Brimstone Hill and beach - help

[TwinCruiserMom]

Our family of 5 would like to go to Brimstone Hill Fortress and then to a nice beach.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for which beach would be most convenient?

 

Also, should we just get a taxi and have him wait for us at Brimstone Hill or get another taxi back to the beach?

 

We usually plan a guided tour when we have plans like these but since we only want to go to the two places, we were wondering what would be the easiest and least expensive way to do this.

 

I would sincerely appreciate any advice you can give on this!

 

Thanks,

 

Kathy

[Attack Dog]

Our family of 5 would like to go to Brimstone Hill Fortress and then to a nice beach.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for which beach would be most convenient?

 

Also, should we just get a taxi and have him wait for us at Brimstone Hill or get another taxi back to the beach?

 

We usually plan a guided tour when we have plans like these but since we only want to go to the two places, we were wondering what would be the easiest and least expensive way to do this.

 

I would sincerely appreciate any advice you can give on this!

 

Thanks,

 

Kathy

 

 

Sorry if this comes late but I haven't been on this thread in awhile.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=535117&highlight=cappy+taxi

[Oceanurse]

Dear Attack Dog.

 

Thank you for the info on Cappy. Do you remember how much he charged and also for what time period (4 hours?). My girlfriend and I will be there in Feb. and Cappy seems like a good choice! Thanks so much.

 

Cathy

[dcrow72]

tour prices are government controlled in St Kitts. There are preprinted menus of tours that each driver has with prices. We used Jim from Rose and Jim's (husband and wife) 2 years in a row doing different tours. We hired him for the whole day this year for about $200 (5 of us but his van would hold 10-11 comfortably). He was waiting in the taxi area when we disembarked. I understand that the prices are about to go up so I don't know what they'll be; we were actually quoted higher but when we arrived were told that the higher rates were not yet in effect. All prices are per person not per trip. We did a long island tour including a hike for the kids in the rain forest with great narratives. Saw ruins from the sugar processing plants of old. Went by the Fort, but didn't feel like hiking it. Stopped at the black beach where the lava flowed from the volcano 400 yrs ago; beautiful views. Saw the Batik store, gardens, etc. Saw some hurricane damages from Omar. He then dropped us at Cockleshell and returned at the agreed upon time and returned us to the ship. We paid him when we were finished. The kids loved Cockleshell; monkeys to hold, Wilbur the pig hanging out, friendly dogs, and jet skis for rent; something for everyone! If anyone is interested, their email is rose_jim at sisterisles dot kn. Just FYI, I heard others on the ship complaining that they thought they had booked independent tours for their group and then found themselves on a bus type van with others not in their group. We had him all to ourselves; depends on what you want. Last year a short island tour followed by being dropped off at the Marriott cost $15 per person. (just for comparison).

[Attack Dog]

Dear Attack Dog.

 

Thank you for the info on Cappy. Do you remember how much he charged and also for what time period (4 hours?). My girlfriend and I will be there in Feb. and Cappy seems like a good choice! Thanks so much.

 

Cathy

 

 

Cathy,

 

As dcrow menioned the rates are government imposed. I don't remember the rates but somehow I think that the more passengers the cheaper the fair. My group paid $120.00 for the five us. Plus we threw in another $25.00 for a tip. I don't remember how many hours we used him for.

[dcrow72]

I might be mistaken, but I think the government rates are published per person and not per trip. I know they could not charge us the increased fare without getting in trouble.

[Attack Dog]

I might be mistaken, but I think the government rates are published per person and not per trip. I know they could not charge us the increased fare without getting in trouble.

 

 

That's what I remember too. Liz posted a thread somewhere on this board that showed the taxi cab rates. If anyone is interested in it they should try to search for it.

[vista03]

The Official St. Kitts Tourism website lists the most recent Taxi Fares:

http://www.stkittstourism.kn/Docs/Taxi%20Fares%20EC.pdf

These fares are effective as of 01 November 2005. I contacted the Tourism Office 2 months ago and these rates were current, however they were being reviewed.

A Taxi Tour from Frigate Bay/Basseterre to Brimstone Hill for a maximum of 2 hours is $50 USD for 1 to 4 people. If there are 5 or more people in your vehicle it is $12.50 USD per person. So if there are only 2 people in your vehicle it will cost $25 USD per person.