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St Kitts map
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Electricity
Electric current is at 230 volts, 60 cycles, but many of the hotels have current at 110 volts. |
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Embassies & Consulates
There are no foreign embassies or high commissions in St Kitts & Nevis, however there is either an honorary consul or full representation in Barbados
Canada
Canadians can obtain consular assistance and further information from the Canadian High Commission in Barbados which has responsibility for St Kitts & Nevis. The commission is located at Bishop's Court Hill, St Michael, Bridgetown, t 1 246 429 3550 bdgtn@international.gc.ca
United Kingdom
British citizens can obtain consular assistance and information from Peter Allcorn, the Honorary British Consul based in St Kitts, t 762 8888, peter.allcorn-honcon@fconet.fco.gov.uk and if he is not available please contact the British High Commission in Barbados, located at Lower Collymore Rock, Bridgetown, t 1 246 430 7800, britishhcb@sunbeach.net http://ukinbarbados.fco.gov.uk/en/
United States
The US Embassy in Barbados has jurisdiction over St Kitts & Nevis and is located in Wildey Business Park, St Michael. The Consular Section is open for American Citizens Services during regular office hours call t 1 246 227 4193 or BridgetownACS@state.gov. The emergency contact out of hours is
t 1 246 227 4000 – please ask for the duty officer.
http://barbados.usembassy.gov/ |
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Emergencies
Police - 911
Ambulance - 911
Fire - 333
Air Ambulance - 465 2801
Joseph N France General Hospital - 465 2551 |
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Flights/Getting There
St Kitts is pretty well served with flights. It has some direct services from the States and from Europe, and it is well very served by local hopper flights from regional hubs, which have their own extremely good onward connections to both Europe and the States.
The easiest way to the island is to fly into Robert L Bradshaw International, but if you cannot find a direct flight into St Kitts then your best options are via Antigua, which has many services from the UK, and from the States and Canada. Or try St Maarten, which is well served from mainland Europe as well as the States. Internal flights are available on regional carrier LIAT, which touches down on many islands as they fly along the island chain. There are also some small private charter airlines if you wish to make the hop at your own convenience.
St Kitts is also one of the options if you are flying into Nevis next door. The seven minute onward flight transfer is no longer available and all travel is now by water taxi or ferry. The inter-island ferries between St Kitts and Nevis are fun to travel at leisure, but they are not really a practical means of reaching your hotel or catching an outbound international flight. See Island Hopping for more information on ferry services.
International Airlines serving St Kitts include:
UK
British Airways has flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays from London Gatwick.
USA
American Airlines twice a week from New York (JFK) and a daily service from Miami, and Delta Air Lines once a week from Atlanta.
Regional Airlines serving St Kitts include:
American Eagle from San Juan, LIAT from Antigua, Anguilla and St Maarten, and Winair from St Maarten and Nevis.
Airlines serving the islands near St Kitts include:
Antigua
UK
British Airways from London Gatwick, Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick, and Sunsail/First Choice Airways from London Gatwick.
USA
US Airways from Philadelphia, American Airlines via San Juan, and Continental Airlines from Newark; Canada: Air Canada from Toronto
St Maarten
Air France from Paris, France and KLM from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. From North America American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, US Airways and Air Canada from Canada plus a number of charter airlines from all these countries. There are no flights from the UK at present.
San Juan
American Airlines, Continental, Delta, US Airways and Air Canada
Charter Airlines and ‘Shared Charters’ include:
A couple of local charter airlines work out of Antigua, mainly serving passengers who have arrived there on a long-haul flight and who need to reach one of the smaller islands in the region.
NOTE: Charter airline Carib Aviation ceased all operations out of Antigua on 12 September 2008. |
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Flora & Gardens
St Kitts may be a small island even by Caribbean standards, but there is plenty of interest in the flora, of which there is a very good range. At sea level on the south-eastern peninsular there are the mangroves and wetlands where there is good bird life. The vegetation inland here is quite scrubby – dry littoral forest – but that has its interest too. In the northern part of the island you will find well-watered flatlands, much of which are still under a carpet of sugarcane that fed the island sugar industry until recently. Trees at lower levels include enormous mangos and ficus trees, but as you climb higher into the mountain range the growth turns to rainforest, where you will see huge buttressed burrwood trees, that can grow over 100ft tall, and gommiers, which produce a flammable sap. There is even one fern (called the Malcolm Smith I Procter after its discoverers) that is found only on St Kitts, in the crater of the volcano. Yet higher, in the windy and wet heights of the mountains the trees change again, becoming stunted and furred with lichens and mosses.
