St. Kitts

[B1G]

Carambola Beach :D

[DrivesLikeMario]

I'm glad you posted this. I've been having the same problems with not being able to decide what to do. What helped me the most was watching videos on Youtube of Carambola Beach, Brimstone Hill, and the little train.

 

The train is something like $100 per person which I thought was steep just for the ride. South Friars Beach & Carambola looked pretty crowded to me, as did Cockleshell.

 

Maybe we'll hire a taxi to take us to Brimstone Hill. Just not sure what to do still. Hiking is out, snorkeling is out, we love nice beaches but hate the crowds. Such a quandary...

[keesar]

I would second the catamaran snorkeling tour. I have also done it twice and really enjoyed it. The ship was clean and the crew was a lot of fun. The snorkeling was excellent each time. We saw a large variety of colorful fish. The coral was real special as well.

Edited January 9, 2016 by keesar

[SharonK]

Love Carambola Beach. We book there every time we're in St. Kitts.

 

Is there a website or how do you reserve? Thanks!

[swigso]

Is there a website or how do you reserve? Thanks!

 

You don't really need to book, there is a long stretch of

Beach, it's ok but not WOW, plenty of sun beds, think we are

on the same cruise. We may well take the Ferry to Nevis,

and have a wander around.somewhere new or indeed

stay aboard and have the ship to ourselves 👍🏻

[PORT ROYAL]

Is there a website or how do you reserve? Thanks!

 

Reserve: http://www.carambolabeachclub.com/contact/

 

We, and friends, have been booking since opening. It is an insiders thing to keep away the cruise herds, who just turn up, walk straight past reception/check in, or along the beach, do not pay, and start taking the reserved sun beds. Then security are called etc.

 

Send an e-mail to the "info", stating your arrival date/time/beds and Daisy will reply with your booking. The front rank (by the sea) are for booked clients the rear ranks are for the pay on the day arrival guests.

 

When you arrive, attend reception, to your right on entering.

Give your reservation names then pay.

Take your receipt to the beach, where you see sunbeds with umberellas laying down and showing reserved plaques.

Select your position with the assistance of the beach attendant.

Hand over the receipt and he will bring your large/thick mattresses, and errect your umberella.

A small gratutity is greatly appreciated.

 

2 beds and umberella $30.00 total

[vickykay]

Taxi cost to get there?

[PORT ROYAL]

Taxi cost to get there?

 

$4.00 per Person each way

Edited January 9, 2016 by PORT ROYAL

[mickey89]

You don't really need to book, there is a long stretch of

Beach, it's ok but not WOW, plenty of sun beds, think we are

on the same cruise. We may well take the Ferry to Nevis,

and have a wander around.somewhere new or indeed

stay aboard and have the ship to ourselves 👍🏻

Is it the WOW beach for St Kitts, not many better. If you want a Sun Shade, which is essential in my opinion, you DEFINITELY need to reserve in advance, otherwise you will end up under one of their large tents. (info@carambolabeachclub.com)

Sharon, we are on the same cruise and will be booking ahead. Royal Clipper will be moored off South Friars and tender their passengers to this beach, so will be busy, get there early is my recommendation. The beach is much better than Cockleshell crystal clear water and they do a great job of clearing the wash-up seaweed along its shoreline.

[mickey89]

Thanks for sharing. Did you have to get to this area by boat or was it accessible from shore?

The man-made lagoon is right next to South Friars beach, a few paces. Go to Google Earth and type in South Friars St Kits and you will clearly see the lagoon, enjoy its fabulous area for snorkeling.

[LynnVB]

South Friars-definitely for a Beach Day. One time we went to Reggae Beach-small, crowded, nice people but would not go again.

 

Carambola Beach Club is beautiful. I would recommend going on your own and early. Ask for Marge at the Welcome Center. She drives a cab as opposed to the vans. Same price, did not have to wait for the van to fill up before leaving, and we arrived at the beach at least an hour before everyone we saw at the port. And, 2 hours ahead of excursions. By the time they showed up chairs were gone.

Marge returned at the time we requested to take us on the scenic tour back to port.

[Froxfield]

Last time in St Kitts, we went to a cookery demonstration at Fairview Great House and Botanic Garden since we had done the sugar train on a previous occasion. The sugar train is a good trip. At the Great House, as well as the demonstration and tasting, there was a low key tour of the Botanic Gardens and some history of the Great House. We found the trip both interesting and enjoyable.

[prim8keeper]

Can anyone who has done this tell me how they found it. We are planning to try it in a couple of weeks...

 

 

You can book it directly through X. It does indeed take 6 hours. I think we actually took a little longer. Usually we book excursions outside of X, however this is one I would recommend you book with them. Our group was the first up and first down. We were also smaller than the other groups we passed. It was a lot of fun.

[GatorinCary]

We were there in December and went to Palm Courts Garden. It was beautiful. You can walk to it from the port. There's a small entrance fee to walk around ($2) or you can get a day pass to hang out at the pool (I think its $12). We didn't eat at the restaurant, but we did get drinks at the bar. A great, hidden treasure!

[OCruisers]

If the beaches on St. Kitts are unsatisfactory, we have found the catamaran excursion to a beach on Nevis enjoyable.

