Wondering what St Kitts is like for a holiday? From rainforests to beaches, find out what it’s like to visit this Caribbean island.
Yes, it’s true. After a week in St Martin in March, I returned to one of my favourite parts of the world – the Caribbean, for another week of adventures. This time I flew to neighbouring island St Kitts. Firstly – despite being just a short hop from one another, you couldn’t get two more different islands. Secondly – what a gem of a place St Kitts is!
I knew very little about the island before visiting. I wanted to keep it that way in order to soak up the atmosphere, understand the people, take in the culture and as always, make my own adventures.
So what is St Kitts like?
St Kitts is beautifully untouched. People say “quick, go to Cuba before it’s too late”… well after visiting both islands, I’d say St Kitts feels less commercial; tourism hasn’t invaded or destroyed it. Somehow, it’s retained its own character. Other than a Marriott and a KFC, every restaurant and hotel was ‘local’. It’s quite an achievement considering the number of enormous cruise ships that dock each week.
We started our week at Ocean Terrace Inn, a smart hotel overlooking the bay of Basseterre – the island’s lively and colourful capital.
As with neighbouring islands, St Kitts is mountainous with Mount Liamuiga standing tall at 3,792 feet. Beaches, mountains, volcanoes, and rainforests – a photographer’s dream!
Dramatic views from Timothy Hill in St Kitts! Great day so far touring the capital Basseterre, kayaking, enjoying the beach and checking out some of the top views! Next up – cooking demo and a special West Indies dinner! Follow live over on snapchat >> wanderlustchloe A photo posted by Chloe Gunning wanderlustchloe (@wanderlustchloe) on
The island’s past is deeply rooted in the sugar production industry. It’s a dark history, but one it’s important to hear in order to get to know the place. You can’t travel far without passing an old plantation, estate or sugar mill, and Ottley’s Plantation Inn – an 18th century sugar plantation with 35 lush acres of gardens, rainforest and beautiful accommodation was a highlight.
Good news: It’s always rum o’clock in St Kitts! I lost count of the number of rum punches and frozen daiquiris I sipped during the week. Top cocktail marks go to Spice Mill, Boozies, and Salt Plage. I learned quickly that the drink of choice for many locals was Ting – a fizzy grapefruit drink which many choose to have ‘with a Sting’ ie with a splash of booze!
The only way to round off a week in the Caribbean… with frozen rum cocktails on the beach! Thanks @stkittstourism @british_airways @vickyflipflop @littletravelbee @thetravelbunny @travelwithkat for a fun week of adventures, zip lining, rainforest treks, snorkelling, seafood and rum punch! Looking forward to sharing lots of stories on my blog soon. ☀️❤️ #mystkitts ( by cocktail partner in crime @vickyflipflop) A photo posted by Chloe Gunning wanderlustchloe (@wanderlustchloe) on
While the rainforest is a huge draw, you can’t go to the Caribbean and not get out on the water. Heading off on a private catamaran with Blue Water Safaris was one of my favourite moments of the week. After snorkelling the crystal waters and spotting turtles in the wild, we hopped over to the paradise island of Nevis (pronounced Neeeee-vis), which belongs to the same federation as St Kitts.
While you can do St Kitts on a budget, the uber lux Belle Mont Farm was one of my favourite spots. High up in the rainforest, the views were breathtaking. I mean, who wouldn’t want to laze around in that pool?
High up in the St Kitts rainforest is the uber lux @bellemontfarm… Could have spent all day up there. ❤️☀️ A photo posted by Chloe Gunning wanderlustchloe (@wanderlustchloe) on
So what else? As I love a bit of adventure, I really enjoyed our morning trek through the rainforest followed by zip-lining. Plus food-wise, it was great to tuck into some real local delicacies. Delicious grilled prawns, lobster, local fish ‘wahoo’, ‘goat water’ (a yummy soup with an awful name!) and a lot of jerk chicken, rice and peas kept my stomach nice and full for the week!
I returned from the island a few days ago and can’t decide if I’d rather keep it a secret for fear of it losing its character… or spread the word so more people experience the magic of the island, just as I did. Watch this space… but for a mini taster of my week on the island, check this video out…
Interested in visiting St Kitts? Check out all my posts about the island:
St Kitts: Top Reasons To Visit
Top Restaurants To Visit In St Kitts
Top 5 Hotels In St Kitts – From Budget To Luxury
Top 5 Things To Do In St Kitts For Cruise Ship Passengers
Video: Adventures In St Kitts
I’m an Official Ambassador for St Kitts. Thanks to St Kitts Tourism Authority for organising the trip and British Airways for taking care of the flights. As always, opinions are my own!
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I was following your trip on Instagram and it looked like a lovely island. Looking forward to reading more about it. B-x
Thanks Bex! I had a great week out there any definitely plenty more stories to tell! I’m making a video too so stay tuned for that soon 🙂 Cx
Ahh, I so wish we were back here!