-= Nevis Trip Report =-

Old Aug 21st, 2005, 05:38 PM
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-= Nevis Trip Report =-

Day 1 – JFK to SJU to NEV

Travel was fairly uneventful, with the exception of SJU to NEV. Flight “oversold” due to weight—doh! I hear ‘oversold’ and that usually peaks my interest, however this was our honeymoon so we’ll pass this time. I did ask what the option was IF we volunteered and at that point she offered the same flight the NEXT day. No thanks, my rum punch awaits at Montpelier! Side note (TIP) about the oversold status. There is no boarding order to the boarding process—GET AS CLOSE TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE AS SOON AS YOU CAN. As we were waiting for the gate agent to scan our ticket and then proceed to the tarmac, we noticed her counting rollerboard type carry-ons. She counts ours and a couple behind and then radios to someone the #. Well, we get through OK but turn around to see the honeymooning couple behind us being denied (she was in tears). We suspect it was because of their carry-ons (ie, overweight). They DID end up getting on the flight, but we got the impression that if you were stuck at the end of the line with a rollerboard and if the plane was full due to weight—you were SOL. Doesn’t seem like they should be able to do this, especially if you have a confirmed seat, but weight is everything on these small planes—max weight is max weight. [shrug] Sorry for getting off track, just thought it a useful tidbit for future NEV visitors. Anyways, picked up the baggage in NEV, cleared immigration, then customs no problem.

Hop in the cab ($25US) for the 20 min ride to Montpelier. Cold towels were presented as soon as we stepped off the van, and our luggage was whisked away to our room. Angela then took us on a brief tour of the grounds, and we met our rum punch at the bar. Yum. Notice I didn’t mention check-in—because there really isn’t any at MPI. “No worries” they told us, just come by in a few days to ‘sign-in.’

We arrived with time to unpack/unwind before c0cktails and dinner. C0cktails and canapes in the Great Room at 7:15 and dinner seating on the Terrace thereafter.
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Old Aug 21st, 2005, 05:40 PM
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Day 2 – MPI private beach

We took the MPI “shuttle” down to the beach for a day of relaxation. We weren’t thinking well enough ahead to order a box lunch from MPI for today’s lunch—so we made the 30min stroll down the beach to Sunshine’s for the infamous KillerBee. We passed the Villa Paradiso beach on the way, wherewould later get a better view of these villas while on the horseback ride—very impressive physical plant—we will look into these for our next visit (if we can get 6 other people to split a villa!). Also passed by the FourSeason’s beach, which was huge (compared to ours at MPI). And we later realized the building under construction right on the beach was Sandbar (grille?). Very nice location, should be wonderful when it re-opens. Back on track, lunch at Sunshine’s…..was alright. The food is nothing to write home about (we both had the chicken)—I thought it was good though—and KillerBees were very tasty. 2 chicken plate lunches, 2 KillerBee’s = $37. We never saw a menu or prices, and based on conversations with other visitors to Sunshine’s—we think their prices might be “market prices”—tourist market (if you catch my drift). Not that OUR lunch was overpriced, but it seemed that others we talked to paid more for the exact same items. We also had a nice conversation with a street vendor guy selling jewelry. Back to beach for some nice sunshine and then MPI for *censored*tails, canapés, and dinner on the Terrace again.

