For us, St. Kitts was a beach. Let me explain…
When we woke up on Tuesday, I went out to get my first cup
of coffee and take a look at our Port for the Day, Basseterre, St. Kitts. I have said before that most Caribbean
Islands are basically the same. St.
Kitts might be at the extreme end of that sameness. At first glance from the ship’s rail, St.
Kitts does not look like an Island paradise, lush and green. No. In
fact, it appears quite the opposite.
Brown and barren.
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| ST. KITTS |
During my online research I had learned that St. Kitts was a
very small Island, only 68 sq. mi. For
my geometrically challenged friends, think of it this way: St. Kitts is
approximately 5 miles wide x 13 miles long.
Its sister Island, Nevis, which sits only 2 miles away is only 36 sq.
miles. Most cruise ships pass by these
tiny Islands, but that is changing.
Tourism has replaced sugar as the dominate source of income.
We didn’t have a “plan” for the day. So… we decided to get a bite of breakfast
from the Windjammer Buffet – I enjoyed the Granola Bar (a bowl of granola
topped with dried figs, dates, and apricots), along with peanut butter and
cream cheese on whole grain toast – and then go see if we could find a beach.
Once off the ship we were greeted by the usual hoard of taxi
/ tour vendors. We asked a few about
rates and beaches. I wanted to see if
they were all recommending the same beach.
“Recommended” beaches are not necessarily “good” beaches. It usually just means that the drivers are
getting kick-backs from the cafés or restaurants for bringing in the
tourists. It usually means that the
beach will be crowded. It usually means
that you will be frequently approached by vendors wanting to sell / rent you
everything from necklaces to massages to jet skis to time-share
presentations. It means that you will
have to keep aware of stray Frisbees and out of bounds volleyballs. So… if you are wanting a quiet beach without
a bunch of hassle and noise… you might want to stay away from “recommended”
beaches.
After our casual survey of recommendations, we decided to go
to head out to South Friars Bay, which is on the west side / Caribbean Sea side
of the Island, which is more desirable because of the typically calmer
surf. This was closer and less expensive
than the “highly recommended” Cockleshell Beach that is at the southernmost tip
of St. Kitts.
The taxi ride took about 15-20 minutes to get us to Carambola
Beach Club. This beachfront resort was
“very” nice. As we walked in we were
told that all the umbrellas and chairs were being used. It took me all of about 2 seconds to realize
that we were NOT going to get stuck here.
I looked at Joni with a bit of frustration and said, “Let’s go.”
We stepped back out to the circular drive where we had been
dropped off to discover that our taxi was gone; back to pick up more tourists
that he could bring to this “recommended” beach resort that was “full”. I approached another taxi that was unloading
more unsuspecting tourists.
“They have no more beach chairs and umbrellas.
The place is packed!”, I announced.
We need to go somewhere else.
Some walked past me; a few understood and looked at the
driver.
“Where else can you take us?”, I queried.
“There’s a great place just down the road. Hop in.
I’ll take you; no charge.”
“Sounds wonderful.
Thank you.”
Within just a few minutes she delivered us to Shipwreck
Beach, which is on the southern side of South Friars Bay. It was PERFECT.
Shipwreck Beach is a secluded quiet stretch of black and
white sand with a nice little beachfront bar / café where you can get drinks or
a bite to eat. It is a bit more
primitive than what some would care for, but it has all the essentials
necessary for a relaxing day at the beach.
For Joni and me, it was ideal.
Instead of bright yellow canvas
“Carib”
umbrellas more commonly seen along the beaches, Shipwreck Beach had rustic
straw covered shelters just big enough for two.
We picked one at the far south end and got to work “doing nothing”. Shipwreck Beach even features wild green vervet monkeys,
which they claim are more in number on St. Kitts than the 35,000 residents.
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| CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER |
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| A HARD DAY'S WORK |
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| GREEN VERVET MONKEY |
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| BOUGAINVILLEA - ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS |
After a few hours of hard and strenuous work of holding down
a lounge chair on the beach… we found a taxi which was waiting by the Shipwreck
Bar and Grill. After a brief stop to
take a few scenic pics of a spot where the Atlantic Ocean is separated from the
Caribbean Sea by only a 1/2 mile ribbon of land, we soon were back in Basseterre,
and then back aboard the Jewel.
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| ATLANTIC OCEAN ON LEFT / CARIBBEAN SEA ON RIGHT |
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| GOOD-BYE TO ST. KITTS |
