First Time to St. Kitts - TO TOUR OR NOT TO TOUR

[poolwife]

Our group of 4 are having a hard time deciding whether to tour or not.

 

A tour sounds good like through Thenford Tours or Island Paradise Tours because this is our first time to St. Kitts BUT also having a total relaxing beach day in paradise sounds great too.

 

We are 58, 63, 63, 65 young years.

 

Any thoughts out there?.........................Like maybe from those that have been to St. Kitts before.

[Havi2000]

Hi there! We're coming up on 4th trip to St Kitts in April.

Our son was married there in 2010. Our favorite relaxing thing to do is take a taxi to the Marriott Beach Resort and Casino, about $10. The beach is beautiful, pool is gorgeous and we love the casino! A day pass is $70, for use of everything with a small discount on food and drinks. Great swim up pool bar! But there is no charge to walk thru the property to the beach. Not a swimming beach though, its fairly rough. I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can!

[seashinesunshine]

Our group of 4 are having a hard time deciding whether to tour or not.

 

A tour sounds good like through Thenford Tours or Island Paradise Tours because this is our first time to St. Kitts BUT also having a total relaxing beach day in paradise sounds great too.

 

We are 58, 63, 63, 65 young years.

 

Any thoughts out there?.........................Like maybe from those that have been to St. Kitts before.

 

We have been there several times, I think you will be happy with a beach day or a tour. If you tour, I would recommend taking a tour to the baktic (spelling?) factory, then Brimstone Fort and then continue on around the island to see the Atlantic side.

It is very easy when you get there to arrange a tour around the island with a taxi driver when you get off the ship if you want to wait to decide what to do.

[Havi2000]

So sorry, please note the day pass at the Marriott is $35 per person. My husband reminded me that $70 was for both of us. The other option I would recommend as far as touring would be to go to Cockleshell Beach. Its about 15-20 minutes as I recall, from the Marriott, but the view at the mountain top on the way there is spectacular! There's a nice restaurant on the beach, Spice maybe? And a short walk down the beach and you're at Turtle Bay. Very pretty. Hope this helps!

[poolwife]

Thank you.

 

Any of you also had a beach day at Carambola Beach Club? It seems pretty popular also besides the Marriott. How would you compare the two day beach stays?

[poolwife]

Did anyone feel they had enough beach time after taking a tour? It sounds like the time would be cramped.

[paul58]

As a frequent visitor to St Kitts, I would do the tour. The beaches are fine but there are other islands with better beaches.

[CaribbeanBound]

I would absolutely tour.

 

We've been to St. Kitts twice and booked Mr. Grey both times.

 

First trip: We hired Thenford Grey himself for this "Island Tour". The cost was $40 per person and ran from 8:00am until about 2:00 pm with beach time available at Cockleshell Beach at the end of the tour. Thenford first took us through the historic city of Basseterre which was founded in 1625 by French settlers. After the city highlights we stopped at the ruins of an old sugar cane processing factory and Romney Manor-Caribelle Batik which was once owned by Captain Samuel Jefferson, the great, great, great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson. The Plantation House which sits amidst 25 acres of lush tropical gardens, is now a batik factory and store. The gardens feature a large collection of exotic plants, palms and trees from all over the world. We saw numerous green tailed monkeys in the short drive between the ruin and the Manor. We then spent an hour at Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park which sets atop a volcanic cone that is 800 feet high and offers 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and neighboring islands. Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a World Heritage Site. (The $8.00 entrance fee was included). The Fortress is indeed impressive. I could have easily spent 4 hours exploring this impressive site. A lot of monkeys make their home in the vegetation surrounding the fort. Thenford shared a lot of local history with us as we explored the island. We also saw a live cockfight (two roosters going at each other) in the middle of the street. Our last stop was Cockleshell Beach where we had an opportunity to swim, collect shells, and grab a beer. On the way, we saw wandering goats, cows, and more monkeys. Recommended!

