Saint Christopher – St. Kitts

St. Kitts is green and pleasant, with a dramatically steep central mountain range rising to 3,750 feet. Much of it is covered in rainforest, which is often shrouded in passing clouds. At these heights, many thousands of African green vervet monkeys live, descendants of those introduced during the plantation era, likely by European settlers in the 17th century. The land between the mountains and the sea is gently sloping and fertile, relatively flat, and easy to drive on. For many generations, this was planted in sugar cane, which was abandoned some years ago, and now the cane fields are slowly reverting to woodland. 

The Kalinago, the Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles, called St. Kitts “Liamuiga,” meaning “fertile isle.” Columbus later recorded the island as St. Christopher, after his patron saint, and nowadays it is known either as St. Christopher or, more often, as St. Kitts. 

In 1623, Sir Thomas Warner established the first permanent British colony in the Caribbean here. A French group joined them, and the two nations teamed up to massacre about 2,000 Kalinago inhabitants during the early years of colonization, before conflict later developed between the French and British settlers themselves. After 150 years of fighting and uncertainty, St. Kitts, with its sister isle, Nevis, became British under the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. Today, it is a fully independent twin-island state of about 50,000 people, with strong British institutional influences alongside a distinct Afro-Caribbean cultural identity. Parts of the landscape still reflect their plantation-era layout, though many former estates have since been converted into hotels and restaurants. The economy, once based on sugar cane, shifted to tourism in 2005.

A railway, built for collecting the sugar cane, once ran right around the island, passing through scenic countryside. St. Kitts Scenic Railway has renovated part of this, allowing you to take a rail tour with spectacular views. You need to book well in advance (465-7263). 

In the north, St. Kitts Marine Works haulout, with its Telca Marina under Brimstone Hill, is working and practical. In the south, Christophe Harbour, a large upscale marina and residential development, is now fully operational. In early 2026, the marina was taken over by Safe Harbor, a regional chain, though the general area is still locally referred to as Christophe Harbour. A Budget Marine chandlery is now open, and for a while, the customs and immigration procedures were simplified, and the outlook for visiting yachts improved for a time. Unfortunately, St. Kitts and Nevis have reinstated the eAPIS regulations, and most officers insist that you complete this additional online form when clearing in. 

The big local regatta is the three-day Booby Island Regatta, which includes such races as “Chase the Monkey,” named after the island’s well-known vervet monkeys, and the round Nevis race called “Round the Rock.”