Grenada is known to most British visitors for its beaches and its diving, and to a smaller but significant group as the home of St George’s University, one of the Caribbean’s largest medical schools. Both groups die here occasionally, and the process for bringing them home is the same one.
No resident post, but a working system
There’s no resident British diplomatic post in Grenada. An Honorary British Consul in St George’s is the first point of contact, backed by the British High Commission in Bridgetown, Barbados, which holds formal accreditation for the island. Call the Honorary Consul first, then the FCDO Emergency Travel Line, 020 7008 5000, if you’re not already through to local support.
When the case involves a student
St George’s University has roughly 5,000 students on its Grenada campus at any time, drawn from the UK, the US, Canada and elsewhere. When a British student dies, the university’s own welfare and emergency systems engage alongside the Honorary Consul. This doesn’t change the legal steps required, but it does mean the people handling the case locally have done this before.
Three islands, three different pictures
Grenada itself holds the capital, the hospital, and the airport, and a death here with a clear cause runs 15 to 22 days. Carriacou sits 30km to the north-east and needs a transfer to Grenada, by ferry (about 90 minutes) or light aircraft (about 15 minutes), before full forensic examination can happen. Petite Martinique, smaller still, has no hospital or clinic of its own. Anything serious there means emergency evacuation to Carriacou or Grenada first, before any repatriation process can even begin.
Diving and the Bianca C wreck
The Bianca C, a 182-metre Italian ocean liner that sank off St George’s harbour in 1961, draws divers from across the Caribbean. A diving death here, as with most diving fatalities, requires specialist forensic examination before release.
Getting home
Cargo routes from Maurice Bishop International Airport to Barbados, then on to London Gatwick with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Antigua and Trinidad serve as transit points on some routings. All documentation is in English throughout, so no translation stage adds to the timeline.
Read what parents need to know about a gap year death for related guidance on student cases abroad, or see repatriation from Grenada to the UK for the full process.
Contact Repatriate Service on +44 7703 577246 at any hour, or use the enquiry form below.