I visited the safest island in the West Indies, with warm weather, intensely rich chocolate and perfect rum punch

GRENADA left a bitter taste in my mouth. My stay on the Caribbean island wasn’t a disappointment, far from it.

But as I browse the Easter eggs adorning the supermarket shelves back home, I’m eyeing them with a new level of scrutiny.

4

That is because I was spoilt by Grenada’s intensely rich, dark chocolate — for the Land of Spice, as it’s known, is also home to six trailblazing cocoa plantations.

Cacao — the raw, unroasted version of cocoa — is grown within 20 degrees of the equator and this island’s warm weather, rainforests and mountains provide the ideal environment for it to thrive.

May is the perfect time for a chocoholic to visit, when the annual Grenada Chocolate Festival is in full swing.

So, if you are looking for a treat this Easter, why not ditch the eggs and splash out on a trip to this island?

Founded by Magdalena Fielden, the festival includes chocolate-themed workshops and activities such as candle-holder and foot scrub making and yoga.

To celebrate its tenth anniversary last year, the Grenada Chocolate Festival expanded to promote a second Caribbean treasure, rum.

And you can sample the best of both delights during the event’s five-course tasting menu.

Waterfall dip

I sipped on shots of spiced rum accompanied by roasted butternut squash soup with chocolate dusted croutons and braised baby-back ribs with cocoa-infused mashed potato.

Grenada, a ten-hour flight away, is touted by locals and returning holidaymakers as the “safest island in the West Indies”.

It is arguably the friendliest, too, with everyone eager to wax lyrical about their homeland.

I was staying at the family-owned True Blue Bay Resort, on the south coast, which holds several of the festival’s crafts and fitness events.

The lively hotel offers boutique rooms and villas painted in vibrant Caribbean colours, furnished with teak and aquatic wall hangings.

It isn’t one of those modern, characterless resorts that you can find anywhere in the world — it is bursting with energy and heritage.

Onsite there are four pools, a bakery, spa and the waterfront Dodgy Dock restaurant, which hosts a street food and music event that is jam-packed every week.

And its dive shop Aquanauts offers everything from sunrise excursions to courses and wreck dives.

During the festival, Open Water-certified divers can sign up to its Hot Chocolate Night Dive, where torches and nerves of steel are essential.

After a short boat ride to the reef at sunset, we descended 17 metres into near darkness, careful not to disturb marine life with the direct glare of our torches.

We spotted an octopus, turtle, several eels and a school of tiny kaleidoscopic fish that followed my every move.

If you’re not a diver, there are plenty of activities on dry land that are part of the festival

Back on board, the captain blared Caribbean hits through the speaker as we drank rum hot chocolate.

If you’re not a diver, there are plenty of activities on dry land that are part of the festival.

Trips to cocoa plantations including the 17th century Belmont Estate, with its state-of-the-art equipment, and Crayfish — an example of chocolate production on a shoestring — are a must.

My tour group, which included Bajan influencer Samantha G, also ventured to 30ft Annadale Waterfall for a dip in its icy pool and a high-spirited drumming lesson with Monty at the treehouse-style Wild Orchid bar.

The musician gleefully chanted “listen to the beat” as we failed to hit the drums in unison, showing not an ounce of rhythm.

Next we played high-stakes games of the island’s pastime, dominoes, while waiting our turn to make “under the counter” rum using Grenadian crops including nutmeg, sea moss and, you guessed it, chocolate. Not yet 11am, the loser had to down shots of caramelly Westerhall Estate No7 rum.

After four losses, I was relieved when it was time to leave.

Further north, a winding, coastal road takes you to River Antoine Estate rum distillery, the oldest water mill in the Caribbean.

4

4

It employs the same machinery as when it was established in 1785 and, as we walked among mounds of discarded bagasse (dry sugarcane pulp) and watched the mighty 26ft-high wheel power the mill, it felt as though we had stepped back in time.

It was fascinating to watch the pressed cane juice, which had been funnelled into huge brick vats, ferment like a bubbling potion in a witch’s cauldron.

The £3 tour rounds off with a shot of its 75 per cent ABV Rivers Royale rum.

Too strong to be allowed on planes to the UK, it went down surprisingly well.

Before we ventured home, we bade farewell to the island at the historic and strikingly beautiful Mount Edgecombe Boutique Hotel, nestled on a hillside among 28 acres of forest.

Grenada, a ten-hour flight away, is touted by locals and returning holidaymakers as the ‘safest island in the West Indies’

A former spice plantation, it retains much of its colonial timber architecture, with gabled roof, white beams and wicker furniture.

But its main draw is its sunset-facing infinity pool with views of the Caribbean Sea — the perfect spot for a rum punch.

There is a saying in Grenada that you “never drink alone”, but after the week’s excesses I probably should have considered teetotalism.

It would have been rude not to finish the rum and chocolate I picked up along the way, though . . .