Union Island and Tobago Cays

• Follow TCMP rules: scuba divers in the park must be accompanied by staff from a registered local dive operator or shop.
• Treat Sail Rock and exposed outer-reef dives as advanced and weather-led.
• Carry and know how to deploy an SMB on drift dives.
• Respect boat traffic in turtle areas, mooring fields, and around popular snorkel stops.
• Do not touch coral, stand on reef, collect marine life, or chase turtles for a photograph.
• If a captain, guide, or ranger says conditions are off, reschedule. Weather windows matter more here than on large resort islands.

Union Island has a government health center for primary care, but serious trauma or dive cases may need onward transfer to larger facilities on Saint Vincent. Milton Cato Memorial Hospital in Kingstown remains the main public hospital reference point. The government has procured and trained for hyperbaric capability in recent years, but publicly available visitor information still does not make the country-level chamber pathway clear enough to assume fast access from Union Island. The practical takeaway is simple: carry dive accident and evacuation insurance, keep emergency contacts accessible offline, and do not dive beyond conservative limits in this remote setting.

Tobago Cays Marine Park rules are explicit:

• No touching coral or damaging vegetation.
• No taking corals or marine life.
• No fishing in the park.
• No anchoring in coral or sea-grass beds; use moorings or sand where permitted.
• No littering or discharging bilge or wastewater.
• Do not disturb nesting or roosting seabirds.
• Do not bring pets into the park.
• Do not buy lobster out of season from May 1 to August 31.

Those rules are not box-ticking. The park protects reef, sea-grass, mangrove, bird, turtle, conch, and lobster habitat that underpins the whole Southern Grenadines visitor economy.