St. Kitts und Nevis: Lured by the cruising guide
Vaquita in front of Nevis
Admittedly, the lavish descriptions in the Doyle travel guide have at least lured us to St Kitts and Nevis with certain expectations. Well-preserved colonial towns, the last railway, monkeys and great food. Our expectations were then somewhat dampened when we heard the prices for the tours from sailor friends and tried unsuccessfully (we later realised that Peter had made a mistake in his enquiry by a month) to book the tour with the St. Kitts Scenic Railway by e-mail. In retrospect, I am no longer so sad about the latter when I find out that the 3-hour tour costs 90 USD per person. We hire a car for 3 days for 220 USD, which is the better deal. Expectations are generally one of those things. For us, arriving at a place in the Caribbean with relatively high expectations is a new experience. For the most part, we were pleasantly surprised. The whole thing was somewhat due to the fact that we were told more than once in Almerimar that the Caribbean is hot, expensive, monotonous and overcrowded. The worst are the French islands and the further north you go, the worse it becomes. Somehow I'm quite thankful for that, after arriving here with these stories we've never actually been disappointed. It's amazingly varied, the heat and the problem with crowded places is negligible compared to summer in the Mediterranean. Of course, the sights on the islands are somehow similar. You could summarise it like this: There is a volcano called Soufriere on almost every major island from Grenada to St. Kitts and Nevis, a rainforest and, with the exception of the French islands, there is usually fried or grilled chicken with Caribbean hot sauce and fish in various shapes and colours to eat. However, this is similar to reducing European cities to old buildings, churches and museums. The details are different and, as in Europe, make each destination a little unique. Despite everything, we are of course in a similar region here and for us personally it is now time for a change of scene, which is why we have decided to sail further into the Pacific.
But let's start at the beginning. After saying goodbye to Monika and Georg from the Yalka on Montserrat, we set off early in the morning for St. Kitts and Nevis. The wind isn't very strong, but we can sail most of the time. A few dolphins accompany us for a short while. We are getting closer and closer to a rock rising out of the water. It is the Kingdom of Redonda, an uninhabited island that actually belongs to Antigua and Barbuda. According to legend, the future author M. P. Shiel was crowned King of Redonda in 1880 at the age of 15 by the Bishop of Antigua after his father asked Queen Victoria for permission and allegedly received it from the British Colonial Office. Since then, the title has been passed down, but it is still not recognised.
Shortly before sunset we arrive in marina Port Zante on the island of St Kitts. St Kitts was named by Christopher Columbus after his patron saint, St Christopher. A common abbreviation for Christopher was Kit or Kitts, hence the name St Kitts. The islands were discovered as early as 1493 on his second voyage, but were not colonised by both the British and the French until the beginning of the 17th century. Today, St Kitts and Nevis is one of the twelve smallest countries in the world with an area of 263 km².
After nobody answers the radio despite our reservation, we moor up ourselves, a friendly Dutch neighbour helps us with the lines and shortly afterwards someone from the marina arrives. After we briefly explain to him that we have a reservation and have also announced our arrival by radio, he greets us in a friendly manner and briefly explains the formalities. Everyone has gone home for the day, so we are not allowed to leave the marina as we have not yet officially entered the country. So we have dinner on the boat, which is easy on the wallet, as the marina is right next to the cruise terminal and the associated tourist village, where prices are at American levels. Ines cooks us spaghetti with our Italian supplies, which you won't find in this quality here anyway.
The next day we go to clear in, first to customs, then to immigration and finally to the harbour authority. 60 East Caribbean Dollars (just under 20 EUR) poorer, otherwise the whole thing is relatively straightforward, only the few special forms for St Kitts and Nevis are special, but the officials are very friendly and helpful across the board. At the harbour office, we catch a glimpse of the cruise ships' planned visits over the next few days and plan our excursions anti-cyclically. Afterwards, we meet two Dutchmen for a coffee in the cruise tourist village. As expected, expensive for a moderate standard. A small espresso and a green tea from a paper cup for USD 7. Afterwards we pick up our car, which goes smoothly so far, but this is also very American, the basic price is without insurance, tax and the local driving licence. The 129 USD for the reservation becomes 220 USD. We set off on the Scenic Railway around the island. After a good 1.5 hours' drive, we are 2/3 of the way round the volcano from the south. Apart from the landscape, a few old plantation chimneys and old stone churches among the palm trees, there are no major sights in the east and north-east. Once we reach the north, we see the train passing between sugar cane fields. As we are quicker than we thought, we remember the area guide: there should be a nice hotel here with good food. We happen to be right next to the hotel. We decide to stop by and have a look. After driving up a rustic road up the hill, we sit at the bar with a wonderful view over the neighbouring islands and enjoy the afternoon with delicious food and mocktails in the sun and a view of Saba and St. Eustatius (Statia for short). Ines eats a typical Caribbean dish, a vegetable colombo, similar to a curry, and I eat ribs in a delicious rum barbecue sauce On the way to the car park through the hotel grounds - the rooms are small cottages with a private pool - we catch our first glimpse of the monkeys. However, they are relatively shy and quickly disappear.
