How Nice is the Port of Basseterre, St. Kitts?

Hi Cruise Critic,

I'm embarking on my first ever Eastern Carribean cruise on June 6th on the Sunshine. I've read reviews of San Juan, St. Maarten, and Grand Turk, but we are also going to St. Kitts. I have yet to see anything about St. Kitts, so if you've been there, can you tell me what it's like, how nice it is, and if there are any good excursions?

Thank you,

Futurz

It's a nice port. The main shopping area is right outside the dock. We didn't do an excursion - we did a beach day at Carambola Beach Club. It's a high end club - $10 for a beach chair, $10 for an umbrella, food is on the high-end, but it was well worth it. The beach chairs are right on the waterline.

Maybe people do the train excursion through Carnival - that seems to be pretty popular.

St Kitts is so beautiful! Can't wait to go back there in Sept. Last trip there we did an island tour. Tried to book with Royston Tours, but he wasn't available so he arranged for his cousin Ashton to take us on the tour. No one else signed up and Ashton still showed up and gave us a private tour for $45 each. It was just my husband and I. Ashton was fabulous! He's very passionate about his country and was a great tour guide. We drove through the town, and did a complete circle around the island. We saw Romney Manor and learned about the sugar mills, went to Caribelle Batik where we had the chance to see the dying process of batik and made a few purchases. We went to Brimstone Hill Fortress, the old fort...the view from the top was magnificent! Then saw the black rocks and where the Atlantic and Caribbean sea meet. Stopped at Timothy Hill, a gorgeous spot where you can see both the Atlantic and Caribbean sea from the top of the hill looking south on the peninsula, stopped and picked up lunch and ate at the beach, where we had a couple hours to swim and the snorkeling was great!

When we were first planning our trip, St Kitts was the last island we booked anything for. For some reason since I hadn't seen as much info about it I just wasn't as excited about it as I was about our other stops, but after being there, it ended up being one of my favorite places!

Enjoy your time in St Kitts, whatever you do!

I love St. Kitts! We've been there a few times on different cruises. This is one of my favorite views in all of the Caribbean, where the Atlantic Ocean is separated by only a few hundred yards from the Caribbean sea. I believe this is Frigate Bay, looking down from what our cab driver called "Timothy Hill."

Hope you enjoy your time there. We did beach days when we were there. There are lots of monkeys running around everywhere in St. Kitts, and the people were very friendly.

Love St. Kitts!! Going back there in August on the Breeze. Last time I was supposed to do the Train Tour (Rail & Sail), but it was cancelled. Instead, wound up going to the Shipwreck Beach Bar on South Friars Beach. You can see a lot of pictures of St. Kitts in my Solo Splendor photo review which can be accessed by the link in my signature.

First time there we did a catamaran/ snorkel trip booked through Carnival which was great.

This past November we took a taxi to the Shipwreck bar just down the road from Carambola Beach Club. Shipreck is very rustic and laid back. Food and drink very reasonable. The beachfront is the black volcanic sand, unique and beautiful.

Plenty of monkeys and mongoose to view.

st. kitts is beautiful. if you are a bit adventurous and not afraid to drive on the left, it is an easy island to drive. that's what we did our first trip there. we are looking at our 6th time there, so may do a trip to nevis this time.

My wife and I were there in 2013 while on the Jewel. As a point of reference we've been on 7 cruises in the Caribbean I have traveled abroad extensively...and this Island has some good and some bad...it was raining the day we were there so we decided to skip the tour and just walk past the ship dock shopping and go around town on foot....then we walked through the main park a few blocks past the main street (more in the heart of the town) as my wife wanted to take some pictures of a church she saw in the cruise ship literature. Well if your a few blocks away from the main drag it gets a little sketchy....I'm a mid forties guy about 6ft and 210lbs (athletic build) and trained in several martial arts, and even I felt uncomfortable....there were several groups of 10 or more West Indian men hanging out in the park smoking weed and cat-calling every woman who walked by...copper wires had been stripped out of the street lights and trash was everywhere...my 'Spidey senses were tingling' so just a word of caution, stay in a group and keep your head up and pay attention when in st. Kitts at least around the main port town...as for the rest of the island my fellow cruisers had positive reviews...