St Kitts & Nevis is a country in the Lesser Antilles consisting of the two islands Saint Kitts, which is much larger with most of the population and Nevis, which is smaller with some beautiful coastlines rising up to the towering volcano.
I was supposed to visit St Kitts on my cruise and go kayking and snorkelling here. However gale force winds prevented the ship from coming here (something about the giant ship tipping over). Instead I visited on my island hopping route southwards.
St Kitts & Nevis will probably always sit right in the middle of my mental list of Caribbean regions. I can’t really explain this but I just didn’t bond with the islands despite the interesting towns, and range of activities. Maybe I didn’t stay long enough to appreciate it, maybe it just didn’t provide as enjoyable time as Saba did on the previous stop, I’m not sure.
Basic Travel Information
- Location: Leeward Islands
- Status: Independent Country
- Languages: English, Saint Kitts Creole
- Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (USD is not widely accepted)
- Route there: Flights or cruise ship
- Recommended: Yes, it seems like an interesting place. I didn’t personally connect with the island but its many peoples’ favourite
My Story
I landed after an interesting journey from Saba via St Martin, on two of the smallest planes I’ve ever flown on. The flight from St Martin was in pitch darkness with dire threats from the pilots of immediately returning there if anyone used flash photography and blinded them. The airport was completely silent and I headed into Basseterre on foot as my hotel was supposed to be close by.
Maybe a taxi would have been a better plan but since the hotel was very new I doubt even they would have known where it was. It certainly wasn’t at its pin on any of my maps.
After a while of searching and following completely incorrect directions from locals I met a lovely family who let me sit in their garden and use their wifi to find where I was going. When that didn’t work they started calling their friends, piled me into their car and helped me search. Once we found it, they then stuck around chatting while a member of staff came over to let me in. Truly wonderful people!! I’m so glad I met them as it would have been almost impossible to find by myself and I’d have been eaten alive by mosquitoes if I had to sleep outside or on the beach!
I had a lovely day exploring Basseterre which felt like the most authentically “West Indies” city out of any I have so far been to. Apart from a tiny area around the cruise terminal there are few obvious effects of tourism and the streets are lined with interesting food and lots of shack bars. There are local markets all over the place and an incredibly lively atmosphere in the early morning (maybe because a lot of the bars already had people drinking heavily).
The beaches around Basseterre are black sand and not the best for relaxing so I walked down to the beach at Frigate Bay. This area was stunning with lovely beach bars to chill at. I hitched back into town which as usual is extremely easy and a good laugh in the Caribbean.
I spent one night on Nevis, which I had mostly come to in the hope that there would be a connection down to Montserrat. Online information had been mixed about the existence of such a boat but I had no luck at all. Apparently it could potentially be an option around carnival but is incredibly unlikely the rest of the time. I also found out that I couldn’t get any affordable flights from Nevis to anywhere I wanted to go next. I spent a beautiful day exploring Charlestown and the peaceful nearby beaches before returning to Basseterre to fly out.
I said that this country was the middle ground for me. There was nothing that I disliked but very little that was a standout to me either. If I did go back I would stay on Nevis, which I found to be far more beautiful and relaxing, but honestly it seems unlikely that I ever will.
Brief History
I was completely unaware of any of the history of the Caribbean Islands when I visited. While travelling around and writing these articles I became curious and decided to include a brief history of each. I hope you find it interesting.
St Kitts, then Saint Christopher, was one of the first colonised islands in the Caribbean and the starting point for many of the settlers who went on to colonise other nearby islands. It was inhabited by the Taíno, Arawak then the Carib peoples before being first settled by the British in 1623. The French also settled a couple of years later and the land was partitioned between them, with a brutal war and slaughter of the local Caribs. The British also settled on Nevis. The colonies were destroyed by the Spanish in 1629 but reestablishment was permitted and the island became the base for colonisation for the British islands of Anguilla, Montserrat, Antigua & Tortola and the French islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Barthélemy. When the French were forced off the islands the people moved to these other colonies. St Kitts was wrecked by this war, then by an earthquake and a hurricane but became the richest of any British colony due to slave grown sugar. The two islands became an associated state with Anguilla in 1967 but while Britain resumed control of Anguilla, Saint Kitts and Nevis became a fully independent country in 1983. Nevis nearly achieved further independence in a referendum in 1998 with 62% voting in favour, just short of the 66% required.
The islands are largely dependent on tourism since the decline and eventual shutdown of the sugar industry. The government is attempting to diversify into agriculture, export manufacturing and offshore banking as well.
Logistics
Basseterre airport has flights to most of the Caribbean as well as a few flights further afield. Nevis also has an airport but there are very few affordable flight routes from there. I would always advise using the ferry to Basseterre and the airport there.
There are regular fast ferries between Basseterre (St Kitts) and Charlestown (Nevis) – SEE PICTURE. They cost EC$25-30 each way. There is also a “Sea Bridge” ferry for cars from the southernmost point on St Kitts but I don’t think pedestrians can use it.
Places Nearby & Trip Planning
St Kitts and Nevis has a lot to do but if you want to include other islands on the trip the easiest to fly to are:
Also see my main article: Travelling in the Caribbean
When to Visit
St Kitts Can be affected by the Caribbean hurricane season which runs between June and November
High season is December – March and St Kitts is much busier and dramatically more expensive in this period.
The island is extremely hot all year, bring sunscreen but also make sure you have your raincoat on you at all times as you can never predict when a heavy rain shower will sweep over you.
Further Information
These websites were my favourite sources of general information for this location:
Last Updated: May 2020
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