The islands of St Kitts and Nevis are in the north part of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. St Kitts is made up of three groups of rugged volcanic peaks split by deep ravines, and a low lying peninsula in the southeast, where there are salt ponds and fine beaches. It is 23 miles long and 6 ½ miles wide, and is separated from the associated state of Nevis by a 2 mile wide strait. Nevis has an area of 36 square miles, and is almost circular, rising to a peak of 3,232 feet and surrounded by beaches of coral sand. No matter where you go on either island, you are treated to fantastic views of sea, beaches, fields of sugar cane, mountains and small villages.

St Kitts’ central mountain range is dominated by Mt. Liamuiga, a dormant 3792 foot high volcano. The higher slopes are virgin rain forests, alive with hummingbirds and wild green vervet monkeys, while the drier foothills and lowlands are largely planted with sugarcane. On Nevis the rain forests climb up the upper slopes of Nevis Peak, while dry scrub lowlands predominate near the coast.

The first inhabitants on the islands were the Carib Indians, but they were systematically killed or driven off by the newly arrived English and French settlers, who tolerated each other for a while, but eventually turned on each other, and St Kitts changed hands between the two colonial powers several times before the 1783 Treaty of Versailles brought the island firmly under British control. In the recent past, Britain has tried to lump St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla together as a new state, but Anguilla rebelled and eventually found its way back into the British fold as a colony. St Kitts and Nevis, after long negotiations became a single independent federated state within the Commonwealth in 1983. The population is approximately 42,000 with 32,000 on St Kitts and 10,000 on Nevis. More than 90% are of African descent. The rest of the population is predominantly of European, or mixed European and African descent. People on St Kitts are called Kittitians (kit-tee-shuns) while on Nevis they are called Nevisians (nee-vee-shuns).

Climate: The climate of St Kitts and Nevis is particularly pleasant. Clouds collect around the island’s mountains and the breezes that blow along its western coastline are warm and dry. In January the average daily high temperature is 81F (27C), while the low averages 72F (22C). In July the average daily high is 86F (30C), the average low 76F (24C). Annual rainfall averages 55 inches and is fairly consistent throughout the year. The driest months are February to June, when there’s an average of 11 days of measurable rain a month and a mean relative humidity around 70%. The rest of the year the humidity averages 73%, with measurable rain falling an average of 16 days each month.

Important things to know before you go:
Banking hours: Most banks are open 8 am to 3 pm Monday to Thursday, till 5 pm on Friday. The St Kitts & Nevis National Bank is also open from 8:30 am – 11:00 am on Saturdays. Banks in St Kitts-Nevis include Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays Bank PLC, Royal Bank of Canada, St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Ltd., Bank of Nevis Ltd., Nevis Co-operative Banking Co. Ltd.

Currency: The local currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$), exchanged at about $2.70 to the US dollar. Many bills, however, are quoted in US dollars. Always determine which “dollar” locals are talking about. US currency, travelers’ checks and major credit cards are welcome everywhere

Health: The main hospital on St Kitts, JNF General (465-2551) is at the west end of Cayon St. in Basseterre. On Nevis, the small Alexandra Hospital (469-5473) is on Government Rd in Charlestown. Recompression chambers are available by air ambulance at nearby Saba and in St. Thomas. Pharmaceutical services are widely available.

Official Time: Atlantic Standard Time, 4 hours behind GMT, 1 ahead of EST.

Telephone: St Kitts numbers start with 465 or 466, Nevis numbers with 469. To make a local call, dial all seven digits. When calling the islands from overseas, add the area code 869 to the local number. The islands have both coin and card phones. The Caribbean Phonecards can be purchased at the airports, Cable & Wireless (telephone) offices and numerous shops.

Internet access; Leyton’s Internet Café in the TDC mall on Fort St., Basseterre, has internet access, but not cheaply. It charges $US7.50 for a half hour to surf the net. There are also internet connections in all the bigger hotels. On Nevis, though, the library in Charlestown has internet access. Broadband connections (DSL and Cable) are also available.

Newspapers & Magazines: There are three local newspapers: The Democrat and The Observer, both published on Saturday, and the semiweekly Labour Spokesman, published on Wednesday and Saturday. The St Kitts and Nevis Visitor magazine, published annually, is a good source of general tourist information and can be picked up free at tourist offices and hotels.