 

On our second tip we wanted to spend a lot more time at the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park so we arranged with Thenford Grey to be dropped off early and then join his regular tour when they arrived at the fortress prior to continuing on to South Friar's Beach. We spent 3 hours exploring the fort and outlying structures. Hint: bring a flashlight to explore dark passages. Next to the fort is a tall grassy mound called Monkey Hill (aka Fort Charlotte). A worker had recently cut a 6-foot wide access path to the top of the hill which offers nice views. About 75% to the top is a side path that will take you to a recently rediscovered 15x20 foot (my estimate) stone out-building, with openings for 3 cannon, that was hidden under vegetation. It also offered views of the fort and the steep gorge behind it. After we left the fortress, we visited an overlook where you could see the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean on either side of a thin stretch of the island. The bodies of water could not have been separated by more than a quarter-mile. We the got dropped off at South Friar's Beach which offers an active bar and grill with lots of shade and picnic-style seating, restrooms, an outdoor shower, changing rooms, a nice beach with black and beige sands, a protected swim area and some snorkeling opportunities. We saw over a dozen different types of fish along the manmade reef and lots of sea urchins (some close to a foot in diameter).

 

More "Secrets of the Caribbean": http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

First-hand information on excursions we've taken in over 20 Caribbean ports. With photos!

Edited February 15, 2014 by CaribbeanBound

[jasminelee]

I totally agree about Thenford Grey - one of the best tour operators we have ever had. You won't miss anything by not going to the beach there

[Kayaktom]

It looks like Thenford Grey is the way to go. Great info.

[CntPAcruiser]

I'd go with touring the island. There are some great historic sites, including Brimstone Fortress, but also other, smaller things to see (which Royston stopped at and talked about during our tour with him--I'm not sure if I've read about these being included on other tours). Also, the views are amazing from the elevations. We have some gorgeous pictures and memories from our day on St. Kitts.

[Reader0108598]

Our group of 4 are having a hard time deciding whether to tour or not.

 

A tour sounds good like through Thenford Tours or Island Paradise Tours because this is our first time to St. Kitts BUT also having a total relaxing beach day in paradise sounds great too.

 

We are 58, 63, 63, 65 young years.

 

Any thoughts out there?.........................Like maybe from those that have been to St. Kitts before.

 

 

DH and I just did a ATV tour with Spectrum ATV Tours .(last week)

 

I am 55 DH is 66 .This was my first time driving an ATV ,what a blast.

Left my seat a few times and DH had trouble keeping up with me :D

If you decided to do this wear long pants, sneakers and sunglasses.

Look up their reviews ..........

 

Reader

Edited June 1, 2014 by Reader0108598

[poolwife]

Well after touring the fort in San Juan, and the the one on St. kitts, we were totally done with historic forts. Didn't think the tour on St. kitts would take so long. We had Thenfords brother. What a kick he was. Very nice guy. But no time left at the end to stay at the beach. If we ever go bAck to St. kitts we will go directly to the beach for the day. The beach area was very pretty. Can't remember the name of the beach but it was the one with the little shack where you could get food. Food was very good.

 

 

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[Sunny AZ Girl]

We were fortunate enough to be able to do both. We just came back from a B2B and visited the island twice. It would be a hard decision as the island is one of the more interesting islands and truly worthy of a tour. On the other hand, our day at Carambola Beach Club was one of the nicest beach days we have had in a long time.

 

I just wrote a review and included both of these days. You can read about our Carambola day here, beginning with post #47. Our second week we did the Clay Villa Best of St. Kitts Tour. You can read all about that one here, beginning with post #154.

[mr & mrs ice]

Tour! My husband and I just came back from a Southern Caribbean cruise, and of all the ports, we had the best time in St. Kitts. We got off the boat, and we were stopped by a taxi/tour driver named Veronica. For $20/pp we got a 2.5 hour tour of the island. She was personable, knowledgeable, and overall very fun to be around. The tour took us to the rain forest where we could walk around and explore a bit. Then, she took us to the botanical gardens and batik shop, and finally, we went to a look-out point to view the beaches and the point where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet. She then offered to drop us off at a beach and pick us back up 2 hours later. We had a great time with her, and it still gave us enough time to beach/shop/whatever when we were done. I can't recommend Veronica's tour enough!

[OCruisers]

Well after touring the fort in San Juan, and the the one on St. kitts, we were totally done with historic forts. Didn't think the tour on St. kitts would take so long. We had Thenfords brother. What a kick he was. Very nice guy. But no time left at the end to stay at the beach. If we ever go bAck to St. kitts we will go directly to the beach for the day. The beach area was very pretty. Can't remember the name of the beach but it was the one with the little shack where you could get food. Food was very good.

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Hi to the OP and thanks for reporting back. :)

Good plan to just go directly to a beach next time!

LuLu