Qustions for Upcoming Trip to St Kitts

I realize everyone is focused on the new points system. If I could interrupt for a short time, I have a few conventional questions. In August we are confirmed at Marriott’s St Kitts Beach Club.

1. What are past visitors opinions on renting a car? We typically explore at least one and often a couple of days while on vacation. For example, in Aruba we rented a car for only one day. In St Maarten we rented for a whole week. For us, both were the right decision. I am not sure about rental car needs in St Kitts since I know very little about the island.
   
2. What restaurant recommendations do you have?
   
3. What are your thoughts on best beach locations?
   
4. Are there any historical sites to visit?
   
5. Are there any favorite hiking trails or regions?

Hi

We just went to St. Kitts in May. I'll answer your questions too, but you may want to take a look at an earlier post for some more info and pictures.
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122956

1. A car might be worth it depending on how comfortable you are driving on the left side of the road. There is not a whole heck of a lot right around the Marriott. You can walk to a convenience store and a coffee shop. Within a 15 minute walk are a bunch of small beach side restaurants. But anything else is a car or cab ride away. We opted for cab rides this time since it was our first visit. Prices are fixed by destination.

2. Restaurants: Shipwreck, Rock Lobster, Sunset Grill, Cathy's, Shiggidy Shack and Spice Mill. These were our favorites while we were there. Bring more cash than you think as a lot of the smaller beach restaurants only take cash. We ended up having to visit the ATM. If you do too, go to the one in the casino as it gives US dollars. The fees we had to pay to take money out were under $1, but I know this depends on your bank.

3. The beach in front of the Marriott was pretty and had some decent snorkeling....although you do have to contend with the people offering massages, but they aren't too bothersome. The South Friars Bay area on the southern tip is also nice as well. We heard the snorkeling was good at Cockle Shell Beach but we ran out of time before we made it there.

4. Historical Sites: Brimstone Hill is a must. Also it is worth spending some time at the old sugar plantations. There are a bunch of them around and they are incredibly beautiful.

5. Hiking: I would recommend taking a half day rainforest hike with Javin (company is called Myislands Tours by Javin). You get more of a personalized tour.

A few other "musts":
- Take a day tour with Thenford Grey - you will not regret it - simply put. Best money we spent on the island.
- Take a day trip over to Nevis. The other island is so close. It is similar to St. Kitts but different in its own way...and much quieter.

There are links to a lot of these places in my photo album.

And if you have any other questions during your planning process, feel free to reach out.

Enjoy your trip!
Liz

St. Kitts is a wonderful get-away

I agree with all that Liz advises in her post. We have been to St. Kitts 4 times (always in January) and never rented a car nor regretted it. Thenford Gray is excellent. Also recommend B. Debra Carty (email at 99carty@hotmail.com) for taxi service.

We've done the day trip to Nevis twice. Last time was sad -- the island is suffering from the closing of the Four Seasons and the disease that has decimated the date palms. If your time is short, I would skip Nevis.

There is a nice French restaurant near the Marriott, but not walking distance, that I would recommend La Belle Vie. If you're a foodie, I recommend the Beach House and Serendipity. If you are in Basseterre and want a nice lunch, try Stonewalls. A fun alternative for lunch in Basseterre is to sign up for Caribbean Cooks and get lunch with a cooking demonstration. We were never that keen on the long drive to Sprat Net, but lots of people recommend it and it has a definite island ambiance!

We love St. Kitts and I hope you enjoy it as well!

What's this about the Four Seasons closing in Nevis? I had always heard it was one of the best in the world and it's on my dream list.

Update: I found this article. so sad

We took a day tour of Nevis back in May. While we couldn't get down to the hotel itself, we were over near the villas associated with the Four Seasons and there was definitely activity. I am saying a few prayers for the people of Nevis as they really need this hotel to reopen.

I visited St. Kitts in June 2007. I had a rental and found it very worthwhile. We drove around the island. I reccommend a visit to the Brimston Hill Fortress. Very educational and outstanding views from atop the hill. There are lots of good beaches for snorkeling around the island. The water was crystal clear. We enjoyed the Friars Bay beach and the Frigate Bay South beach which has a restaurant and jet ski rentals.

We ate mostly at the resort but there are lots of good restaurants nearby. You only need the rental car for sight seeing, grocery store, and visiting other beaches. There was a nice italian restaurant a 1/4 mile from the resort but I don't recall the name.

I do not think you need a car but I do highly recomend hiring a well-spoken driver for the island tour. The hotel can help you find one and you really do not save any money by going off campus as the taxis are very well regulated. Shipwrck beach is great as is Cockle Shell Beach . We used a woman named AVA who my kids and I loved. The island has some rich history that only a native can really communicate. We used her twice and she waited while we snorkeled, had lunch, toured the fort (a real must) and went on the zip line. The whole thing took 6 hours and it was worth every dime.