Radio and TV: The government radio station ZIZ, can be heard on 555 AM and 96 FM. The Voice of Nevis in on 895 AM and there’s a gospel station at 825 AM. There’s a government operated TV station as well as US network TV via cable.

Electricity: 230 volts, 60 cycles, so you’ll need an adapter and a transformer for US made appliances.

Health: Tap water is chlorinated, but bottled water is available if preferred for drinking, particularly outside the main towns. Dairy produce, meat, poultry, seafood, fruit and vegetables are generally considered safe.

Language: English is the language of the islands, and is spoken with a decided West Indian patois. People are friendly but shy; always ask before you take photographs. Also, be sure to wear wraps or shorts over beach attire when you’re in public places.

Dangers and Annoyances: Manchineel trees, whose sap can cause a skin rash, grow along the coast, particularly on the leeward side of the islands. Even though the monkeys look cuddly, it’s better to be overly cautious than overly friendly. Visitors, especially women, should not jog on long, lonely roads. But this is still a fairly safe place to travel. Most crimes against tourists – and there aren’t a lot – are robberies on Conaree Beach, so exercise the usual precautions. It would be wise to safeguard your valuables.

Flora and Fauna: Both islands are home to the green vervet monkey, introduced by the French some 300 years ago, and now dwelling in the forested areas in the mountains. Another animal imported by colonists, the mongoose, survives in considerable numbers. There are also some wild deer on the SE peninsula, imported from Puerto Rico in the 1930s. The anole is the most common of the many lizards, and as in other West Indian islands, there are highly vocal frogs, lots of lizards, assorted bats and butterflies, although nothing particularly rare. Salt ponds on the southeast peninsula provide feeding grounds for a variety of shorebirds, such as plovers, stilts and oystercatchers. Pelicans and frigate birds are common along the coast, and you can spot Antillean crested hummingbirds and nectar-feeding bananaquits wherever there are flowering plants. Fish abound in the local waters (rays, barracuda, king fish and brilliantly-coloured smaller species) and the increasingly rare black coral tree can be sighted in the reef of the same name. The rain forests provide a habitat for wild orchids, candlewoods, tree ferns and exotic vines. The brilliant red blossoms of the Poinciana, or flamboyant tree, are the national flower of St Kitts and Nevis. Fruits and flowers, both wild and cultivated, are in abundance, particularly in the gorgeous gardens of Nevis. Flowering plumeria, hibiscus and chains of love are common along roadsides and in garden landscaping. St Kitts’ uninhabited southeast peninsula has a sparse, desertlike cover of dryland grasses dotted with cacti, yucca and century plants. Trees include several varieties of the stately royal palm, the spiny-trunked sandbox tree, silk cotton, and the turpentine or gum tree. St Kitts is a small island, yet it has a wide variety of habitats, with rainforest, dry woodland, wetland, grassland and salt ponds.

Religion: Just over one-third of all islanders are Anglican. The rest are Methodists, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Adventists, Moravians and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Economy: The fertile soil on St Kitts supported three centuries of sugar cane crops and showed no signs of exhaustion until the 20th century, when modern methods of cultivation initially doubled the yield per acre, followed by a marked decrease. Total output has been halved in the last twenty years, but agriculture is still the island’s major export, and accounts for 25% of the work force. Small scale garment manufacturing, electronic assembly and a brewery and bottling plant account for 15% of St. Kitts’ labour force, while tourism, which is being actively promoted by the government, accounts for 12%. On Nevis, where the economy is more sluggish, sugar has long been abandoned, but honey and some vegetables are produced, as is sea-island cotton, the main crop today. Tourism is Nevis’ largest employer; the Four Seasons Resort employs more than 600 people – roughly a quarter of the island’s labour force.

