Nightlife

Regular evening entertainment is provided by the resort hotels and includes steel bands, calypso, reggae, folk dancing, and limbo -- even crab racing. Ask at your hotel desk to find out what's happening at the time of your visit.

The island's most popular nightspot is Fantazia 2001, Morne Rouge Beach (tel. 473/444-2288). Although it gets progressively rougher as the evening progresses, it's air-conditioned, with state-of-the-art equipment, good acoustics, and fantastic lights, and plays the best in regional and international sounds. There are live shows Saturday. The cover ranges from $5 to $8.

Just as fun and a bit less gratuitously rowdy is Club Banana, True Blue, St. George's (tel. 473/444-4662), down by the marina. Every Friday and Saturday night it operates a disco from 10pm to 2am, charging a cover of $13 to $17. Some visitors have proclaimed Club Banana as the best nightlife hangout on the island.

The Beachside Terrace and The Owl Sports Pub, both at the Flamboyant Hotel, Grand Anse (tel. 473/444-4247), have an amicable and sometimes boisterous clientele, a pair of pool tables, two wide-screen TVs, and a penchant for broadcasting cricket or soccer matches. They're the site of the island's longest happy hour (daily 4-7pm and again 11pm-midnight), during which hours prices are reduced by about 40%. Karaoke is featured Thursday and Friday nights beginning around 8:30pm. Full meals, including American burgers and Caribbean-style curries, are served in the Beachside Terrace daily from noon to 10:30pm.

Another favorite is Aquarium Beach Club & Restaurant at Point Salines (tel. 473/444-1410), which also serves delectable steaks, with a special reputation for its Sunday barbecue specials. From the sprawl of decks open to the trade winds, you can enjoy the lights of St. George's Harbour here at night.

For those seeking culture, the 250-seat Marryshow Folk Theatre, Herbert Blaize Street near Bain Alley, St. George's (tel. 473/440-2451), offers performances of Grenadian, American, and European folk music, drama, and West Indian interpretative folk dance. Tickets usually cost $11.