10AnnivTrip

I too have some concerns about the beaches at Nisbet vs. Oualie. I've read you need water shoes at Nisbet b/c it's very rocky? I just want a beach where we can hang out & take some dips in the water or float around. Thanks!

Laby

If you're mainly interested in just relaxing at a beach and not much more, perhaps the answer is to look at a different island. Nevis's beaches, including these two are very nice and picturesque but they do not compare to those on many other islands where the sand is softer and the water is that clear turqoise color than many desire.

tripster

they are both still nice beaches! you definitely don't need water shoes at nisbet or oualie.
you can easily do your beach thing on nevis and it's such a great, quiet island.
personally, if i was going to spend the money on nisbet, i would go for one of the other plantations in the hills. you still get as much beach time as you want, but they are even more fab.

Sunnyboy

Nisbet is a very picturesque beach with light colored sand, lots of palm trees and interesting views. It's on the Atlantic side of the island so there's always a breeze and the water is "wavy" but the off-shore reef keeps it from being too rough. The water gets deep fairly quickly so it's not good for wading. Because of the exposure to the Atlantic there are tmes when the wave action exposes some rocks at the water's edge. There's not a lot of rocks and you definitely don't need "water shoes".

Oualie Beach is not as picturesque mainly because the resorts cottages line the beach and there's not a lot of trees and other vegetation, although the views of neighboring St. Kitts are very appealing. The beach itself has light colored sand (but darker than Nisbet's) and the water there is very calm and shallow for quite a distance from the waters edge. It's great for children, wading and floating.

As Laby implied there are certainly much better beaches on other islands in the Caribbean. Also I agree with tripster that staying at one of the plantations in the hills will give you a better oveall island experience. There are plenty of other beaches on Nevis which have their own charm and they are all fairly easy to get to but none of them are anything like the beaches you'll find on islands like Anguilla, the USVI's or the BVI's.

MIM04

I would chose Nisbet hands down over Oualie. I really don't care for Oualie at all. Nisbet is a great place if you want to be on the beach. It can be a little rough. If beach is your main objective I would suggest another island, Turks and Caicos, St John, the Bahamas, Virgin Gorda, Tortola, etc. GL

NevisSun

Dear "10AnnivTrip", I'm the one who recommended water shoes, but I just need to clarify: It's only needed if you are exploring the shoreline and plan to swim into rocky areas and walk ashore. The water right outside Nisbet Plantation has nice sandy bottom if you just stay in that confined area. Sorry if I caused confusion. Tripster is right: You won't need shoes in that case. But after spending 15 years windsurfing and snorkeling there, I still feel I should warn you that the rocky areas have sea urchins. Oualie is rockier, especially in the direction towards Hurricane Hill and with more stones you will have more sea urchins. I would personally never walk in the water there without shoes. Period. But that's only my personal take, maybe after the initial trauma/teenage drama when I first stepped on one of these creatures there. And it has happened to my own kids quite a few times since then at Oualie. The thing is: You can't get the broken off spikes out of your flesh and the pain is excruciating. The very first time it happened to me, I limped inside with my porky pine foot in the air, sobbing hysterically and when I couldn't get Dr. Jacobs, I called our family Dr. in St. Maarten, begging him to jump on a plane and come rescue my foot right away…or something. But he just told to calm down and pee on my foot...and added that no, silly, I wouldn’t need surgery, and yes, the spikes would work their way out of my foot eventually, unaided. I thought he was making fun of me in my prickly state of misery, but it turned out he was serious! I admit, (but please don’t quote me on this, hrmmm,) it really did ease the pain. So if you happen to see someone hiding behind a palm, peeing on their foot while crying into their cell phone, please don't go in the water there. Unless you are wearing shoes.