 

The catamaran sail to Nevis is a good one we've enjoyed taking several times over the years. It's been offered as an excursion for a very long time. :)

LuLu

[OCruisers]

We were there in December and went to Palm Courts Garden. It was beautiful. You can walk to it from the port. There's a small entrance fee to walk around ($2) or you can get a day pass to hang out at the pool (I think its $12). We didn't eat at the restaurant, but we did get drinks at the bar. A great, hidden treasure!

 

We're considering Palms Court the next time in St. Kitts so appreciate your positive comments. :)

 

http://www.palmscourtgardens.com

 

LuLu

[james'mommy]

We did the rail and sail last time we were there. It was really nice. They make the best pina coladas on the train. I think I had 3. This cruise we are probably going to Carambola Beach Club.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Last year we too a tour with Javin which we really liked; he's on Trip Advisor and the ports of call here; it was 'slightly' active, including a short rain forest hike, climbing on lava rocks, snorkeling and beach time.

 

This year we took an island tour with Thenford Grey specifically to see Brimstone Fortress, which was spectacular. We also toured other spots on the island with this tour and ended at a beach.

[oneputt18]

Can anyone who has done this tell me how they found it. We are planning to try it in a couple of weeks...

 

You must be in very good physical shape. The climb is very steep and difficult in parts.

[Cruise Raider]

Of all the ports we've gone to or are scheduled to hit, St. Kitts seems to be the toughest to figure out what to do. There's just not a ton of information about it and nobody we know has been there.

I'm sure many of you have done it and can jump in here with some ideas from your experience.

What would you recommend?

Is there anything to do right around the dock? Is there anything spectacular that we absolutely shouldn't miss?

Open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks.

 

This place fast became one of our favorites after visiting without a plan in mind. We were just going to walk around the dock area and ran into someone that was explaining how to get to one of the prettiest beaches on the island. They have free shuttles out to the casino at the Marriott -- but were assured that we could just go to the beach if we wanted to once there. Not sure how that would have worked out as I usually never fall for those 'free' offers....but we were going to spend a little time in the casino anyway, so thought we might try it out.

While we were waiting, we took a ride and were invited to join one of those open air trolleys on a tour. Again, we really weren't sure if that is what we wanted to do but were told if we didn't like the tour, it would be free. It was a tour with Sir Walter, $25 pp and they took us around the island with a stop at the batik facilities which was located in some beautiful gardens and a stop up where the Caribbean sea meets the Atlantic Ocean .. unbelievable scenery! From there, we actually spotted that beach at the Marriott from atop the hill... wow, that would have also been an amazing thing to do once we saw it. We were supplied with icy cold beers, waters or sodas throughout the tour, which I think was about 3.5 hours long.

At the end, we asked if we really loved the tour, do we now have to pay double?? Best $50 spent! Oh...make that $60 as we tipped Sir Walter as we drank several of his beers. He was just so appreciative....such a great guide in a place where we had no idea of what to do. I have tried this in other ports without such great results ... not the case at all here, though.

[toes_in_sand]

Of all the ports we've gone to or are scheduled to hit, St. Kitts seems to be the toughest to figure out what to do. There's just not a ton of information about it and nobody we know has been there.

I'm sure many of you have done it and can jump in here with some ideas from your experience.

What would you recommend?

Is there anything to do right around the dock? Is there anything spectacular that we absolutely shouldn't miss?

Open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks.

 

We did a Food Tour of Basseterre when we were in port last November. We went to some hidden gem restaurants that you would not find on your own

[SeasideMemories]

If you have good mobility I highly recommend MyIslandsTour by Javin! We did his full day tour while in St Kitts last October and had a blast. While it is an active tour and we are in our 50's and by no means super fit we did just fine. I posted a review in the St Kitts thread in the ports of call topic if you are interested.

Edited January 10, 2016 by SeasideMemories

[mlrack101]

We've toured with Javin twice and LOVED it! Once by ourselves and the second time we brought our college aged kids. I can't say enough positive things about Javins tour

 

Last time we did the volcano hike with Poinciana Tours. David, the owner was our guide and it was amazing. I was so happy we went with David vs the cruise hike as they were VERY large groups w/ people of all age/ability ranges and several groups we saw were turning around because everyone couldn't make it. We had a group of 8. It is a rain forest so expect wet trails, rocks and tree roots BUT the view from the top is amazing.

 

We actually saw Javin on our last trip and he ran right up to us and gave us a huge hug....either trip you'll be in good hands!

[Oceangoer2]

Is it the WOW beach for St Kitts, not many better. If you want a Sun Shade, which is essential in my opinion, you DEFINITELY need to reserve in advance, otherwise you will end up under one of their large tents. (info@carambolabeachclub.com)

Sharon, we are on the same cruise and will be booking ahead. Royal Clipper will be moored off South Friars and tender their passengers to this beach, so will be busy, get there early is my recommendation. The beach is much better than Cockleshell crystal clear water and they do a great job of clearing the wash-up seaweed along its shoreline.

Thanks to all for the recommendation. We just reserved for our March visit.

[Nebr.cruiser]

If you have good mobility I highly recommend MyIslandsTour by Javin! We did his full day tour while in St Kitts last October and had a blast. While it is an active tour and we are in our 50's and by no means super fit we did just fine. I posted a review in the St Kitts thread in the ports of call topic if you are interested.

 

This is the tour we did with Javin. We were 68 and 69 and had no problems, although climbing around on the lava rocks was a little challenging as to balance. I agree you do need to be mobile. Actually, at least 6 of the people on our tour did none of the activities, just rode along and got out for views and the beach. We loved the tour.