need help on what to see

[coco6]

Hi, I will be in st. kitts in july of 2008 on carnival destiny. We will be in port from 7:00am-4:00pm. I can't decide if I want to do the scenic railway or a tour guide to see the island. these are so of the places I was hoping to see, Brimstone hill, black rocks, bassterre and frigate bay. Do you get to see these places when you do the scenic railway? which is better, the railway or a guided tour of these places?

 

and I was hoping once I finished seeing these places I would have time to get the ferry to nevis? do you think I would have time to do all that?

also, at nevis, which is the best beach to see? are all the sand there dark or do they have white powdery sand?

 

I want to see the island and have time to swim at nevis somewhere. whichever has a nice beach with white sand or some snorkeling. I don't really care for any beach sports.

 

Thanks

[paul58]

The best value would be to have a taxi do an island tour. They would take you to all of the places you have mentioned & at your pace. The Scenic Railway tour does not run when you are there in July I believe. They usually run only during the high season when there are more cruise ships in. Going to Nevis would be possible but considering your time constraints I would forgo that & concentrate on St Kitts.

[coco6]

where are the beaches better at st.kitts or nevis?

[coco6]

So you don't think I will have time to do an island tour with thenfordgrey and then go to nevis and see pinney's beach?

for the island tour will he take us to see brimstone hill, basseterre, black rocks and romney manor? how does it work, we tell him what we want to see? does he need a full van or bus load? could he leave us off at cockleshell beach and pick us up to return back to the ship?

 

Thanks

[paul58]

The best thing to do would be to call the St Kitts tourist # @ 1-800-582-6208 and have them send you their latest information. Depending when you disembark your ship, you would have take the ferry to Nevis at 8AM or 9:30 with a return at 1 PM to get back to St Kitts. The ferry ride is about 45 min each way.

[coco6]

ok and then if I get back for 1:00 would you think I still have time to do the tour of the island with a taxi driver and get back to my ship by 4:00?

I guess I could just tour the island with a taxi driver and then just head over to cockleshell beach and hangout there til its time for me to go back to the ship. Any idea how long it takes to tour the island with lets say thenfordgrey?

 

Thanks

[paul58]

The ferry leaves Nevis at 1PM, so you would not get back to St Kitts until 1:45 or so. That would leave little time to do the tour if you have to be back to the ship by 4PM.

[lavalcruiser]

The beaches in St. Kitts are great. South Frigate Bay is the most popular with cruise ships. Lots of fun beach bars. Definitely check out Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack and Ziggy's. The best beach bars on the strip.

 

South Friars is nice and Cockleshell is very popular as well. Spent a few days on Cockleshell at Reggae Beach Bar. Delicious food and friendly staff. You can rent snorkels, kayaks and they also have a gift shop.

 

Which of these beaches is the closest to the port ? Thank you for your answer :)

[paul58]

South Frigate Bay beach is the closest to Port Zante. It is about a 10 minute drive.

[lizbeth]

Hi -

We just returned from our cruise which included a day at St. Kitts. We rarely book ship tours, preferring to hire a taxi driver at the pier.

 

In St. Kitts we walked off the ship at 9:30 and found dozens of eager taxi drivers willing to negotiate. Originally the driver said $20. U.S. dollars per person for a tour of the island. However, he put several other couples in the van, and the price went down to $15 per person. We had a lovely 2-hour driving tour with 4 or 5 stops. We saw the black lava rocks, we stopped at the batik factory for 20 minutes, and we went to a gorgeous overlook to see where the Altantic and Caribbean waves come together. It was amazing. We loved the tour and our guide dropped us back at Circus Square, where we requested to be let off.

 

Be sure to eat lunch in Circus Square at Ballahoo Restaurant (a 2nd floor open-air restaurant overlooking the square). Do NOT order the cheeseburger & fries like so many of our fellow passengers. Instead, order the white conch chowder ... it is amazing and delicious... about $5.95 US dollars per person for the chowder and hot rolls. (Most conch chowder is fixed with tomatoes, Bahama style. The white chowder is much, much better and quite hard to find.)

 

We are not beach people, so we just wandered the town before heading back to the ship.

 

Hope this is useful to you!

Liz

[hi2you]

Are things, like the shops and restaurants relatively close to the ship? What about a beach, is there one closer than the 10 minute drive? What would be your top must sees on the island?

[lillie51]

So there is Frigate Bay and Cockelshell. How far away is Cockelshell? Do they have snorkeling at both beaches?

[wendyjohnk]

the closest beach according to me is the marrioott beach known as frigate bay

for shopping there is some shopping area by the peir called port zante .....

i would highly recommend glitter jewelry store there ...its a family owned jewelry business by a ypung enterprising couple .....gr8 prices and good quality

i didnt catre for any other shopping otherwise except with these guys

the beach at mariot was gr8 and is abt a 10 min drive from the port ...make sure u bargain with the cab driver