Fodor's Expert Review Owia Salt Pond Recreational Site

In the village of Owia on the island's far northeastern coast and at least a two-hour drive from Kingstown, Owia Salt Pond is a natural saltwater pool created by the pounding surf of the Atlantic Ocean overflowing a barrier reef of lava rocks and ridges. The Owia Salt Pond Recreational Site, 217 steps up from the pond, has a peaceful garden with gazebos, a children's play area, and a surrounding forest that protects the steep slopes. The village itself is the home of many descendants of the indigenous Kalinago (Carib) people, as well as the home of the Owia Arrowroot Processing Factory (one of six such plants in St. Vincent). Long used to thicken sauces and flavor cookies, arrowroot is now also used in pharmaceutical products. St. Vincent produces 90% of the world's supply of arrowroot, but that is only a tiny fraction of the maximum levels exported in the 1960s. Take a pleasant swim in Owia Salt Pond and enjoy a picnic lunch on the adjacent grounds before the long return trip to Kingstown.