Daytrip to Nevis??

[GaryNFla]

Our ship will be in St Kitts mid week for one day from 8-6. A few of us are very interested in Nevis. It this worth it just for one day or should we stay on St Kitts.. Any imput would be greatly appreciatted..

Anyone taken the ferry over to Nevis??

[paul58]

You will have time to visit Nevis, the ferry schedule can be found here: boatshedule dot leytonms dot com . There are taxis available when you get off the Ferry in Nevis. Here is a reliable one: nevistaxiandtours dot com/home . TC has been on Nevis for years.

[bertha]

We went to Nevis a few weeks ago during a day call to St. Kitts. We decided to do it because we had been to St. Kitts before. We got the ferry at around 10 and had to get the ferry back at 1. It was a short visit, but we enjoyed being able to see another island. We hoped in a taxi and had the driver take us around the entire island. It was truly a sightseeing ride, not a beach time trip.

 

There is a 4 pm ferry that you could get to make it a longer day. We were leaving at 5 and thought that was too close. The ferries seemed reliable in their timing. All in all we thought it was worth it.

Gail

[reganshamrock]

Have not been but was in St. Kitt's last week and was at the ferry dock. The schedule is

 

From St. Kitt's - every EVEN hour

From Nevis - every Odd hour.

 

I believe it about a 30 min ferry ride (give or take)

 

We were on a scooter so i do not know how much a cab ride is to the ferry - but it is all the way out at the east end of the peninsula - there is NOTHING out there.

 

So I would make sure that you get a taxi driver that will come back for you.

[paul58]

The ferry you describe is call the SeaBridge, it would out of the way for a cruiseship passenger considering that you would need a taxi ride on both ends of the ferry ride. one to get there & back in St Kitts as well as one in Nevis.

[stkitts4ever]

Paul is correct and ReganShamrock's post will be very confusing to cruise ship passengers. The ferry ReganShamrock is talking about is the car ferry which is at the southeast peninsula of the island and about a 20-30 minute TAXI ride. This is NOT the ferry that cruise ship passengers would want to take to Nevis. The passenger ferry to Nevis is the one you would want and is literally a 10 minute walk (if that) from where your cruise ship will dock. It is approximately 45 minutes on the ferry to Nevis. All that being said, IMO, if you have not been to St. Kitts before, I would pass on taking the ferry to Nevis and just take in the beauty that is St. Kitts. However, if you have been to St. Kitts, Nevis is a great option for the day.

[reganshamrock]

Paul is correct and ReganShamrock's post will be very confusing to cruise ship passengers. The ferry ReganShamrock is talking about is the car ferry which is at the southeast peninsula of the island and about a 20-30 minute TAXI ride. This is NOT the ferry that cruise ship passengers would want to take to Nevis. The passenger ferry to Nevis is the one you would want and is literally a 10 minute walk (if that) from where your cruise ship will dock. It is approximately 45 minutes on the ferry to Nevis. All that being said, IMO, if you have not been to St. Kitts before, I would pass on taking the ferry to Nevis and just take in the beauty that is St. Kitts. However, if you have been to St. Kitts, Nevis is a great option for the day.

 

Stkitts4ever,

Thanks for clarifying. I was just there last week and rented a scooter and did the whole island loop - that was the only ferry we saw.

 

I learned something new! ;)

[mnoo]

Stkitts4ever,

Thanks for clarifying. I was just there last week and rented a scooter and did the whole island loop - that was the only ferry we saw.

 

I learned something new! ;)

 

How much were the scooters, and was there an age limit? We have a 13 yr old and was wondering if he could do this.

[paul58]

Minimum age for driving is 16.

[reganshamrock]

How much were the scooters, and was there an age limit? We have a 13 yr old and was wondering if he could do this.

 

It was $55 for the day - we got one - my boyfriend was the driver. You have to leave $100 cash deposit. I don't see why a 13 yr old couldn't be the passenger.

 

When we got off the ship there was a guy standing there with a "scooter rental" sign.

 

He keeps the scooter in the parking lot behind all the shops right there at the port. Whoever is driving - he will have you get on the scooter and drive around a little in the lot to make sure you can handle the scooter - then your passenger gets on and you do another 'test drive'.