Day 3 – Island Exploration

I asked the question on one of the Nevis forums “Regular compact rental or mini-Jeep 4x4?” Well I can now answer my own question--RENT THE 4x4 mini-JEEP! Not that it’s required for travels around Nevis, but if you have any inkling to explore (off-road), you will want the “Jeep.” Even the road to MPI was a bit sketchy; I’m not sure how I would’ve felt in a sub-compact car. Quick blip about rental details for those wondering: We asked Lincoln to arrange a rental for 4 days. The “jeep” showed up as promised at 9:30am along with a rep from the rental agency (TDC / Thrifty). He filled out all the paperwork on the spot, even for the temporary Nevis DL ($25). 5 minutes later the keys were in my pocket and I was back at breakfast. Very convenient—I would recommend having this drop-off/pick-up service—it’s only $12. Grand total for the 4 day rental of the Suzuki Jimmy was $246 ($45/day +tax, DL, gas, etc). At any rate, Lincoln recommended a few places to explore on the island (heading counterclockwise around the island on the “main road”). His words of wisdom for exploring/driving on Nevis: “just remember that it’s not your car and when you think you shouldn’t be driving there—just keep going!” LOL. So we made our way down Hanley’s Road to get to Windward Beach, passing the horse race track on the way. The view and the drive down the to track and on to the “beach” were amazing. There wasn’t really much of a beach here, per say, since this is the Atlantic side—shoreline was pretty rocky and seas were rough. The backstretch of the track is practically ON the coast. Amazing location for a track—incredible view. Animals seen roaming the coast near the race track: pigs, goats (they’re everywhere), and donkeys.

Back to the main road, we continued on (counterclockwise) and headed down the road to Coconut Walk Estate (not to be confused with the new Coconut’s restaurant on the other side of the island) and to the Lime Kiln right on the coastline. Again, awesome views of the coastline, Mt Nevis, and it was very interesting to tour’ these old estates. One had a mill which was intact for the most part, complete with a live bee honeycomb on the inside near the top. Cool! Next stop was to be lunch at Nisbet Beach Club. But we took a bit of detour and ended up on “the worst road on the island” near the Prison Farm. This was the only time we saw monkeys, BTW, and I only saw them for a split second streaking across the road (read: the grassy trail barely 5 ft wide). Lesson learned, bear RIGHT on the main road next time.

We finally arrive at Nisbet for a tasty lunch right on the beach. Nisbet grounds were immaculate and their beach was very nice (albeit a bit rough). Lunch for two at Nisbet with two mixed drinks = ~$50.

We then ended up going back to Nisbet for their BBQ that evening, which was quite filling and very delicious. There was a buffet of cold salads, hot side items, and then a grille with ~5 fish options, beef, shrimp, ribs, and chicken. And of course a dessert buffet. All you can eat for $55/pp. They also had live music playing while we ate and afterwards for dancing on the beach. Great atmosphere, definitely recommend it if you’re there on a Thursday night.
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Old Aug 21st, 2005, 05:41 PM
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Day 4 – Beach in the AM, Sail and Snorkel in the afternoon (postponed)

We started the morning with a couples massage on our front porch at Montpelier. Then we went on to the MPI beach before we were to catch the 2pm “Sail and Snorkel” which left from the FourSeasons dock (MPI arranged this for us through the FS concierge). The weather did not allow, so we ended up moving the snorkeling to the following day, and we ate a late lunch there at the FourSeasons. Lunch and drinks for 2 was decent, around $50 for both of us. From there we decided to drive through town on the way back to MPI, since the weather was not cooperating for any other activity. Very few souvenir type shops in town there—you didn’t come to Nevis to shop did you? We did find a nice pottery store farther up the main road, Bocane Pottery IIRC. Nice pieces of painted pottery. Note: We found some of the same Bocane pieces in the FourSeason’s gift shop… can you say 100% mark-up? No kidding. Though I’m sure the FourSeasons is a wonderful resort in all aspects, you’d better bring your wallet. We got the impression that life at the FourSeasons is just a bit more expensive than at other hotels/inns on the island. Throw in all the kids running around—not our idea for a honeymoon.

Dinner at Banana’s—food was very good but we must have caught a bad night for service. I know people talk about “Carribean time,” but it wasn’t really that—the wait staff was just not attentive (to us at least). And who was our waitress anyways, the man who took our drink order, the (hostess) who took our food order, or the other lady who delivered our entrees? At any rate, the food was much better than the service that evening. Beautiful location and view though, too bad it was cloudy at sunset since we had a table with a nice view.

Day 5 – A “busy” day!

