Overview

In the late 18th century, the massive fortress of Brimstone Hill was known as "The Gibraltar of the West Indies." Built of black volcanic rock (then called "brimstone"), it was held at times by both the English and French, but was a neglected, almost forgotten legacy when efforts to restore it began in 1965. Today the fort, with one of grandest views in all the Caribbean, is a national park and the island's historical centerpiece.

But you don't have to be a history buff to get caught up in charms of St. Kitts. This is mostly a low-key island, but shoppers can survey duty-free bargains in the capital of Basseterre, while hikers can tackle a variety of mountain and cloud forest trails in the green interior - including a trek to a crater lake in the caldera of Mount Liamuiga volcano. Meanwhile, greens of a more manicured variety can be found at the championship Royal St. Kitts Golf Course (designed by Peter Thompson, five-time winner of the British Open).

And like sister island Nevis, just two miles away, sun and sand are never in short supply - at least nowadays. Until recent years, the best beaches (on the southeastern end of St. Kitts) were mostly inaccessible except by boat. Now a new road has paved the way, to coin a phrase, to a series of classic, secluded white-sand strands.

Wilbert the Pig, Pereira's Reggae Beach Bar & Grill earned a place on our list of the Best of the Caribbean 2008

 Plan Your Trip

BEACHES

Body surfers can get whomped to their heart's content at North Frigate Bay (on the Atlantic side) and recover at South Frigate Bay (on the Caribbean side), where the water is calm and rum punch is refreshing. But to escape the crowds, keep heading south to nearby South Friar's Bay, where the combination of white-sand beach and fine snorkeling is hard to beat, and Sand Bank Bay, a secluded crescent that just may be the island's best beach.

DIVING

Wreck divers take note: More than 400 shipwrecks lie full fathom five (more or less) in the waters surrounding St. Kitts and neighboring Nevis. One of the most-visited is the River Taw, a 144-foot freighter in just 50 feet of water in 1985. Already home to thriving corals and clouds of reef fish, it's ranked among the top wreck dives in the West Indies.

SIGHTSEEING

The Circus in Basseterre has nothing to do with tents and clowns. Instead, it's a Victorian roundabout, complete with four-sided clock - a dead ringer for London's Piccadilly Circus when it was built here at town center in the 1860s. Lined with shops and restaurants, it's a good place to begin (and end) a tour of the capital. Walk a block east to Independence Square, once a slave market and now Basseterre's commercial center. Then head south to the colorful public market on Bay Road before making your way to St. George's Anglican Church; first built by Jesuits in 1670, it has been leveled several times, but its Georgian style dates to the 1860s.

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