Shopping

The Crab Hole, next door to the Plantation House, Admiralty Bay (tel. 784/458-3290), is the best of the shops scattered along the water, selling sterling-silver and 14-karat-gold jewelry.

Anyone on the island can show you the way to the workshops of Sargeant's Model Boatshop Bequia, Front Street, Port Elizabeth (tel. 784/458-3344), west of the pier past the oil-storage facility. Sought out by yacht owners looking for a scale-model reproduction of their favorite vessel, Lawson Sargeant is the self-taught wood carver who established this business. The models are carved from white pine and mahogany, and then painted brilliant colors. When a scale model of the royal family's yacht, Britannia, was commissioned in 1985, it required 5 weeks of work. You can pick up a model of a Bequia whaling boat for much less.