We had MPI arrange a 2hr horseback ride with the Nevis Equestrian Center (www.ridenevis.com) in the morning. We had toyed with the idea of the 5hr ride with lunch, but decided that we might regret that the next day (neither of us had ridden in a while). The 2 hour ride turned out to be just right, and we had a great time with our guide, Craig. We chose to have a private ride so that we could go at our own pace and not worry about others (ie, some cantering, galloping on the beach). I would recommend this if you’re a more advanced rider, as it’s only an additional $25.

We headed back to the MPI private beach to catch up with our boxed lunches that we had ordered the night before. After a quick lunch and a few rays we were off to FourSeasons to try the Sail and Snorkel again (it was postponed from yesterday). Much nicer weather today and off we went on the Eagle. It was about a 3hr trip: 1 hour sailing out, 1 hour snorkeling, and 1 hour on the return. Point of information for those interested in this trip. It’s $55/pp and it’s all you can drink (rum punch, mixed drinks, Carib). With the prices of drinks on the island, I think we probably drank our $ worth. J We ended up snorkeling right off the coastline of St Kitts. I don’t think the snorkeling was anything to write home about—but we knew that we weren’t going to Nevis for that. Great crew on the Eagle-- we had a fun time.

Dinner at the Mill at Montpelier was very romantic. Funny thing was we shared it with 4 other couples, and we all were married on the same day.
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Old Aug 21st, 2005, 05:43 PM
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Day 6 – Pure bliss at the FourSeason’s Spa

We had lunch again at the FourSeasons and then enjoyed a couples massage at the spa. Yes it’s pricey ($240 for both of us when it was all said and done), but worth every penny. It’s no surprise that it’s on the list of top spas in the Carribean—it definitely is first-rate. BTW, spa guests have access to the entire spa facility all day on the day of their treatment. So if you’re visiting the spa for a treatment, you may want to plan to stay a few hours after your treatment just to lounge in one of the pools or eat lunch there outside on the patio of the spa. It is quite a relaxing place. This was our last dinner on the Terrace at MPI.

Day 7 – NEV to SJU to MIA

Depart! We again ordered box lunches the night before, so we’d have something decent to eat once we got to the airport. No issues with travel on the return, our luggage showed up in SJU and we cleared customs without any problem.

--------------------------------------
If you want to see the version with pics, go here:

http://www.myeyez.net/cgi-bin/stkitt...num=1124662477
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Old Aug 21st, 2005, 06:28 PM
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Thanks Andy, fantastic report. Read it on the other site too, great pics... so glad you had a good honeymoon!
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Old Aug 22nd, 2005, 05:52 AM
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Thanks for the report. We're heading to Nevis and St. Kitts in January for the first time. I enjoyed the pictures as well. Had to chuckle at the picture of your lunch at Sunshine's. The dish looked almost identical to our meal on the island of Bastimentos in Panama. Except, in Panama, it cost $2.50.....But, no 'Killer Bees' there.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2005, 07:52 AM
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Great Trip Report. Glad you enjoy Montpelier and Nevis.

Beautiful pictures!
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Old Aug 22nd, 2005, 09:22 AM
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Great report, I went and looked at the photos too, and they are excellent! Appreciate the trip about getting in line for the connecting flight out of SJU...don't want to end up overnight at the airport!

Can't wait to go meet some of those donkeys in October hee hee! Thanks.
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Old Aug 22nd, 2005, 01:20 PM
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Thanks for all of your hard work on the report and pictures. We will be in Nevis in January and are looking forward to stuffing ourselves at the Nisbet BBQ. Did you have lobster at any of your dinners?
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Old Aug 22nd, 2005, 02:36 PM
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Knowing...We had lobster at the Oualie Beach Hotel. Chef Jason did a fabulous job on the dish. He changes the menu around daily, so you might want to call ahead to check it out.

Andy...Awesome report! I enjoyed the pictures. Can't wait to return.....
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Old Aug 22nd, 2005, 04:51 PM
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Knowing: Nope, we did not have lobster at any of our dinners. I'm not a huge lobster fan so I might've overlooked it--but I don't recall seeing it on any menus.
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