A Tour of St. Kitts: Brimstone Fortress, Blackrocks, and South Friar’s Bay

On our first visit to the amazing island of St. Kitts, we booked an island tour with a local tour guide named Royston.  In the span of about four hours, he took us around the island and showed off its history and beauty.

Our first two stops were at old sugar plantations, the Wingfield Estate and Romney Manor.  Both stops were perfect places to get out of the van, stretch our legs, admire the beauty, and learn about the island’s history.  You can read all about it in my previous post, A Tour of St. Kitts: Wingfield Estate & Romney Manor.  Don’t have time to read it?  Here is a quick review in pictures:

Okay, now that you are all caught up, we can continue on with our tour of this beautiful Caribbean island…

Brimstone Fortress:

Our third stop was at Brimstone Fortress.  Perched high atop a hill, the fortress is not only a great example of St. Kitts’ colonial history, but also the perfect place for panoramic views of the island, the ocean, and neighboring islands in the distance.

Be sure to spend some time walking around the fortress.  Even if you are not in the mood for history and fortresses (which is ridiculous because everyone loves forts, right?! 😉 ), you can just focus on the beauty that surrounds you: green mountains, rolling hills, cerulean waters–it is all just stunning.

Blackrocks:

After we were ready to leave (read: were dragged away against our will), we continued our way around the coast of St. Kitts.  We admired the amazing views as Royston shared history and fun facts about his island.  We even made a couple of stops to say hello to some locals.

We then continued to an area called Blackrocks.  I’m sure that when you see it, you can figure out the reason behind its name.

Beautiful, right?  I loved this little stretch of coast in Saint Kitts.  Here are a few more pictures as we took while on the northeast end of the island:

And just look at this church.  I don’t know if it is the structure itself or just seeing it surrounded by nothing but palm trees and the sea, but I loved it…

Timothy Hill Overlook:

As we made our way toward the peninsula at the southeast end of the island, we made a stop at the Timothy Hill Overlook.  Now I would not normally give a quick vista point its own section, but, well, it is amazing.  The views from Timothy Hill are just stunning.

South Friar’s Bay:

We drove down the hill and toward the southeast end of the island, stopping at a quiet little beach bar on South Friar’s Bay.  We were treated to a delicious Caribbean lunch of roti on the beach–I’m not sure it gets much better than that.

Back to the Ship…

Once we finished up our lovely time at the beach, it was regrettably time to head back to the cruise terminal.  This is always the sad things about cruising–that darn part where we have to leave a port.  Sigh…  But at least there are usually nice ship views as we head back.

Tips and Lessons Learned:

1. It is oftentimes worthwhile to book cruise excursions independently, rather than through the cruise line  You will usually find better prices, smaller groups, and more catered experiences.
2. When planning a cruise vacation, Cruise Critic is usually my go-to for both port and ship information.  I have found many great independent tour operators through Cruise Critic, and I would highly recommend this as a jumping off point for choosing activities in port.  You can also get great cruise line and ship information on the boards.
3. If you are interested in a tour like the one I have described in the last two posts, I would highly recommend Royston!  It’s been a while since we have booked with him, but his reviews are still stellar.  His island tour is only $45 per person, including drinks, lunch, and admission to Brimstone.
4. Be sure to tip when you are booking an independent tour operator!  They work so hard and you will probably still pay much less than if you had booked through the ship.
5. One day is not enough in St. Kitts.  We have stopped there twice, but neither was enough time–I would love to try a longer stay in St. Kitts one of these days.

Next Up:

A little more of beautiful St. Kitts ❤