually going to ramp up to three times a week [from Miami] on Nov. 2," Roach said. "And we go back to daily service [with American from Miami] on Dec. 1."
Roach also encouraged travel advisors to keep an eye out for a new voluntourism initiative Grenada plans to kick off early this month, offering visitors a chance to give back over the course of two or three hours during their vacations.
“They can do things like teaching kids to swim,” Roach said, noting specifics about the new voluntourism program will be posted soon on PureGrenada.com. “They can do things like turtle tagging at Levera, or they can plant trees in the mangroves. There are lots of things that will appeal to people's passions and their sense of being good citizens.”
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Grenada Tourism
