My personal preference is Port Elizabeth for, as you say, the restaurants and bars. Mount Pleasant area is nice. We stayed at Pleasant Top (www.hwcn.org/~aa462/house.html) which has great views of Port Elizabeth and Admiralty Bay. You will need transport to get to and from Port Elizabeth. It is a privately owned villa with two bedrooms (one double room and one twin). Also stayed at the Village Apartments (grenadines.net/bequia/villageapartments.htm) which are a 10 minute walk along the waterfront (Belmont Walkway) into Port Elizabeth. Fully equipped self catering apartments and have a selection of apartments including two 2 bedroomed residences.

Dickie,

Thanks for your help.

we just returned from staying at Seashells Apt and we found it to be very very nice and quiet. It is in a pretty good location, maybe 15 min walk from town with all the shopping , banking and dining, 15 min walk to Pincess Margarith beach ( very nice and quiet ) and maybe 20 min walk to Lower Bay Beach ( also very nice and a bit busier, but still very quiet . The local bus drives right by the Apt and costs only EC 1.50 or you can take a taxi for maybe EC 10.00 - 15.00.....

We had the middle Apt. and we found it to be well equipped and very privat ( you can sit on the terasse naked if you like and nobody will see you !!!! The views are spectacular , overlooking the harbour with all the boats coming and going, just mesmerizing....

we only payed US $ 450.00 per week for the single Apt and we also saw the double Apt and it was very nice too for maybe US $ 575.00??

Make sure you have some mosquito stuff with you since there are no windows to speak of and at night there are some little buggers flying around... Any more questions just let us know...

I have stayed at the Village Apts and they

are very convenient to the Port Elizabeth

area and a short taxi ride to Lower Bay.

Very clean and terrific views.

Still, I prefer to stay on the beach at

Lower Bay.

Keegan's Guest House has a private 2 BR

apt. at Smitty's which is great. Very

large kitchen and Living area. Nice open

balcony literally a few steps to the beach.

Plenty of restaurants within walking

distance and an easy taxi ride to town. I

often take a shortcut on a path through

Princess Mgt beach and it's about 20

minutes into Pt Eliz. Daylight only as it

is narrow and sometimes steep but lovely.

While being in town is nice, it requires

traveling if you are there for the beach

snorkeling etc.

Thank you very much for the postings. It is great to get the opinions of those who have been there before.

Here's a little more info about your decision about where to stay in Bequia.

First you should consider the beaches....Friendship Bay is a more stirred up beach with some sea moss in the water. I believe it was a little rougher than normal this year, but I've been told that it is definitely rougher closer to Christmas time.

At this time I think the only restaurant that is open is the Friendship Bay Resort. There are not many buses to/from town after 7pm.

We could recommend the Sugarapple Inn at friendship Bay, however I suspect that the construction right next door will still not be done by the time you go and it drove us out and that's how we found the Seashells Apt.

My husband and I enjoyed the beaches at Lower Bay and Princess Margaret better than Friendship and we didn't want to cook for ourselves every night and found the location better too as it was def. within easy walking distance to town.

We had the pleasure of meeting Chrissy and family who own/live above the Sweet Mango apartment. They are delightul and the apartment looks fabulous. It is twice as much as the Seashells apartment, but you are just up one very steep hill from the beach.

Hope this additional info helps.

Yes, very helpful.

Many thanks

Information on Sea Shells Apartment can be found by visiting www.bequiatourism.com or Vacations-Abroad.com

Thanks, Patcon

More on Sea Shells Holiday Apartments. I got to know Arlene and Michael, the owners/hosts of these beautiful apartments on Bequai some years ago and thought it would be a wonderful place to stay given the attentive people they are. The apartments were stunning with much intresting details, superb views and a welcome to match. We enjoyed cooking in the well equipped kitchen although there were restaurants as near as 8 minutes walk away.

I would have no hesitation of highly recommending Sea Shells apartments to you. Not far from anywhere, charming little harbour town for shopping, beaches 10 to15 minutes walk away, nearby restaurants that have some entertainment on different nights and the location is quiet enough for a well earned rest away from the humdrum of the world's speedy living. Nights on the balconies are delightful to just sit and relax looking at the twinkling lights of the anchored yachts or those of the sky on a moonless night, while lying in your hammock, or to be romantic, or to play board games on the built-on tables.

We had a tour of the 2 bedroom unit and it is really ideal for a small family, with it's large balcony, slightly larger kitchen than our 1 bedroom, island counter to sit around and bathrooms in each bedroom. All bedrooms are equiped with cable TV. Corene, the house cleaning staff, is a plesant young lady who will fill you in on getting around the Island.

A sheer delight and a must!

Coco Ullswater.