Some Faraway Beach

Bequia, an island in The Grenadine chain, is often regarded by visitors as the perfect Caribbean island. Tourism has been the main industry on the island for a long time, first from visiting yachtsmen and more recently from villa renters and cruise ships. Property development has risen dramatically and, as it is only a small island, suitable sites are rapidly being exploited and developers are looking further afield for sites to build on.

Adams Bay is one of these sites and I felt that nothing quite so represented the diversity between the brochure/PR hype and the reality, the aspirations of potential owners and the lives and needs of local people and the concept of the design and the actual geography of the site.

The panorama shows the beach, the lighting pylons for the approach to the airport and the huts of the rock breakers, mainly women, who sit and chip boulders by hand to make building materials. Beyond the signboard an area of mangroves has been cleared and is currently being used as a dumping ground for roadstone brought in by landing craft - the development, like several previous schemes whose only record is a number of roads leading nowhere, is stalled at the present time.

The current worldwide financial crisis has paused this and most other developments in the islands but more control is required and large parts of this and the adjacent islands need designation as national parks to prevent over exploitation of the region.

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Latin America / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Lat: 12° 59' 27.44" N
Long: 62° 17' 12.78" W

Elevation: 12 metres

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Canon EOS 5D, 15mm FE lens, 360 Precision Absolute pano head, Manfrotto 055 Pro tripod, PTGui (Mac), CubicConverter