 

You tell him what time you will be back and he will meet you in the same spot and as long as the scooter is in the same shape (gas tank filled to where it was when you got it as well) - he gives you your $100 back.

 

We came back early and he was not there.... we got nervous he'd taken off with our $100. But there is a security guard there in the lot and he called him and told him we were back early.... he came back to meet us in about 20 min. (we went into the shops and got our souvenirs taken care of while waiting.)

[paul58]

Did you bother to get the required temporary drivers license?

[reganshamrock]

Did you bother to get the required temporary drivers license?

 

No - we did not. We were not told we needed one in St. Kitt's - we just showed our US Drivers License and he wrote it down on the form.

 

St. Lucia we did get the 1 day Drivers license.

Edited January 28, 2010 by reganshamrock

[JoRoy218]

reganshamrock: scooter sounds like fun. Did you need a map or is island small enough to find your way around? Any suggested stops? Will be there in mid-Feb. Thanks.

[scomar]

We did not do the ferry but secured a private boat to take us over to Nevis. Unfortunately this is a post as to ho not to use and our experience at Nevis.

 

We were here in 2012 and wanted to see Nevis this time. I know; taking a cruise ship to an island, just to get on another boat and go to a different island. Crazy, right? So once again we scoured Trip Advisor and post in Cruise Critic to find a good way to get to Nevis. RCI offered a trip there but it was an all-day thing and we wanted only a half day trip to Nevis. (“Nevis” means snow in Spanish because Columbus thought that this small island from a distance, looked like mountains covered by snow. It is said that there is a cloud on top of Nevis 80% of the time.) We also did not want to be in the big crowds and on a specific schedule (the reason we typically do private excursions). So we had made arrangements with Clivin Christmas of Blackfin Charters via email. He had arranged a taxi to pick us up and take us to Cockleshell Beach to meet him on his private boat. We confirm with him the week before via email. We are at the meeting place 10 minutes early and nobody shows up from SeaMoss Taxi (the taxi Clivin arranged for us). Now it is 15 minutes past the meeting time and a lady by the name of Beulah of Welcome Tours St. Kitts and Nevis stop to ask us if we need anything. We told her our story and she was on her phone in a split second trying to call about our ride, but without any luck. She then arranged a taxi ride for us to Cockleshell Beach; we figured we could still meet Clivin and get our boat ride to Nevis with him. Beulah hooked us up with Merlyn, what a fantastic guy!!! He took us to Cockleshell while giving us a quick tour of the island. We arrived at Cockleshell, but alas no Clivin in sight. Okay maybe he is running late. Waited another 15 minutes still no sign of him. Merlyn said he would call him for us, what a guy. He got a hold of him and he said he was fishing. Really??? He said he would have another boat come for us. Instead of dropping us off at the beach to wait on the replacement boat, Merlyn waited with us for about 20 minutes until the boat arrived. We asked if he could pick us up later and we agreed upon a time. So we arrived at Nevis (wasn’t sure it was going to happen for a while) on Oualie (pronounced "oo-a-lee”) Beach. The first thing you see is the Oualie Beach Resort. A small quaint little resort. We found a couple of loungers with a thatch umbrella and set up for the day. I was expecting for someone to come from the resort at any moment to ask for rental money for the loungers and umbrella but no one ever did. Of course the resort bar and restaurant was the only place to get any food or drink without walking a long distance. We had drinks, which were decent and lunch there. I tried Lion fish for the first time, pretty darn good, although it was served cold on a salad. I think it would have been even better grilled and served warm, but I love trying new foods so it’s all good. The beach is about 300 yards long and we saw maybe, 15 people the entire time. It was very relaxing and we had a great time there. So we got on the boat for the return trip, which was tied up at the dock the entire time we were at the Oualie Beach, and what do you know there is our man, Merlyn waiting at the dock at Cockleshell for us. On our way back to the ship we asked Merlyn if we could stop at a place we passed last time we were in St. Kitts, but did not have time to check out. It is called Carambola Beach restaurant. What a beautiful beach and restaurant, we plan on making this our next stop when we come back to St. Kitts.

[mdrobtx]

We're going over in a few weeks. Taking a tour with Beulah.

I will give a full review of her tour upon return.

Michael....

[mdrobtx]

Just returned from day trip to Nevis from stop in St Kitts.

