Saint Kitts and Nevis Planning:
Saint Kitts and Nevis was the first Caribbean Island country I visited on this trip. My route plan for Carribean nations visit was San Juan–>Saint Kitts–>Antigua–> Barbados–>Grenada or from SJU–>SKB–>ANU–>BGI–>GND going by airport codes. St. Kitts is formed out of seven volcanic islands.
I wanted to spread my wings and take-off to few Caribbean Countries this time. Looking into the routing of the flights I came up with the plan below. I would leave from Puerto Rico to Saint Kitts and Nevis by silver airways. British airways will take me from Saint Kitts to Antigua and Barbuda. Flying from Antigua to Barbados would be by InterCaribbean Airlines. Lastly Caribbean Airlines took me to visit Grenada from Barbados. I visited Saint Kitts and Nevis in April 2023.
Basseterre is the Capital of St. Kitts and Nevis
Flights:
I found a Silver Airways flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico going to St. Kitts for 169$. So, I purchased this ticket on Capital One travel portal using Capital One Venture X Credit Card which gives 5 points per 1$ spent on travel with Airlines. Leaving St. Kitts was by using British Airways Avios. For this I used 9,250 Avios +1 USD to pay for my flight into Antigua.
Currency:
Currency of St. Kitts and Nevis is East Caribbean Dollar. US Dollar is generally accepted everywhere. ECD is pegged to US Dollar. 1 USD=2.7 XCD
Accommodations:
All of my accommodations in St. Kitts were made through Airbnb. In total, I stayed for 3 nights in St. Kitts. On the first day I stayed at Monkey Hill and the next 2 days stay was at an Airbnb in Bird Rock. Specially, this Island is known to have more monkeys than number of people. During my stay I saw just one monkey on Nevis Island.
Again, I got to taste some mangos here on the Island as the restaurant I visited had a big mango tree in the front yard. Basically, they had lots of fallen mangos from the tree and were ready to share with me. They were delicious, though quite small. Additionally, I did see some Passion Fruit trees as well.
Basseterre, the Capital of St. Kitts had all the grocery stores where I bought my groceries.
Boots on the Ground:
Click on the tear drops on Google Map to know more on the places of interest on the Island of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Day 1:
Going to Nevis:
I went to Nevis Island on a ferry boat from Basseterre. Round-trip costs around $25. Ferry schedule could be found here. There are 4-5 companies that provide ferry rides. They coordinate on the schedule and usually there is a boat going out every hour. It takes around 45 minutes to reach Nevis from Basseterre and another 45 minutes backwards.
MAKANA ferries take visitors to Saba and Saint Maarten Islands. Their schedule and prices can be found here. These Islands are part of Netherland Antilles in Caribbean along with Sint Eustatius, Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. For Most part these ferries leave on Friday and Monday.
Things I did on Nevis:
Nevis Island is much quieter than its sister island of Saint Kitts. I visited the Pinneys beach, which has the smooth saffron colored sands. Enjoyed collecting some seashells at this beach. Additionally, this beach has that perfect scenery with calm and shallow waters along with nice restaurants to make one’s day at a beach memorable. Unquestionably this beach is shown on glossy covers of travel publications for rightful reasons. Besides, it’s at walking distance from Four Seasons luxury Hotel in Nevis.
Renowned Sunshines Beach Bar and Grill is a must visit place when at the beach as it has delicious food and friendly staff. They offer hamburgers, conch balls, lobster salad, wings and the famous “killerBee” drink that cannot be missed.
When returning to the ferry terminal, I passed by Nevis Artisan Village and made it to the Museum of Nevis History and Alexander Hamilton house.
The museum though quaint gives chronological overview of milestones in Nevis’ history of slavery, emancipation and sugarcane trade introduced by colonists. Alexander Hamilton house is where he was born in Charlestown, Nevis. We know him as the founder and chief architect of the American financial system. His humble beginnings and then his journey to become one of the founding fathers of America is quite fascinating for history buffs. There is a statue of him in the courtyard outside the house and history museum.
Day2:
I went to the bird rock beach, which was 5 minutes walking distance from my Airbnb place. The beach was under renovation during my visit, in April 2023. This is a small beach with stoned seawall. But, right next to the beach is the “Dolphin training center”.
Here, I could see the Dolphins getting their training in the morning. During my visit I saw Dolphins being feed and also saw the Dolphins performing multifarious tricks. Particularly, here people can book 1-hour sessions to swim with the dolphins and have close encounter with these wonderful creatures.
Later I went walking to Frigate Bay, figuring the short cut that took me from bird rock to frigate bay in 30 minutes.
Frigate bay beach is more commercial beach, with beach restaurants and water sports. It has white sand beaches and is by far an awesome place to watch sunset on the island.
Day3:
On the Last day on the Island, I was all set to do scenic train ride which is a “Must-Do” in Saint Kitts. The Railway was built between 1912-1926 to bring all the sugarcane from the sugarcane plantations to Bassette, the capital for processing. St. Kitts Scenic Railway takes passengers on a 3-hour tour that makes a 30-mile circle around the beautiful island of St. Kitts, with 18 miles by narrow gauge train and 12 miles on sightseeing buses. We get served with complementary drinks like Pina Colada on this tour along with famous Rum Punch. Surly, the masquerade dancers entertained everyone with their dancing skills on the moving train.
Certainly, this tour walked me through the history, geology, the plantations, beautiful scenery, the villages and culture of the Island. While the train moves at 8 miles per hour, it gives a chance to absorb the natural unspoiled beauty of the entire Island. Start point for this scenic train is right next to the international airport.
How to Book your Sport on the Scenic Train?
When I called (what’s app) the contact number on the website, Jerrie James responded immediately. I filled in the contact form and I was told that the train ride is available only on the day of my departure from the Island. Once I reserved my spot, I showed up on the day of departure and paid for the tour in the office, at the start point. The cost of ticket is 87$, which I paid with my Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card. It gives 2 points per 1$ spent on Travel.
The seats could fill up fast, so it’s better to get your spot early on. I made the reservation 3 weeks earlier to my arrival on the island. Usually, they try to coordinate the train schedule with the Cruise ship schedule. It’s better to contact them in advance and understand the schedule of the train as the scenic train doesn’t run every day. The website could be found at St.Kitts Scenic Railway to make the reservations.
Definitely, if you are on this train, you would talk about this awesome unique experience for days after leaving this place as it was the highlight of my stay here on St.Kitts.