Activities:
Beaches and Swimming – St Kitts best beaches are on the south end of the island at Frigate Bay and in the sheltered bays along the southeast peninsula. Frigate Bay has two beaches, North Frigate Bay, called “Atlantic Beach”, and Frigate Bay Beach, called “Caribbean Beach”. It’s a 15 minute walk between the two bays. Frigate Bay Beach is the calmer of the two and the island’s most popular bathing spot. There are water-sports huts and an open-air drinking spot, the Monkey Bar. North Frigate Bay has rough waters , good for body surfing, and a long stretch of golden sand. This beach is a favourite for beach walkers and horseback riders. Beaches along the main body of the island are mostly thin strands of black and gray sands. Banana Bay, Cockleshell Bay and Mosquito Bay all have sandy beaches, calm water and picturesque views of Nevis just across the straits. Conaree Bay, on the Atlantic side, is a narrow strip of gray-black sand where the water is good for bodysurfing. Snorkeling and windsurfing are good at Dieppe Bay, a black sand beach on the north coast, home of the Golden Lemon hotel. On Nevis, Pinney’s Beach is long and lovely, backed by coconut palms. There’s also a nice white sand beach fronting the Nisbet Plantation Beach Club on the north shore in Newcastle and a pleasant little beach at Oualie Bay. All beaches on St Kitts and Nevis are open to the public; however if you use the beach facilities of a hotel, you must ask first and generally pay a fee.

Diving and Snorkeling – St Kitts has more than a dozen excellent dive sites. It has healthy, expansive reefs and varied marine life that includes rays, barracuda, garden eels, nurse sharks, sea turtles, sea fans, giant barrel sponges and black coral. Sandy Point Reef has been designated a National Marine Park, including Paradise Reef, with swimming through 90 ft canyons, and Anchors Away, where anchors have been encrusted with coral formations. Among a handful of wreck dives is the 148 ft freighter River Taw, which sank in 50 feet of water in 1985 and now harbours soft corals and reef fish. Nevis has good diving off its west side, including some colourful caves at a depth of about 40 feet. Snorkeling off Oualie Beach, Nevis, is excellent (round the rocks to the right) and at least as rewarding if not more than, scuba diving.

Water Sports: For beginners in windsurfing, Oualie Bay, at the northwest side of Nevis, catches the trade winds and offers a sandy launch in shallow waters. On St Kitts, winds are usually calm on the Caribbean side, meaning beginners won’t get into deep water. Turtle Bay, site of the prime outfitter, is particularly well protected. A variety of small craft, including motorboats are available for rental at Frigate Bay Beach.

Fishing: You can fish for yellowtail snapper, wahoo, mackerel, tuna, dolphinfish, shark and barracuda here with Blue Water Safaris (869 466-4933) or Tropical Surf.

Sailing: You can rent Sunfish and Hobie Cat sailboats, charter a 47 foot catamaran, or a charter a boat for deep-sea fishing. Or perhaps you’d rather try a boogie board or an ocean going kayak! Blue Water Safaris have full-day catamaran cruises with snorkeling, lunch on Pinney’s Beach and an open bar thrown in. There are sunset and moonlight cruises trips available as well.

Other Sports: Horse riding, mountain climbing, tennis and golf are available. On Nevis horse racing is the second most popular sport after cricket! The Four Seasons Resort on Nevis has a championship 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II. On St Kitts try the Royal St Kitts Golf Club at Frigate Bay, an 18 hole championship course bordered by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, or the Golden Rock Golf Club near the airport north of Basseterre. And tennis is available in St Kitts at Sun ‘n’ Sand Beach Village in Frigate Bay, as well as one court each at Bird Rock Beach Resort, the Golden Lemon and Rawlins Plantation.

You can hike, in both St Kitts and Nevis, up into the rain forest – in St Kitts Greg Pereira takes groups on half-day trips into the rain forest and on full-day hikes up the volcano and through the grounds of a private 250 year old great house, followed by excursion down canyons and past petroglyphs. On Nevis Top to Bottom offers a choice of well over a dozen hikes, from easy to leg-aching treks to Nevis Peak! There are also other hiking tours available, or you could rent a mountain bike, or ride horses along the beach or on a trail on both islands.

Ferries run between St Kitts and Nevis, twice a day – the fare is EC $15 each way. The ride, which takes between 45 minutes and an hour, is usually a smooth trip and offers good views of both islands.

Things to see and do:

The main tourist area on St Kitts is southeast of Basseterre, the capital. There are hotels, villas, a golf course and a popular beach in Frigate Bay, while Friar’s Bay has a marvelous beach of soft golden sand. At the southern end of the peninsula there is a beach bar and superb views of the channel and of Nevis.