There is a lot to do right around the resort such as a 10-15 minute walk to Timothy Beach.

All in All, a great resort and a great Island. You will love it.

Four Seasons was severely damaged by hurricane Omar in 2008 and has been closed ever since. Wachovia (one of the resort's lenders) filed for foreclosure and then one of their other creditors tried to force them into involuntary bankruptcy. That attempt failed which cleared the way for the foreclosure to proceed. Supposedly the resort will be re-opened in Dec 2010 but I wouldn't hold my breath

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I am going to go ahead and rent a car. I look forward to driving on the left side of the road (I haven't done that for awhile).

Someone told me about a hike up to the top of a volcano. Has anyone done this on St Kitts?

Really noneed to rent a car...the taxis are plentiful, inexpensive and many great personalities. Last time we were there our driver gave us his cell phone to call him after we finished dinner.

We have been there twice and did not rent a car either time. Cabs are cheap, plentiful and Cabs are clean and the drivers we have used have been wonderful. They seem really happy to have you there and go out of their way for you. A driver will take you to the grocery store and wait while you do your shopping. We used a cab to get to a restaurant and the driver gave us his card so the restuarant could call him to pick us up and take us back to the Marriott. Not only that but he refused our offer to pay him when he dropped us off saying we could pay when he picked us up to go back. You'll never hear of that happening in St. Thomas or Aruba. They take you on tours and I just see no reason to rent a car. .

I don't understand how everyone is say that the taxis are cheap. We were there April 2009 and used taxis, as the 1st time on any island we like to be driven around to get the layout, but will definately rent a car from now on.

We didn't think that the taxis were that cheap.
Example-
We went to the southend beaches from the Marriott $20 to get there $20 back to take showers, then back down the south end to the Beach House restaurant (I think that's the name, nice place), anyway, another $20 there $20 back. $80 one day. To bigger grocery in town $15+ there $15+ back. Airport $15+ back & forth. Brimestone $20 -$25 there, $20-$25 back, wanted to stop at old ruins on the way, but was closed that day, went another day $20 back & forth again, and so on.

Our take was that it added up to alot. They say that the prices are set and not person (like St Thomas) but they still added extra for my son (there were 3 of us). One night another couple was going to the same restaurant as us, we all shared the taxi, they still charge us separately, them 1 price for 2, us more for the 3 of us. If the prices are really set than it should have been one standard price for the 5 of us.

If there is more than 2 of you going and you want to do alot of exploring maybe you should rent a car for a few days, Marriott has a car rental on property.

Just my thoughts, but $300 -$350 on taxis kills me.

Winslow -
I agree that the prices did add up. Sometimes we would walk to dinner and then cab it home to save a little money. I'm sorry you were charged extra for an additional person though. We went with another couple and were always charged the same amount whether it was 2 adults or 4 in the car.

DVB42 -
We thought about doing the volcano hike but didn't get a chance. We heard it was a bit more strenuous, but that if it is a clear day you would have beautiful views. Unfortunately there were a lot of haze and clouds the week we were there so our views were limited.

How far is the trail head to the volcano from the Marriott? If you take a taxi to the trail head, would you be able to find a taxi for the return trip?

Looks like it would be pretty easy to find a cab to get back. The trailhead is at Rawlins Plantation.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/travel/best-island-vacations/st-kitts.html

I can't recall exactly how far Rawlins is from the Marriott but looking at a map its a pretty good ride.

BonBiniGirl said:

Looks like it would be pretty easy to find a cab to get back. The trailhead is at Rawlins Plantation.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/travel/best-island-vacations/st-kitts.html

I can't recall exactly how far Rawlins is from the Marriott but looking at a map its a pretty good ride.

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Thanks for the link to the volcano climb. This one is a go for me - we enjoy hiking and climbing mountains. Although this volcano is not extremely high, it still looks like a great activity. It appears there are steep, 1000 foot, fixed rope decents into the crater. I am drooling already!

I just checked on line on one of the car rental sites and they offer a Kia economy car for $250.00 a week or a Jeep Liberty for $500.00 a week. In addition there is a 5% tax on the cost of the rental, a $26.00 charge to get a temporary St. Kitt's drivers license, a $5.00 a day charge for mandatory insurance and a $1.50 dollar a day "tourism tax". Add it all up and it is not cheap. If you are intending to go out every day then it might be worth it. However we had at least three days when we did not leave the resort at all because we either ate at the resort, in our unit or walked to the Italian restaurant about 10 minutes a way.

DVB42 said:

Thanks for the link to the volcano climb. This one is a go for me - we enjoy hiking and climbing mountains. Although this volcano is not extremely high, it still looks like a great activity. It appears there are steep, 1000 foot, fixed rope decents into the crater. I am drooling already!

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Glad I could help out. Hope you will post some pics when you get back!

Have fun!

Scheduled to open Dec. 15 as per the website.