We finish the tour and pass Brimstone Castle, one of the major sights, and the Fairview Estate, a renovated plantation building. However, it's too late for that today, so we just pop into the supermarket. There is a well-stocked selection of US and Canadian groceries ranging from affordable to insanely expensive. What surprises us most, however, is the selection of pastries. There are Kaisersemmeln (Kaiser White Rolls) and Sonnenblumenweckerl (sunflower seed bread), something we haven't really seen since Austria. So 4 rolls and 2 buns end up in the shopping trolley. I also buy some smoked ham of American origin. For dinner, I have a ham roll, fortunately with good French ham, and Ines has a cheese roll and a roll. We certainly hadn't expected that. The buns taste quite good, for our geographical location you could even say excellent.
Illustration of a slave ship from the records of the House of Commons, United Kingdom
Our first two dives here are scheduled for the next day. The dive boat is moored two berths away, we've never had such a short journey before. After breakfast at 8.30 a.m., we stroll over in a relaxed mood. We go to two wrecks at a depth of around 20 metres and see all kinds of fish, a seahorse and a large green moraine. The second dive takes us to a reef with a volcanic spring where warm water emerges. We are very pleased with the varied programme. After diving, we head to Fairview Estate, a lovingly renovated plantation manor house. We read through the history of the house, which is again closely linked to the dark history of slavery. We learn that the classic triangular trade is a myth. There were merchant ships that transported goods and specialised ships for transporting slaves. Models and sketches in the museum make it clear how terrible the journey of the African slaves alone must have been. They were chained together in a confined space and packed like goods. Most of them died during the long journey. The classic model was that Arabs or Africans captured slaves in the course of conflicts with other tribes and sold them to European slave traders. Due to the lucrative business, interest in such conflicts increased in order to obtain more slaves. There are documented cases in which former African slave hunters were later hunted down and enslaved themselves.
The model of colonialisation in the Caribbean was usually as follows. First, the local indigenous population was wiped out. In the case of St Kitts, this was the Kalinago, who were virtually exterminated or expelled from the colonisation around 1623 to 1640. After that, one or more colonial powers claimed the island for themselves. St Kitts alternated between Spanish, French and British rule. The Spanish and French rule only lasted a few years each. The respective colonial powers then drew economic profit from using free labour to produce cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, coffee or mining. On St Kitts, large areas were cleared and sugar cane plantations were established. The Scenic Railway was once a means of transport for this and St. Kitts was one of the wealthiest British colonies.
Then we take the road to the south-eastern tip of St Kitts. The landscape is marvellous with views of both sides of the island and from hill to hill. Apart from that, there are a few large hotel complexes. It's back to the boat, as we have 2 more dives tomorrow, so we don't go to bed too late.
Like the day before, we board the dive boat at 8.30am. Today it's cloudy and rainy, more like summer in the UK than in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the mood is good, so today we go to the diving centre to dive with sharks. In fact, our guide thinks there is a good chance of seeing sharks here before we go underwater. The first time we have to go down to almost 30 metres, it doesn't take long for a few Caribbean reef sharks to appear and swim with us for the entire dive. At peak time there are 6 of these magical creatures curiously circling us. In the meantime, we see a small nurse shark. A complete success and, for me at least, the best dive so far. The second dive, on the other hand, almost fades away, although it also goes around a great reef.
Today's afternoon programme includes a batik workshop and Brimstone Castle, the two top destinations for cruise passengers. Thanks to the rainy weather, we are relatively alone everywhere. At the batik workshop, we are given a brief explanation of how the fabrics are printed. All areas that are not to be dyed are covered with wax. The fabric is then dyed and air-dried. The wax is removed and new wax is applied to other areas depending on the motif, dyed with the second colour and dried again. The whole process is repeated until the motif is complete. The workshop is located in a beautiful setting surrounded by rainforest. At Brimstone Castle, the rainy weather makes it look more like Scotland. Nevertheless, we visit the imposing fortifications on the hill and learn a lot about the history of the island, the fortress and the lives of the soldiers and fort residents at that time.
