St Kitts / Special Interests / Eco/Nature

St Kitts has an impressive variety of habitats for a small island. They include coastal mangroves and swamps on the South East Peninsula up to rainforest and even some stunted cloud forest in the heights of the mountain range in the north.

Most Caribbean islands do not have very many large mammals apart from domesticated ones such as donkeys and cattle, but in St Kitts there are a couple of surprises. You may see the Vervet monkey that was brought to the island from Africa (St Kitts is one of just three islands in the Caribbean where you can see them). In the north of the island you will see them running wild at Brimstone Hill, particularly early and late in the day. You can also see them the Lodge Great House, where there are some in cages. There is an unofficial orphanage there and young monkeys can be handled by visitors. At the Reggae Beach Bar on the South East Peninsula they are tame enough to be fed.

There is also a small community of deer, just a few dozen in total, which were brought to the island from the southern USA by a planter in the late nineteenth century, as game for hunting. They are extremely shy and live mostly on the South East Peninsula, where they thrive on the mixed grassland and dry woodland, and around the Canada Hills area.

Turtle watching is also possible in St Kitts. In the season these creatures drag their way up onto the sand, dig a hole with their rear fins and then lay something over a hundred ping-pong ball sized eggs. Having covered it up, they work their back to the sea, usually digging a couple of fake holes to throw predators off the scent and then swim offshore.

If you wish to go turtle-watching, contact your hotel or go through Kenneth’s Dive Centre or see our St KittsScuba Diving guide.

St Kitts Nature and adventure tours:

Kayaking Adventure, Blue Water Safaris - A half day trip with snorkelling in White House Bay, one of St Kitts’ secluded bays. Then you paddle along 2½ miles of the South East Peninsula in a self-bailing, sit-on-top, ocean kayak. You will see nesting sea birds, monkeys and maybe turtles in the remote bays. The trip ends with a light beach picnic of local favourites including fresh juices, coconut water and, if you can bear it, tamarind balls.

Also see separate section for St Kitts Hiking and Birdwatching.