hot and getting hotter
Stunning St. Kitts is on the way up as a dynamic Caribbean destination
What do songstress Roberta Flack, reggae artist Damian (Jr. Gong) Marley, R&B singer Toni Braxton and Trinidadian soca star Machel Montano have in common? All were on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts this summer, celebrating a Sweet 16.
Not just any Sweet 16, but the 16th annual St. Kitts Music Festival, which attracted some 5,000 people for three nights of concerts and Caribbean-style partying — all to a local and international soundtrack.
The fittingly star-studded shindig highlighted a destination poised to become a Caribbean hot spot.
Chock-a-block with natural wonders — sparsely populated black- and white-sand beaches, a 3,792-foot extinct volcano, a lush tropical rainforest — St. Kitts is off the beaten path enough to elude tourist hordes, yet beckoning with new and soon-to-be-opened posh amenities.
The 68-square-mile gem is a place where past, present and future coexist with striking ease.
Dubbed St. Christopher by Columbus in 1493, the name was shortened later by the British to just St. Kitts. The locale became England’s first settlement in the Caribbean in 1623, and, until the late 18th century, its most lucrative sugar colony. In 1983, the island became half the twin-island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, continuing to produce sugar until the last government-run plantation closed in 2005.
Drive north to ogle this colonial past. Or take a guided tour on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway, built from the tracks of the old “sugar train,” which transported sugar cane across the island. Acres of cane fields sway in the breeze, sugar mill ruins dot the landscape. To the left, the sea is vibrantly blue. To the right, electric green mountains make up the island’s rugged interior.
Overlooking all this, the so-called Gibraltar of the West Indies: Brimstone Hill, an imposing stone fortress built 800 feet above sea level by slaves during the 18th century. An impeccably preserved 40-acre UNESCO World Heritage site features both a museum and views of the island’s dramatic northern coastline.
At the height of the sugar trade, the island boasted one plantation for every square mile. Spend a week in one of them: Ottley’s Plantation Inn, which dates to the 17th century. There’s a Garden of Eden feel, complete with 35 acres exploding with colorful flora and fauna, a rainforest trail and doves cooing at every turn. The pool emerges from sugar mill ruins, the former “great house” is now a stylish lobby and the restaurant serves up a gourmet menu that changes nightly. Ottley’s sits in the foothills of lofty
Mount Liamuiga. Outdoorsy types can sign up with Greg’s Safaris to venture up the mountain. Begin a half-day hike at Bloody Point Canyon, where British and French forces massacred the remaining members of the Kalinago tribe, who themselves ejected the island’s first denizens, the Arawaks.
The vigorous hike weaves through colossal ficus trees and nightblooming jasmine, allowing for encounters with hermit crabs, whistling frogs and adorable vervet monkeys. They were imported from Africa as pets by the French centuries ago, and now the monkeys are said to outnumber humans on the island. The intrepid can opt to fly instead of walk: The island’s new Sky Safari is a zipline tour over majestic green canopies.
Then again, there’s always the ever popular lie-in-the-sun-and-do-nothing option. St. Kitts’ beaches range from the deserted black sands of Dieppe Bay in the north, with its majestic views of neighboring Saba and St. Eustacius, to Cockleshell Bay, where the lively Reggae Beach Bar serves up cold Carib beers, fresh conch fritters and a Caribbean soundtrack. The bar is especially popular with students attending Ross University, the American veterinary school on the island.
Frigate Bay, the most touristy part of the island, is another beach-day option. It’s home to the St. Kitts Marriott Resort & the Royal Beach Casino, opened in
2003 and ever expanding to offer more time-share options. When the sun goes down, throw back a few at one of the nightlife options along “the strip,” which is home to the requisite beach bars, rum drinks and lively reggae music.
You can catch a glimpse of the island’s future in two dramatic developments. Set on a 400-acre hillside site in the northern part of the island, Kittitian Hill is a sustainable project of Sedona Resorts, slated to open in December. Kittitian Hill will consist of a cottagestyle hotel, creative arts center, golf course and destination spa.
More than just a chic resort, the development will be an island-wide resource, offering a host of creative arts programs to visitors and locals alike — from a film institute and editing facilities to arts apprenticeship programs and gallery space. The property aims to be fully integrated into the island’s community and landscape, even cultivating a farm to source its fine-dining options and setting up a locally owned rum shop on the premises.
Meanwhile, the other end of the island — and the other end on the all-inclusive spectrum — belongs to Christophe Harbour, secluded on 2,500 acres. The massive scheme, part of which is already completed, will practically transform the southeast peninsula into a luxury island unto itself. The project will include a mega-yacht harbor, marina, Tom Fazio championship golf course, high-end restaurants, shops, boutiques and five-star hotels. The Park Hyatt is expected, as are oceanfront homes and villas.
Get a preview of the completed project at the Beach House, one of Christophe Harbour’s already-opened restaurants. Dark wood and sheer white curtains create an oh-so-St.-Barts feel, and the menu includes watermelon and arugula salad and pork porterhouse in a coconut crust.
At nearby Carambola, another elegant eatery, the luxe effect is amplified. The restaurant has all the amenities of a posh resort, sans rooms: a wine cellar, grand piano, 20-foot-long sushi bar, daybeds on the beach tended to by private butlers.
Even with such uber-contemporary luxury, though, St. Kitts’ past leaves its indelible mark across the island.
It all adds up to a slew of options on an island with a rich history and an emerging new face.