A Stay at Frigate Bay

St. Kitts and Nevins

St. Kitts, in the Leeward Isles, isn’t an island on the same scale as Jamaica – in fact, it’s tiny, little more than half a dozen miles across. Nevertheless, together with the nearby (and even smaller) island of Nevis, it is an independent state, and proud of itself. The people of St. Kitts have all the friendliness and charm that you might expect from Caribbean residents, and although their island nation is small you can be sure of a big welcome. Unlike a lot of Caribbean islands St. Kitts is not at all flat, having been lifted out of the ocean by the prehistoric eruption of its now-dormant volcano, Mt. Liamuiga.

The Frigate Bay Resort is a great place to enjoy a St. Kitts vacation. Attractively priced in the mid-range, the resort offers a range of delights and activities that you would almost think impossible on an island with a population of fewer than 40,000. For a start, it’s an intensely child-friendly resort – there’s a full range of activities and facilities for kids, and a minding service is available for a very reasonable surcharge.

The usual run of water sports is available – surfing, diving and so on. The ‘St. Kitts difference’, however, is that you get to enjoy your activities in relative peace and quiet – there simply isn’t the room for crowds on the island, so you get to enjoy the kind of tranquility that you would pay a good deal more for elsewhere in the Caribbean. Golf and tennis are available very close to the resort, and you can be pretty certain of not having to wait too long – if at all – for a court or a tee. The local links, which is right next to the resort, is the Royal St. Kitt’s course – the ‘Royal’ of course, comes from that fact that St. Kitts, like so many islands in the Caribbean, retains Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. The locals are always keen to point out that this doesn’t mean that St. Kitts is ruled by the UK – on the contrary, they will tell you, Elizabeth is as much Queen of St. Kitts as she is Queen of England.

Eating at Frigate Bay is a delight. As with so many things at this resort, the secret of the kitchens’ success is simplicity – done very, very well. A choice of continental and local cuisine is available, and everything is carefully prepared using the very best in fresh ingredients. Real passion goes into the cooking here, and although visitors possibly don’t get the bewildering range of restaurants and cuisines that larger and pricier resorts elsewhere in the Caribbean may offer, their absence is more than compensated for by the sheer quality of what is on offer. The main restaurant, Jasmine’s, is a tremendously atmospheric place in which to enjoy your meal – the high, beamed ceiling of local hardwood provides a fitting backdrop to romantic candlelit dinners. If you want a lighter snack – go for a swim! The resort’s pool has a swim-up bar that offers a range of drinks and light bites throughout the day. If you’re after something a little different, there is a very wide selection of great restaurants just a few minutes’ drive away.

And if you are a driver, the Frigate Bay resort will happily organize the lease of a hire car for you. Although the island is small – about 18 miles from end to end, and a third that distance across – a car is a useful way of getting around, especially as some roads can be a little hilly. Most places on the island can be reached from the capital, Basseterre, which is close to Frigate Bay. Do remember that as this is a former British colony, everyone drives like the Brits – on the left.

If you do go further afield, and you’re reasonably active, you might be interested in some of the hiking opportunities that St. Kitts has to offer. Various companies – Roystone Tours of Basseterre, for example – offer guided hikes up the volcano, and it’s recommended that you take someone with local knowledge when climbing the 3,800 foot peak. He climb through the surrounding forests is worth the effort - perching on the rim of the volcano’s crater and looking down is spectacular. Don’t expect to see flowing lava and gouts of flame, though – the last confirmed eruption was sixteen hundred years ago, and the area that was once filled with white hot rock and ash is now covered by dense greenery.

The Frigate Bay Resort – and St. Kitts in general – is proof that the maxim ‘small is beautiful’ holds as good for vacationers as for anyone else!