Basseterre, the capital of St Kitts is easily explored. There are many tall palm trees and interesting shops, excellent art galleries, and some beautifully maintained houses. The Circus, named after Piccadilly Circus has duty-free shops along the streets and courtyards. On the site of an ancient slave market at Independence Square there is a public park with lovely gardens and a fountain, and 18th century Georgian buildings, including St. George’s Anglican Church. The waterfront has recently been developed on reclaimed land with stores, a marina and a new cruise ship terminal.

St Kitts is famous for its locally produced clothing made of beautiful batik and tie-dyed cotton. Other local crafts include hand-embroidered items, straw goods and ceramics. Shopping areas in Basseterre are found along Bay Road, Liverpool Row and Fort Street. The Circus is where Island Hopper sells Caribelle Batik’s famous dresses, caftans, wraps and wall murals. The Caribelle Batik studio, where these fashions are designed and made, is located at Romney Manor, a 17th century great house and plantation, northwest of Basseterre. At the Pelican Mall on the downtown waterfront you can find a philatelic bureau selling colourful collectors issues of postage stamps. Local art can be bought in the Spencer Cameron Gallery on North Independence Square, and Kate Spencer’s studio and gallery is at the northwest end of the island near Rawlins Plantation.

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park – This 38 acre 18th century fortress, one of the largest forts in the Caribbean, was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth in 1985. Its nickname was “Gibraltar of the West Indies”. It played a major part in the battles between the English and the French, being occupied by each of them in turn in the 1700s, but finally reverted to the English under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. It was abandoned in the mid 1800s, and lay idle until the 1960s, when a major restoration was undertaken, and is now the showplace of St Kitts. The Citadel is lined with 24 cannons, and has wonderful views of Montserrat, Nevis, St Barts and St Maarten. Inside the Citadel’s barrack rooms is a complete museum of colonial history and armaments. The actual hill that Brimstone sits on is an 800 ft. high dormant volcanic cone!

Beyond Brimstone Hill, at the northwest end of St Kitts, are scenic sugarcane plantations and estates. At Black Rocks, on the northwest coast, you can view black cliffs and boulders formed by lava flowing from Mount Liamuiga and eroded by a pounding sea.

On Nevis, you can see the springs and the ruins of the Bath Hotel, built in 1778 for wealthy visitors – the resort’s bath houses were positioned on a fault over a hot spring, and a soak in the thermal mineral water brought relief from arthritis. Today you can still take a mineral bath in the stream that runs below the Bath House, and tour the reconstructed hotel. Or you could visit the Horatio Nelson Museum, containing memorabilia relating to Lord Nelson, who married one of the island girls, Fanny Nisbett, the niece of the island’s governor. A record of their marriage is registered at St. John’s Church in Fig Tree Village. Many of the old plantation estates have been turned into inns and resorts, some with their original windmills, stone towers from old sugar mills, etc., and some of them feature fine restaurants as well.

The Nevis Botanical Gardens has natural lagoons, streams, and waterfalls, in addition to terraced gardens and arbors. There is a great rose garden, orchids and bromeliads, cacti, and flowering trees and shrubs, and even a bamboo garden.

The best beach on Nevis is the reef-protected Pinney’s Beach, which has clear water, golden sands, and gradual slope, and is just north of Charlestown on the west coast. You can snorkel easily here, and see damselfish, tangs, grunts, blue-headed wrasses and parrotfish. There are numerous places to scuba dive, including Monkey Shoals, a beautiful reef starting at 40 feet, with dives up to 100 feet in depth. Other good scuba sites are The Caves, Champagne Garden, and Coral Garden.

In Charlestown, the capital, the shopping includes the Island Hopper, with hand-painted or tie-dyed cotton and batiks, Nevis Handicraft Cooperative Society, with locally made gift items, including home grown hot pepper sauce, guava cheese, jams and jellies. And don’t forget the Nevis Philatelic Bureau, for the avid stamp collector – the postage stamps here feature butterflies, shells, birds, and fish.

The islands of St Kitts and Nevis are very proud of their masquerade traditions. The liveliest time to visit St Kitts is for the carnival held over Christmas and the New Year. It gets bigger and better every year with parades, food festivals, calypso competitions and street dancing. On Nevis, the annual equivalent is Culturama, held in the end of July and finishing on the first Monday in August. There is a Queen show, arts and crafts displays, calypso competition, local bands and guest bands and many “street jams”.