Let me get my videos and pics uploaded and then I will post of review.

 

Michael.........

[erniesband]

Here's my reason why you should not use Beulah's Welcome Tours

 

Because of all the positive reviews on both Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic we booked a hike with lunch to Nevis with Beulah's Welcome Tours. We booked this tour on February 10, 2013. Beulah contacted us on January 1, 2014, to inform us that the place she had arranged the hike and lunch had been broken into, had the kitchen vandalized and equipment stolen and could not host us for the tour. She said not to worry she had found another place and that because our group of four had become a group of three the price would go up from $80 per person to $85 per person to cover her costs. We had no problem with this.

 

When we arrived in St Kitts on Jewel Of The Seas we went to the prearranged meeting place and found Beulah. When we first arrived and told her who we were, my wife heard her say “uh-oh,” and she walked away. She then told us she will be right back and walked another group of 4 to meet up with their excursion. She came back and walked us over to the ferry to Nevis, purchased our ferry tickets, and gave some money to us, instructing us to give the money to Teach, on Nevis, and that she would meet us on the other side of the island when we returned to St. Kitts.

 

She also told us, after my wife asked, that the ferry tickets she gave us were one-way, and that the return tickets would have to be purchased on Nevis. Presumably, Teach knew the schedule and plans once we got to Nevis. It would have been helpful if she had shared that information with us. Teach was not at the ferry dock, nor was anyone holding a sign indicating they were waiting for us. It was only by accident, when we were trying to figure out where to meet Teach, that a man overheard us and intercepted us. He explained that Teach couldn't make it, had sent him and that he was taking us to another driver. Neither one of those gentlemen knew anything about where we were supposed to go, or when we were supposed to be back at the ferry. That's when we found out there were 2 different ferries. We remembered Lindburgh Landing and gave that information to the second driver, who took us there. That was when we found out that she had not confirmed our visit until we were on the ferry. Spencer and his wife were very embarrassed that they hadn't been given enough notice to prepare the lunch we were supposed to get. He worked with the driver to work out a schedule to pick us up and get us back to the ferry in time to get us back to our ship. Not knowing when she anticipated our return, it was decided to use the same ferry we went to Nevis on for the return. Thanks to Spencer, we were able to salvage our hike and return to St. Kitts safely. However, we did not get the lunch that was promised, had to work out all payment and scheduling details on our own, and still spent every dime (and more, since we tipped Spencer for his services) that she quoted, without receiving the promised services. There was no attempt to contact us at all.

 

If we hadn't been seasoned cruisers that use private operators, this could have been trouble. We think that Beulah really dropped the ball on this one.

Putting this out there so others can make informed decisions. We however will not use Beulah again.

__________________

[ValerieJo]

Just returned from day trip to Nevis from stop in St Kitts.

Let me get my videos and pics uploaded and then I will post of review.

 

Michael.........

 

Planning on going to Nevis on our cruise next month from St. Kitts. Anxious to read your review and see your pics.

[mdrobtx]

Ok we went over to Nevis for the day off Jewel of the Seas.

We booked the trip with Beulah Mills who runs Welcome Tours.

http://tourstkittsandnevis.com/

 

It was $85 pp and that included all transportation, ferry's, lunch and Tour with Teach Tours in Nevis.

 

Basically on this tour Beulah was the coordinator. She walked us over to the ferry in St Kitts, made contact with Teach on Nevis and then picked us up from the Sea Bridge Ferry dock on the other side of St Kitts and brought us back to the ship.

 

We met right outside the cruise terminal and walked over to the ferry.

Here's some video. Sorry for the bouncing camera.

 

 

 

 

 

Teach, with Teach Tours, was waiting at the Nevis ferry dock. It was about a 45 minute ride. Teach is a retired teacher, thus the name "Teach".

The tour started with showing us the hot springs the locals still use.

Then 3 plantations which are hotel/resorts, Four Seasons resort and then Pinney's beach for about an hour and a half for lunch.

 

Teach is a very talkative and informative tour guide. He gave us some good history of the islands.

But to me, there wasn't much to see on Nevis. We're not into hotels and resorts. The beach was Ok.

Would I do it again? No. At least not a tour.

