Live like a local on Canouan, the secret Caribbean island

Life on a Caribbean island moves as fast as its resident population. On the island of Canouan in The Grenadines, that population mostly consists of tortoises. There are thousands of them. Not for nothing is Canouan known as “Turtle Island”.

Why “turtle” and not “tortoise”? I’m guessing that might have something to do with the island’s history. Canouan, today part of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, where King Charles is the head of state, was settled in the 18th century by the French before the British later wrested it off them. In French, they use the same word for both “tortoise” and “turtle” – tortue. I once asked a French friend why that was. They shrugged and said, “what’s the difference?” The difference, I replied, is in what happens when you throw the wrong one back into the sea.

Suffice it to say, no tortoises were harmed during my stay on Canouan – at least not by me. So careful are the people who live on the island of the animals that they will actually stop their cars, buses and vans to scoop them up from the middle of the road and cart them off to the side. Slow-moving sleeping policemen, they are not. But it also means it can take a little longer than you might have expected to get anywhere, which brings me back to my initial observation – life on Canouan is slow. And that is exactly the point. You come to Canouan to relax.

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On the grass outside my door, a gang of tortoises loiter. They must have been there for quite some time – possibly longer than the villa has been standing – because some of them have two humps on their shells. This, it is explained to me, means they are very old. You could be forgiven for wondering why they even need shells given the lack of threats on Canouan. There isn’t much to worry them – and that goes for human visitors too. Most tortoises retract their heads as you walk past. The more cantankerous among them may give a little hiss, but the chase is over before it has begun. I’ve made the short hop up the hill to the infinity pool, which overlooks the barrier reef and the Caribbean Sea.

The residence could be described as colonial in style – dark-wood floors in the bedrooms, ceiling fans and cane furniture. It’s also big. There is a proper kitchen and a living room with a huge telly. On the wall is a framed letter from Prince Harry thanking the owners for letting him stay there in 2016. But you don’t come to the Caribbean to sit inside watching the box. Outside, beyond the sliding doors, is a large seating area and a dining table, both under cover. The estate has four of these palatial residences and there are various smaller villas and suites, suitable for families and groups of all sizes.

On the estate, you will find an 18-hole golf course designed by the legendary Tom Fazio, along with tennis courts, a children’s club and a spa and gym. Close by, there is also the 17th-century Anglican “Estate Chapel”. If its Norman architecture looks out of place among the Bougainvillea and palm trees, that’s because it is. The chapel was actually built in England and shipped over to Canouan stone by stone. It is still used by the local community, but it is also a popular place for weddings and it’s not hard to see why.

While on Canouan, you also have the choice of staying at the Mandarin Oriental and Soho Beach House hotels. All three properties operate an “invisible key” scheme that gives you the option of using the facilities at each. The island is sufficiently petite that you can fly between the various properties by the seat of your golf buggy, swerving for tortoises, of course. That’s particularly handy when you get a bit peckish in your residence and you don’t feel like cooking.

At the Mandarin Oriental, for instance, there’s the Lagoon Café for a relaxed bite and the Tides Bar + Grill for fine-dining. That there is a Mandarin out here at all, in the Caribbean, is marvellous. It’s certainly the most far-flung of the upmarket chain that I’ve visited, including the flagship hotel in Hong Kong. And yet, the brand has made the island its home. The decor has, for example, certain Asian influences which blend in with the tropical flowers beside the swimming pools and other Caribbean flourishes. Hong Kong can be pretty hot and steamy, too, after all.

You don’t, however, need to be a member to enjoy its laid-back atmosphere. Anyone can stay at this pocket-sized boutique resort. Much like Soho House’s members, the interior design in the rooms has that carefully curated air of not really trying down to a tee. The desk, tables and chest of drawers in my room have that lived-in quality and the wardrobe is an imposing, almost Gothic dark-wood edifice. It all feels very Sohoboho. There is a wide balcony and the room is flooded with golden light through the white window slats, especially in the evenings when the sun sets over the sea, making silhouettes of the yachts.

In the living room, there are arty coffee-table books parked here and there and a bar with a proper selection of English teas and freshly baked biscuits. In the bathroom, there is a very wide selection of bathroom products from fashionable, Somerset-based Cowshed. The idea that you might make do with refillable plastic bottles of shampoo and shower gel, screwed to the wall, is laughable at Soho Beach House Canouan. You have a choice of each depending on your mood. Similar products can be found in the Cowshed spa, just down the beach from your room.

The original Soho House on Greek Street was famously the club for “creative types” and here, on Canouan, the first Soho House in the Caribbean, you can give new meaning to the term “remote working”. I would be happy to call this corner of Canouan my office. Then, when it’s time for the sundowners to come out at the bar, housed in a large open-sided thatched structure known as a palapa, it’s also time for the laptops to get put away. House rules. The restaurant menu is a list of local favourites, including baked snapper from the clay oven.

From the jetty the next morning after breakfast, we take a yacht around some of the southern Grenadine islands and enjoy a lobster lunch on Union Island, which, like Canouan, is thankfully now recovering from Hurricane Beryl. The storm did terrible damage to the southern Grenadines in 2024. And we also stop off at Tobago Cays for a spot of snorkelling with our hard-shell friends – the turtles are fleet of flipper this time and most definitely not lumbering land tortoises, no matter what the French may tell you.