Beautiful Islands

This was our second time with trade winds but first time with Aqua Terra. Our first trip was a week on a 52 foot catamaran in cruising class which was fantastic. Aqua Terra is luxury class (one level up). Mayreau is beautiful. We stayed overnight 1 night in Barbados in order to catch the early daily flight to Canouan the next morning. The new yacht club next to the airport in Canouan is first class and we enjoyed a great lunch and swim there before we got on the tradewinds 40 foot power boat for the 30 minute ride to Mayreau. We started the week on the sailboat. The villa on Mayreau is gorgeous. There was a great party the night we arrived for all tradewinds yachts in the area with an outdoor fire on the beach and cocktails and birthday cake. A family staying at the North villa had a birthday. There was probably 30 people there and several captains of yachts based out of Bequia. Two of the captains provided entertainment playing guitars and one did a great Hawaiian style fire dance. Tradewinds is making a significant investment on the island currently building a fine dining restaurant and multi level swimming pool by the new pier (not shown on the pictures but visible from satellite on google maps). They plan on building several more villas on the 10 acres they have. This is no small undertaking on such a small remote island. They even built housing for the workers among other things. I would have given 5 stars but we thought the food on the yacht was less than 5 star. Ironically our previous trip on a lesser class had excellent food and presentation. Some of the snacks served were simply a bag of potato chips that looked like they were sat on and another time a jar of Pace salsa in a bowl with broken Doritos sprinkled around the outside. Another time a bag of microwave popcorn. The crew also made no effort to make a non alcoholic version of a drink for my teenage son who doesn’t drink alcohol. We did put our foot down the last day and said you need to make him his own drink before you make ours. Also I have chartered several yachts both crewed and bareboat over the years and I now understand why it is important for crews to remain apart from guests. While we enjoyed some of the captains stories sometimes we just wanted to relax by ourselves. This is not really a reflection of tradewinds at all but more of an individual crew characteristic. FYI the captain was fired at the completion of our charter. We had nothing to do with this at all nor did we make any complaints. I am not sure if this was a result of previous complaints or other issues. I do know Tradewinds has exacting standards for meal preparation and presentation and I suspect they were not being followed or maybe it was something else altogether. All in all I would highly recommend this trip and I love the Tradewinds business model.”

Incredible!

After reading the previous reviews, I was somewhat concerned and contacted Trade winds about the issues mentioned. I was assured that all the mechanical problems had been fixed and that we would not be subjected to a sales pitch. I'm happy to report that our trip was absolutely fabulous! Everything from the meet & greet at Canouan to the speed boat ride back was perfect. We started our trip on the yacht, which was in excellent condition. Everything was working and the accommodations were very nice. Our crew, Mathew & Ally were stellar. They were well prepared with delicious cuisine, plenty of beverages, and a fun route planned for our group. They were able to coordinate a day at Palm Island where all 8 of us received 1 hour massages and a chance to enjoy the island for the day. They chose ideal places to anchor at night so we had great weather and smooth water to snorkel in. In addition to being our crew on the yacht, they stayed with us at the villa and took over for the original hosts that were scheduled there. It was nice to have them at the villa since they already knew our tastes and personalities. Mathew and Ally arranged for entertainment in the evenings and made sure we had plenty of sports equipment to use in the ocean. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the gorgeous south villa. It was everything we had expected and more. Our vacation at Aqua-Terra was fabulous and I recommend this trip to everyone! Milt & Dee Walker, June 2019 ”

Tradewinds Aqua-Terra Experience

We just returned from a week with Tradewinds on their Aqua-Terra trip to St. Vincent. If done right the experience is an excellent one for Third Home member. Our view of this particular trip is that it did not really live up to the standards of Third-Home. We had a good time but there was much lacking. The Terra (land based) portion in the villas on the island of Mayreau was very good. While in need of a bit of maintenance (no water pressure upstairs in one suite) the placed is beautiful and well worth the visit itself. The staff was very nice, the food and the service was very good. On the other hand the boat experience was not at all up to standard. The boat crew that stayed with us all week was excellent The boat maintenance was terrible. The boat was not fueled or stocked with food upon our arrival. We lost more than 1/2 a day at the dock at Union Island while the crew fueled and provisioned the boat. The anchor windless was not functional, The anchor chain was rusted and splashing rust all over the place. We could not anchor but could only go to places where mooring balls were available, The cushions were damaged and in need of repair, The galley equipment was worn out and inadequate. The crew had to "make do". The tender was in need of repair, then tender lift on the boat did not work.. The problem appears to be Tradewinds business model. They trade off the use of the boat between crews every three or four days. They do not have a permanent crew on the boat and so no one is really responsible for the boat and it is woefully neglected. It was only 18 months old and look very beat up. We give our complements to the staff that was with us all week. They worked hard and did the best that they could with what they were given. Tradewinds needs to seriously up its game if they expect to recruit any Third Home members. . Doug and Patty Sutherland - Granite Bay, CA”

Wonderful vacation!

Great home with excellent staff. The 52" catamaran was perfect.”

Off. The Charts>

This trip absolutely exceeded all expectations. While these are not complaints, there are some things to be aware of. This combination of Boat and Villa is a pretty new concept and they are working out some (minor) communication kinks. Also, Trade Winds is a vacation membership club and there will be a low pressure sales presentation. If you show interest, like I did, they will politely touch base with you throughout the trip. Again, its a pretty low key approach. My one complaint is this: You can only buy a Trade Winds membership during the 7 days that you are there. Once you depart, your opportunity vanishes - unless you book another trip at full price (which is substantially more than you will pay for this one-time only Thirdhome offer). Although, our experience was absolutely fantastic, I wanted to perform due diligence before I laid down several thousand $$ and I didn't want to spend my precious and remarkable vacation time researching and agonizing over a decision that I found myself under the gun to make. So, frustrated by the time limit, I reluctantly passed. I highly recommend this trip, but if Tradewinds is something you think you'd like to be a part of, do your homework before you go.”