The next day, we return the car and take a quick stroll through Basse Terre for the first time. We actually find some nice and reasonably well-preserved colonial buildings. We treat ourselves to a cake and some bread in an American-style café. However, the weather is rainy again and so we spend the rest of the afternoon and evening playing Spirit Island, a complicated board game, instead of going to Shitten Bay. It's not until the next morning that we make the 2-hour crossing to Nevis in the sunshine. The name Nevis supposedly comes from the fact that Christopher Columbus thought he saw snow (Spanish: Nieve) on the mountain and christened the island Nevis. We meet up with our friends from the Yalka again and join them for a romantic dinner in a renovated plantation building. We dine festively at Montpelier. The next day we go hiking again. Monika and Georg have chosen a hike to waterfalls, and after a short taxi ride we head into the forest. We walk through thick greenery to small waterfalls over hill and dale. The only place we don't venture is the source of the river. I climb the rusty ladder with broken steps for about 20 metres, but with no end in sight, we decide to abandon the venture for safety reasons. After 3 hours we are back again and are led back to the dinghy bridge. In the evening we go to the beach bar. Instead of a sundowner, our last evening together ends in a cosy atmosphere with one or two too many Killer Bees, which makes the walk back to the boat a lot of fun.
The next day, we make a quick trip to Charlestown, a very well-preserved and well-kept little town. We do a little shopping there for our 2-day crossing to Martinique before saying goodbye to Monika and Georg for the 3rd and indeed last time. Once again later than planned, the two of us set sail for Martinique to get the boat ready in Le Marin and then pick up Lena and Raphi (Ines’ sister and her brother in law).
Useful tipps:
St. Kitts and Nevis is very popular with US tourists. This is reflected in the prices and pricing structures. In the upmarket sector in particular, prices are often quoted excluding tax, a gratuity fee is added and tips are also expected, so the final bill is often 40-50% higher than the quoted price. The same applies to car rental, where the price does not include insurance or tax. St. Kitts in particular attracts a lot of cruise tourists, and the area directly around the harbour has prices tailored to this clientele. If you don't want to go sightseeing with a large group, it's best to plan your visit around the cruise ship schedules, especially when it comes to Fairview Estate, Brimstone Castle, the batik workshop, the train and the rum distillery.
Man kann sowohl in Charlestown vor Nevis, als auch in Basse Terre St. Kitts oder dem Nobelhafen Christopher Harbour im Süden von St. Kitts einklarieren. Sowohl in Basse Terre beim Einklarieren, als auch in Charlestown beim Ausklarieren waren die Beamten freundlich. Es gibt neben Sailclear zwei Sonderformulare. Das einfache davon ist:. Das kompliziertere ist: Caricom > HOME. Zweiteres hat uns dankenswerterweise der Beamte ausgefüllt. Einklarieren hat ca. 20 EUR gekostet.
You can clear customs in Charlestown off Nevis, in Basse Terre St. Kitts or at the posh port of Christopher Harbour in the south of St. Kitts. The officials were friendly both in Basse Terre when clearing in and in Charlestown when clearing out. In addition to Sailclear, there are two special forms. The simpler one is: Home | St Kitts and Nevis Immigration/Customs Form. The more complicated one is: Caricom > HOME. Thankfully, the official filled out the latter for us. Clearing customs cost around EUR 20.
The easiest and most convenient way to explore St. Kitts is to moor your boat in Port Zante. The anchorages in front of it can be used, but they are very rocky. The marina cost us around USD 25 per night. Water and electricity are charged separately. When we were there, there was more than enough space in the small, rustic marina. We had a reservation anyway. Be sure to radio in when entering. Outside opening hours (approx. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), it is advisable to arrive with a reservation and still radio in so that you don't get into trouble later. You will then be in the middle of Basse Terre and can rent a car from there. One to two days should be enough for this, depending on whether you want to go hiking or not.
There are reportedly very pleasant anchorages in the south of St. Kitts. Don't be put off by names like Shitten Hole and Bug Hole. Unfortunately, we didn't make it there due to the weather. In any case, apart from a few beach bars, there isn't much there – that's what we saw from land.
Nevis is the smaller of the two islands with just 11,000 inhabitants. Charlestown is a very nice little town. You can moor near it and take a dinghy to Charlestown or the nearby beach. The bay is also relatively open, so it is advisable to check the swell. There are some very nice walks around Charlestown.
We went diving with Pro-Divers for 274 USD for 2 days with 2 dives each day. Ashley knew the diving area like the back of his hand, and the dive sites were more varied than is usually the case in the Caribbean. Diving on St. Kitts and Nevis is only permitted with a guide. The dive sites were also all relatively far out. If you want to go to a specific spot or see the sharks, it's best to send an email in advance with your request.
We rented our car from Thrifty for 220 USD including tax, a local driving licence (which is valid for both islands, so don't throw it away) and insurance for 3 days. It's about a 10-minute walk from the marina.
