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St. Kitts & Nevis

Carambola Beach, Saint Kitts and Nevis

Carambola Beach: St. Kitts' Private Peninsula Stop

St. Kitts and Nevis became fully independent in 1983, and the sugar industry that shaped St. Kitts for centuries closed for good in 2005. Currents can be stronger than they look and not every beach has lifeguards, so stay within your depth. Leave camouflage clothing on board, because it is illegal for anyone to wear it in St. Kitts and Nevis, children included.

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What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Carambola Beach

This call is a beach day on South Friars Bay, where Carambola Beach Club is one of several beach clubs and bars along the sand. The peninsula is long, dry, hilly and still lightly developed, and it points toward the neighboring island of Nevis.

  • Your ship will tell you how you come ashore and where the boats or transfers leave from, so check the details for your sailing before the day.
  • St. Kitts uses the Eastern Caribbean dollar, and US dollar cash is widely accepted, usually at about 2.5 EC dollars to one US dollar.
  • English is the official language.
  • Large ships normally dock at the main pier in Basseterre, the capital, which is a different place from this beach.

Carambola Beach on Your Own

A day at Carambola is a beach day, and the simplest plan is to stay on South Friars Bay, where there are other beach bars along the sand. If you want more, a taxi can take you to the neighboring beaches of the peninsula or up toward its southern tip.

  • Along the bay: Several beach bars and small restaurants line South Friars Bay, so you can walk the sand between them.
  • Swim with care: Currents can be deceptively strong, and not every beach has lifeguards or warning flags. Watch for signs and stay within your depth.
  • One taxi ride: Cockleshell Bay is another beach with several bars and restaurants. Taxis are not metered, so agree the fare first, and check whether it is in US or EC dollars.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, so leave plenty of time to reach the boats or transfers back.
  • Watch the clock: St. Kitts keeps Atlantic Standard Time, four hours behind UTC, which is an hour ahead of US Eastern time while the US is on standard time. Go by the time your ship gives.
  • No camouflage: It is illegal for anyone, children included, to wear camouflage clothing in St. Kitts and Nevis, so leave it on board.

Getting Around Carambola Beach

Taxis are the way to move around the southeast peninsula, and there are usually more of them than passengers who need one. They are not metered, but standard fares exist for most destinations, so agree the price before you set off.

  • Licensed taxis have yellow plates with "T" or "TA" in the number, and the driver carries or displays identification. Unlicensed taxis may not be insured to carry passengers.
  • Confirm whether a quoted fare is in US or EC dollars. You can often pay in either.
  • To drive, you need a temporary local license, sold by the Inland Revenue Department; hire companies usually help with it.

What to Eat at Carambola Beach

Food on the day comes from the beach club and the beach bars on South Friars Bay, some of which serve food as well as drinks. Look out for local dishes on the menus.

  • Goat water is a tomato-based stew of goat with breadfruit, green papaya and dumplings.
  • Cook-up, or pelau, combines chicken, pig tail and saltfish with vegetables and rice.
  • Seafood is plentiful, and the style of cooking is simple and close to the rest of the West Indies.
  • Some beach bars serve homemade rum from private stills.

Tipping and Currency in St. Kitts and Nevis

The Eastern Caribbean dollar is the currency of St. Kitts and Nevis, but US dollar cash is widely accepted.

  • US dollars are usually taken at a rate of about 2.5 EC dollars to one US dollar, so check which currency a price is in.
  • Taxi drivers generally expect about 10 percent of the fare as a tip.

A Day at Carambola

Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere, in both area and population, and its culture grew mainly out of the West African traditions of the people brought to its sugar estates. On Saint Kitts, Carnival is held over Christmas and New Year.

  • Carnival on St. Kitts runs from mid-December until a few days after New Year's Day, with masquerade dancers in mirrored, ribboned costumes and moko jumbies, dancers on stilts six to eight feet high.
  • The St. Kitts Music Festival is held in the last week of June.
  • Green vervet monkeys, brought to the island from West Africa on slave ships in the late 17th century, live wild on St. Kitts, and you may see them on the southeast peninsula.
  • Cricket is the country's favorite sport.

St. Kitts and the Southeast Peninsula

St. Kitts was one of the first Caribbean islands colonized by Europeans, home to the first English and French settlements in the region, and for a time the richest British colony per person in the Caribbean, built on enslaved labor and sugar. It became independent, together with Nevis, in 1983.

  • Liamuiga: The Kalinago, who arrived around 1300 AD, called the island Liamuiga, roughly "fertile land."
  • Columbus, 1493: Christopher Columbus was the first European to sight the islands, in 1493.
  • The first English colony, 1623: Thomas Warner led English settlers to Old Road Town on the west coast in 1623.
  • Bloody Point, 1626: English and French settlers joined forces to massacre the Kalinago at a place since called Bloody Point.
  • Sugar and slavery: The colonists built large sugar plantations worked by enslaved Africans, and by the end of the 1700s St. Kitts was the richest British colony per person in the Caribbean.
  • Brimstone Hill, 1782: A French force besieged the British fortress on Brimstone Hill for a month before its garrison surrendered. The Treaty of Paris returned St. Kitts to Britain the following year.
  • Emancipation, 1834: Slavery was abolished in 1834, followed by four years of "apprenticeship" in which the formerly enslaved worked for wages for their former owners.
  • Independence, 1983: St. Kitts and Nevis became fully independent on September 19, 1983.
  • The end of sugar, 2005: The sugar industry, long in decline, closed completely in 2005.
  • To learn more ashore: Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the island's west coast, has the Fort George Museum inside its citadel, reached by a steep walk of ramps and steps.

The Beach and Reef at Carambola

South Friars Bay, where Carambola Beach Club stands, is on the southeast peninsula of St. Kitts, and several beach bars line the sand. Other beaches on the island are a short taxi ride away.

  • Cockleshell Bay has its own beach bars and restaurants.
  • South Frigate Bay has a row of casual beach-bar restaurants.
  • Currents can be stronger than they look, and not all beaches have lifeguards or warning flags.
  • Do not carry large amounts of cash or jewelry to the beach, and avoid isolated beaches after dark.
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