For hikes into the rainforest and other parts of the island, see HIKING.
Of course there are all the regular tropical plants that you would expect to see too. It is always worth speaking to the gardener of your hotel, who will know local names for the plants, some of which are very descriptive. There are also some nice private gardens around St Kitts. If you are interested in gardens it is also worth visiting the gardens at Romney Manor or the Great House in Lodge Village. If you would like to speak to a top gardener on the island, you can contact the St Christopher Heritage Society, www.stkittsheritage.org.
For a long time St Kitts looked very different from Nevis and other islands nearby because it continued to grow sugar cane when the others had stopped. The lower slopes of the island riffle with a patchwork of the tall grass (it grows up to around 1000 feet above sea level), which is extremely beautiful in its way. The cane is no longer commercially used (cultivation for sugar stopped in 2005), but it will take a while before it is taken over by other plants. Meanwhile, the dirt access roads through the cane fields enable you to reach some excellent viewing spots. Care should be taken as the roads are often narrow and sometimes eroded. |
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Food & Cooking
An evening themed dinner or lunch buffet of West Indian and Kittitian food will more than likely feature in your hotel. Of course there are also many restaurants where you can find local fare. Fridays and Saturdays is barbecue time along the streets of Basseterre, with all sorts of fish and chicken grilled on makeshift kitchens set up on the pavements. Some restaurants known for good local food include:
Ballahoo Restaurant, The Circus, t 465 4197, VHF channel 16, www.ballahoo.com
Located on a balcony above the Circus at the heart of Basseterre, Ballahoo has cheerful Caribbean décor with brightly painted woodwork and chairs and an open fronted veranda dining area with fairy lights lit up at night. A strong local menu, starting with saltfish with creole sauce for breakfast and offering daily lunch and dinner specials such as breaded blue parrot fish fillets, conch fritters, creole chicken stew, curried mutton, chicken or vegetable roti and chilli shrimps. Open 8am-10pm. Closed Sunday. A popular spot for both locals and tourists
Circus Grill Bar & Restaurant, Bay Road, Basseterre, t 465 0143
Sit out on their breezy veranda and watch the world go by. Many local dishes on their menu including tasty rotis are big enough for two and goat water on Saturdays. On Fridays there is a West Indian buffet with a selection of dishes such as coconut dumpling, green banana, breadfruit pie, salt fish, chicken curry, mutton stew, pumpkin fritters, jerk pork, plantain and fresh fish.
Rawlins Plantation Inn, Rawlins, St Paul’s, t 465 6221, info@rawlinsplantation.com
Rawlins does an excellent West Indian buffet lunch. Home and locally grown organic produce. Fungee and stewed saltfish, candied sweet potoato, meat balls in ginger sauce, peas and rice, salt fish fritters, curried chicken or lamb, jerk pork and chicken, and soursop sorbet. At the northern end of the island, so often on an island tour.
Waterfalls, Ocean Terrace Inn, Fortlands, Basseterre, 465 2754, waterfalls@oceanterraceinn.com
A West Indian buffet every Friday night that features local and regional dishes including goat water soup, Johnny cakes, steamed dumplings, stewed saltfish, soused pig trotters, black pudding, fungee, pepper pot, stew chicken, coconut dumplings, breadfruit, green bananas, escovich fish, steamed fish, roast beef, lamb or suckling pig. |
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Golf
There is currently one golf course on St Kitts but at least two others are planned or under construction, each of them as a part of large hotel/resort/villa developments. One will be at the southern end of the South East Peninsula, as part of the major developments taking place there. Another is near the northern tip of the island
Royal St Kitts Golf Club, Frigate Bay, t 466 2700
info@royalstkittsgolfclub.com www.royalstkittsgolfclub.com
This is a 6900 yard, 18 hole, par 71 course re-designed between 2002-04 by Tom McBroom and set on the ocean, which brings some strong cross-winds. Green fees start from US$105 for 9 holes and US$145 for 18 holes in summer, with same day replay US$60. Weekly and group rates available. Club rentals (Taylor Made 500 Series) US$45 for 9 holes and US$65 for 18 holes. The Royal Golf Academy provides golf instruction from beginners to advanced. All rates include golf cart rental and are subject to change without notice. Reduced fees for Marriott’s guests. |
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Health & Fitness
There is a small handful of gyms around the island, some in the hotels, but the gyms located in town also offer day membership. They all would be happy to find a personal trainer for you.
St Kitts Marriott Resort, Frigate Bay (north), t 466 1200
There is a large gym at the Marriot which permits day membership.
