Saint David

Saint David Parish (44 km²) is Grenada's southeastern quadrant—a predominantly rural territory where nutmeg, cocoa, and fruit production anchor an agricultural economy supplemented by coastal fishing. Bordered by Saint Andrew to the north and Saint George to the southwest, the parish has resisted intensive development despite the island's tourism push. La Sagesse Nature Centre, established in the 1990s, represents the limited tourism infrastructure: a boutique eco-lodge set among mangroves and a protected beach rather than the resort complexes found elsewhere in the Caribbean. This restraint reflects both geography—Saint David's Atlantic exposure makes for rougher seas than the Caribbean-facing west coast—and economics, with higher poverty rates in rural parishes historically exceeding 45% compared to 20% in urban Saint George. The parish's preservation may prove advantageous as overtourism concerns grow in the Caribbean; Saint David offers what mass tourism destroys—authentic fishing villages, working agricultural estates, and landscapes not yet optimized for Instagram.