Lesser Antilles Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
island arc in the Caribbean Sea
About Lesser Antilles
"Windward" means upwind and "leeward" means downwind, crucial for a sailing vessel, but what is up- or downwind depends entirely on your reference point. Europeans reached this chain of islands sailing downwind across the Atlantic under the "trade winds", the prevailing easterlies. That helped them get here before too many of their African slave cargo had perished or become too ill to be saleable. The main traders in the 17th and 18th century were British, plying from the Gold Coast and Gulf of Guinea, so they would first encounter Dominica then make a turn. Guadeloupe and points north and east thus lay downwind, leeward, while to Dominica and points south were cross- or upwind, thus windward. These terms became the names of colonial jurisdictions and remain embedded in English usage. Othe
Lesser Antilles Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 10 sections including: