St. Kitts

You can explore Basseterre, the capital city, in a half hour or so, and should allow three to four hours for an island tour. Main Road traces the northwestern perimeter of the island through seas of sugarcane and past breadfruit trees and stone walls. Villages with tiny pastel-color houses of stone and weathered wood are scattered across the island, and the drive back to Basseterre around the island's other side passes through several of them. The most spectacular stretch of scenery is on Dr. Kennedy Simmonds Highway, which goes to the tip of the Southeast Peninsula. This ultrasleek modern road twists and turns through the undeveloped grassy hills that rise between the calm Caribbean and the windswept Atlantic, passing the shimmering pink Great Salt Pond, a volcanic crater, and seductive beaches. Major developments are underway, including the Beaumont Park Racetrack near Dieppe Bay, part of an anticipated massive luxury enclave called Kittitian Heights (itself part of the Whitegate Development Project). When completed, it will offer both horse and greyhound racing, state-of-the-art stables, and a fine dining restaurant. Construction starts and stops on Marine World at South Friar's Bay, a 4-acre theme park with dolphin encounter, stingray lagoon, ecofriendly water-sports center, beach bar, and upscale restaurant (Carambola Beach Club, whose opening has been repeatedly delayed), nature trail, and aviary.