 

Beulah seemed to be organizing kinda on the fly. She doesn't have a van or taxi that we saw. She used local contacts to pick us up from the ferry dock afterwards. But she was there and accompanied us back to the ship.

 

Lunch wasn't completely paid for. The place we were to go had been ransacked and robbed so Teach took us to Sunshines beach bar on Pinney's beach. He refunded us $15 each to pay for lunch. Lunch at Sunshine's is very good and ran us each about $20.

 

You do not return to St Kitts from the arrival ferry dock. Which is the passenger ferry. It leaves at 1pm and would not give you enough time on Nevis. So Teach takes you to the Seabridge ferry which is the car/cargo ferry. There are places to sit up top. It leaves at 3 pm and is a 20-25 min ferry ride. But it drops you off at the other end of St Kitts. This is another 20/25 minute taxi ride. Beulah was there waiting for us.

Teach purchased the return ferry tics for us and walked us onto the ferry.

 

The only thing kind of harrowing and caused a few of us distress is the Seabridge ferry did not get underway leaving Nevis till 3:30 pm. We needed to be onboard at 4:30pm though the ship doesn't leave till 5pm.

Anyways the taxi driver drove like heck and we made it back to the ship right at 4:30.

We brought our passports in case we needed to fly from St Kitts to Dominica where our ship was due the next morning. Never trust inter-island ferry's. They break down. Though these ferry's were very nice compared with the one's in the BVI's.

 

So overall it was a good day. Minus the $15 Teach gave back to us, the cost was $65pp. And $20 of that was the ferry cost. A really good deal we thought.

If we were to go to Nevis again, I'd just walk over to the ferry myself, catch a cab to where I wanted to go and then take the 3pm SeaBridge ferry back to St Kitts. The only logistical problem would be finding a cab from the car/cargo ferry on St Kitts back to the ship. No cabs lined up waiting there.

Nevis really needs to have a later than 1pm passenger ferry back to St Kitts so cruise passengers can enjoy visiting on their own.

 

Michael

Edited February 6, 2014 by mdrobtx

[cbell21219]

reganshamrock: scooter sounds like fun. Did you need a map or is island small enough to find your way around? Any suggested stops? Will be there in mid-Feb. Thanks.

 

 

There is one main road that runs all the way around the island but there are alot of smaller town areas. It is easy enough to navigate, but if you get turned around all you have to do is ask and a local will point you on your way.

[erniesband]

Ok we went over to Nevis for the day off Jewel of the Seas.

We booked the trip with Beulah Mills who runs Welcome Tours.

 

 

It was $85 pp and that included all transportation, ferry's, lunch and Tour with Teach Tours in Nevis.

 

Michael

 

Glad that Teach actually showed up for your tour. Can I ask how many of you there were?

[OCruisers]

We've never been to Nevis on-our-own but have taken the catamaran excursion to Nevis offered by the ship several times.

 

Great way to spend the day! :D

 

LuLu

~~~~

[mdrobtx]

Glad that Teach actually showed up for your tour. Can I ask how many of you there were?

 

Eight of us.

 

From what we could piece together, Beulah is the organizer and they're both still working out communication and tour itinerary.

The one thing they don't have control of is the ferry. And that could potentially be a BIG problem with their arrangement.

[erniesband]

Eight of us.

 

From what we could piece together, Beulah is the organizer and they're both still working out communication and tour itinerary.

The one thing they don't have control of is the ferry. And that could potentially be a BIG problem with their arrangement.

 

Thanks, the ferry wasn't the problem, lack of communication with Teach and the others involved with our excursion was. Beulah later tried to tell us that because there were only 3 of us Teach wasn't interested in taking a small group. If she had been upfront with us about not having the proper arrangements in place our whole problem wouldn't have happened. And we also have come to believe that Beulah is nothing more than a broker that arranges tours with other drivers.

[mdrobtx]

Thanks, the ferry wasn't the problem, lack of communication with Teach and the others involved with our excursion was. Beulah later tried to tell us that because there were only 3 of us Teach wasn't interested in taking a small group. If she had been upfront with us about not having the proper arrangements in place our whole problem wouldn't have happened. And we also have come to believe that Beulah is nothing more than a broker that arranges tours with other drivers.

 

Agree completely.

I think she could have some good tours. Just need to get her arrangements and communications down.