Union Island is the southernmost island serviced by the ferries and is a secondary shopping center for the southern Grenadines with several supermarkets and shops located in Clifton, the largest town on the island. There are several small restaurants and a yacht club located in the area.

Several yacht charter companies and travel agencies that provide day trips for visitors for nearby Palm Island, Petit St. Vincent and yachts anchored in the Tobago Cays are located in Union Island. In the mornings, the dock in Clifton Harbor is bustling with tour guides and ship captains rounding up supplies for day trips to the surrounding islands and reefs.

Clifton Harbor is on the Windward side of the island, but is protected by a long reef. Yachts entering the harbor must be very careful to follow the entrance into the harbor. From the harbor, the road runs southwest up a hill toward the town of Ashton. From the top of the hill, only a short walk outside town, there is a panoramic view over Clifton Harbor, Palm Island, the Cays and Mayreau.

Mount Taboi, at 1000 feet, is the highest point in the country outside of St. Vincent. Its craggy peaks rising above the rounded hills of the remainder of the island are striking and memorable.

The reefs surrounding Union Island as well as Frigate Island, a small uninhabited island just offshore, are excellent areas for snorkeling. Beaches at Bloody Bay on the northwest coast and Chatham Bay on the west coast have good beaches.

Union Island is often a port of entry for sailors coming north from Grenada and Carriacou into St. Vincent and the Grenadines.