Life Fitness Center, Bird Rock Commercial Development, t 466 4416
Gym with a view - across Basseterre Harbour. Day members welcome.
Wellness Centre, Cayon Street, Basseterre
Set right in town, with an air-conditioned gym. Day members welcome . |
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Hiking
St Kitts is a relatively small island, but there is some good hiking, particularly in the northern part, on the northern mountain range. Starting in the cane fields you climb out into the high forested areas where you will find tall trees laced with a network of lianas. As you climb higher the vegetation changes again and there are ferns and eventually stunted cloud forest.
The most popular hike that covers this is for Mt Liamuiga, in which you climb up to the volcanic crater (it is 1000 feet deep and about a mile across) near the northern tip of the island. The views are truly spectacular. It is possible to hike to the top of the peak itself, but it is a challenging climb and it is not done very often.
You don’t necessarily need to go to altitude. The lowlands of St Kitts, which from above appears almost ‘carpeted’ with sugar cane, also offer some excellent walking, in which you will discover the remains of all the old sugar works now overtaken by under- and overgrowth. There are also quite remote hikes to be had in the southern part of the island, but there are no formal trips, so you will have to do it by special arrangement with one of the local guides.
As always in the Caribbean, where it surprisingly easy to get lost, it is a good idea to go with a guide anyway. Besides, much of the fun of these trips is that the guide brings the extraordinary nature of the local environment alive, telling you about the oddities of plant and animal behaviour. A number of guides are available, and many of them offer an amusing tour, but the most established, Greg’s Safaris have better scientific knowledge to back up their commentary.
Greg's Safaris, t 465 4121, g-safari@sisterisles.kn, www.gregsafaris.com
Hikes and vehicle-born excursions on many of the old trails that once criss-crossed the island like a spiders’ web, including a day’s hike up the volcano Mt Liamuiga, a rainforest hike and a Land Rover off-road tour called 'off-the-beaten-track' which explores the plantation history of St Kitts. They include a picnic on all tours with home made juices, local fruit and sugar cane, island pastries and local rum. Also private tours by arrangement.
Kriss Tours t 465 4042
Also offer full day hikes up to the crater and half day hike into the rain forest.
Periwinkle Tours, Verchilds Village, t 465 6314
oliverspencer@sisterisles.kn
Oliver Spencer offers personalised tours into the rainforest, and will also cater for bird watchers. |
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Horse Riding
A pleasant way to view the island from a different vantage point is on horseback – the way the plantation overseers got around in yesteryear. Nowadays you can take a ride along a beach or a trail ride into the rainforest.
Royal Stables, West Farm, Basseterre, t 465 222
Rides trails up to the rainforest along the old cane tracks and learn how sugar was once made. During the ride you will dismount and walk 10 minutes to a river pool where you can cool off before hitting the saddle again.
Trinity Stables, Trinity Inn, Palmetto Point, t 465 3226, trinity@sisterisles.kn
Guided beach rides along the Atlantic coast and into the rainforest. |
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Island Hopping
St Kitts is also well positioned as a springboard for some Caribbean island hopping in the North-eastern Caribbean. It is one of a scattering of islands in the area that have radically different characters. Some differ in their appearance and geography – they may be lower-lying and scrubbier than St Kitts, but with the white sand beaches that St Kitts doesn’t really have – or they may be different in their culture. There are French islands and some Dutch islands nearby.
St Kitts is well served by local airlines so it easy to get around.
The only island with boat services from St Kitts, and the obvious place to visit anyway, is St Kitts’ sister island Nevis, which is well worth a day or more. Separated from St Kitts by just two miles of sea, Nevis is supernaturally charming, both in its appearance and character. It is just six miles by eight in size and is immensely green and fertile and has a pace of life that is gentler even than St Kitts. Like St Kitts, it has a speciality in plantation houses which are well worth a visit, but there is also good beach life on Pinney’s Beach and good walking in the rainforest. It is one of the very few islands that have retained the charm of the old Caribbean of fifty years ago.
There are regular ferry services between St Kitts and Nevis, with several ferry companies making the 45 minute crossing between Basseterre and Charlestown several a times each day. The MV Caribe Queen is the government owned ferry service, whilst MV Sea Hustler and Carib Breeze are privately owned but operated by the government. Call t 466 4636 for information on all services. There is also a car ferry, the Sea Bridge, which runs between Major’s Bay on the south-east peninsular of St Kitts and Cades Bay in Nevis. There is an hourly crossing.
MV Sea Hustler/Mark Twain, t 469 0403
M&M TRANSPORT (Carib Breeze and Carib Surf), t 466 6734
If you want to look farther afield for a foil to the quietness of St Kitts then you could try one of the busier islands in the area. To the south there is Antigua, which has superb beaches and beach bars, some good restaurants and excellent visible history in the forts and former naval Dockyard in the south-east. There are good hotels of all styles and standards. You might fly in via here, so it would be easy to spend a couple of days en route or on the route out.
Or you could try St Maarten/St Martin to the north, which is a very lively place, also with excellent beaches and restaurants. Similarly, you might arrive via this island (the airport is on the Dutch side, St Maarten) and so you can stop off for a couple of days en route. There is a good variety of accommodation on the island and there is good sailing too.
Close to St Martin there are the smaller islands of Anguilla and St Barths, which are more expensive and exclusive but have an extremely high standard of accommodation and restaurants. Anguilla is accessible by direct flight from St Kitts, but for St Barths you will need to change planes in St Maarten. Finally there are Saba, a charming small volcanic island with good scuba, and Statia, which is extremely quiet.
Definitive Caribbean's recommended local organiser in St Kitts, Kantours, has an AITA-bonded travel agency. They are able to arrange inter-island tickets to islands in the area.
Regional Airlines serving St Kitts include:
American Eagle from San Juan, LIAT from Antigua, Anguilla and St Maarten, and Winair from St Maarten and Nevis.
If you wish to travel at your own convenience then it might be a good idea to make the hop with one of the many small charter planes that service the area.
| | Island BirdsIsland Birds is a small and reliable charter airline that is based in the BVI. It has a small fleet of 5 and 7 seater Piper aircraft that are used for transfers, island hopping, day trips and sightseeing from the air. They make regular passenger and sometimes cargo transfers to the BVI, but they are licensed for almost every airstrip between San Juan and Grenada, including St Barths. | | St Barth CommuterA local airline based in St Barths, which offers scheduled flights from there to St Martin/St Maarten and private aircraft charters to islands all over the Eastern Caribbean. They have a fleet of six twin-engine planes and five specially trained (STOL) pilots with permission to land in St Barths. | | SVG AirA local Caribbean airline that offers shared and private charters to the Grenadines from around the region, often from Barbados, but also from St Lucia and Grenada, even from as far as Puerto Rico. SVG Air has around a dozen 5-19-seater planes and also offers island hopping and air ambulance services. |
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Local Organisers
Local organisers are a link into the best an island can offer in all sorts of ways. You may find them based in your hotel, offering tours or simple airport transfers, but through their contacts they are also able to arrange many other things for you – a surprise celebration for someone in your party perhaps, a bunch of flowers, or even a romantic dinner for two. Local organisers, or destination management companies as they are known in the trade, have the knowledge and the best contacts on the island to get anything done that you need.
If you book a flight inclusive holiday from the UK or Europe, the services of a ground handler should be included in your package. They will transfer you to your hotel and offer orientation. If you are an independent traveller they might also be useful to you. They can offer a concierge service which can help you to arrange what you want, from transfers to custom made tours or other advice.
On St Kitts we recommend Kantours Vacation and Tour Consultants, a respected destination management company based in Basseterre, who also operate a travel agency on the island. Started in 1980s, Kantours provide a full range of services such as a concierge service, ground transfers, guided tours, cruise ship services and tour operator representation. They also do event and activity planning, which includes organising conferences, programmes for incentive and convention groups as well as weddings. For a full description of Local Organisers’ services review, please see here.
| | Kantours Vacation & Tour ConsultantsKantours is a full service destination management company in St Kitts and Nevis, with services that include ground handing, airport transfers, a concierge service, wedding co-ordination, conference and incentive travel and cruise ship excursions. Located in Basseterre, it also operates a fully licensed IATA Travel Agency. Kantours was appointed the Official Travel Agent in St Kitts and Nevis for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. |
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Local Transport
The main bus terminal in St Kitts is on Bay Road next to the ferry terminal on the waterfront in Basseterre. Buses follow the west or the east coast road to the northern region, but they generally don’t carry on the whole way around the island. There are no bus services from town down to the southern part of St Kitts which includes Frigate Bay (where most of the hotels are). There is no schedule as such. Buses tend to depart when they are full or on the whim of the driver, but they operate from around 6.30am through to 8pm. Buses, actually mainly minibuses, carry a green ‘H’ licence plate and they can simply be flagged down along the roadside. To get off you shout to the driver to stop. |
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