12 Best Sights in Montserrat

The Monserrat National Trust's headquarters and collections relocated to Little Bay's Montserrat National Museum in 2012, but the lovingly tended botanical gardens and nature trails at the original site make for a pleasant, self-guided stroll. Among the plants are herbs used in folkloric medicine, former economic staples like Sea Island cotton and limes, and uniquely indigenous flora. A collection of endemic orchids, found in the hills, is on display in the Orchid House. You'll also find charming local keepsakes in the on-site gift shop.

The island's must-see sight occupies capacious, strikingly postmodern quarters with stunning vistas of the Soufrière Hills volcano—a lunarscape encircled by brilliant green—and Plymouth in the distance. Unfortunately, the Monserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) staff no longer offers tours that detail how monitoring is conducted using sophisticated computer equipment. You can, however, see photos, rock and ash samples, and diagrams that describe the various pyroclastic surge deposits. In addition, the Interpretation Center screens a high-impact film with IMAX footage.

Once one of the Caribbean's loveliest towns, facing the vividly hued sea, Plymouth now resembles a dust-covered lunarscape, with elegant Georgian buildings buried beneath several feet of ash, mud, and rubble, though rain is slowly washing layers away. Years after the 1995 volcanic devastation, the adventuresome could stroll its streets, albeit at their own risk. After the 2006 dome collapse of the Soufrière Hills volcano, however, the town was once again off-limits to general tourists. The status has changed yet again owing to the volcano's relative quiescence, but entry is still somewhat limited.

Cabbies and tour operators who have undergone basic safety training can take you on escorted tours with advance clearance from the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. There is an EC$160 fee for each tour, and a list of certified tour operators is available on  www.visitmontserrat.com. Payments and application forms, which must be submitted 24 hours in advance of the tour, are handled by the operators.

A fairly strenuous Centre Hills trail leads to one of Montserrat's few remaining historic sites—the ruins of the once-influential Sturges family's summer cottage—as well as a banana plantation. Its Duck Pond Hill perch, farther up the trail, dramatically overlooks the coastline, Garibaldi Hill, Old Towne, abandoned villages, and Plymouth.

This vantage point—replete with telescope, barbecue grill, picnic tables, landscaped grounds, and bathrooms—provides bird's-eye views of the old W. H. Bramble airport and eastern villages damaged by pyroclastic flows.

Boats chug in and out of the port at the northern end of this otherwise comely crescent with calm waters. Several beach bars—Pont's (fine cheap local lunch Tuesday through Sunday), Soca Cabana, Seaside and Sylvia's—provide cool shade and cooler drinks. Carlton's Fish Net Bar specializes in barbecued stuffed trunkfish (a shellfish delicacy). In addition, several bars and restaurants were built in the adjacent section dubbed Marine Village. You may see locals casting lines for their own dinner. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: partiers; snorkeling; swimming.

The National Trust, which aims to conserve and enhance the island's natural beauty and cultural heritage, moved its headquarters and museum to this handsome building in March 2012. Permanent and rotating exhibits cover things like Arawak canoe building; colonial sugar and lime production (the term "limey" was first applied here to English sailors who used the citrus fruit to avoid scurvy); indigenous marine life; West Indian cricket; the annual Calabash Festival; island folklore like mocko jumbies (spirits); and the history of Sir George Martin's AIR Studios, which once lured top bands and musicians, from Dire Straits to Stevie Wonder and Sir Paul McCartney. The back room houses a charming small-scale re-creation of pre-eruption Plymouth depicted via blown-up photos, cutouts, and dioramas.

Follow the yellowing signs to Old Towne's Vue Pointe Hotel (which may or may not be open) to reach this mile-long, pearl-gray beauty, a favorite swimming beach that has expanded greatly thanks to volcanic flow. This beach is also close to Isle's Bay and has a track nearby for walking. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

The island's sole white-sand beach is a perfect cove tucked under a forested cliff whose calm, unspoiled waters are ideal for swimming and offer remarkable snorkeling. It's accessible only via the sea or a steep trail that runs over the bluff to adjacent Little Bay. The hike in takes about an hour; the boat trip, just 10 minutes (you can make arrangements with local fishermen). There are no regular facilities or shade, but its very remoteness and pristine reef teeming with marine life lend this beach exceptional charm. Quan Jo Boat Tours & Camping offers Sunday beach activities, including boat rides and snorkeling, as well as food, music, and tents for shade. Amenities: none. Best for: snorkeling; solitude; swimming.

This once affluent suburb of Plymouth is just north of the former capital and offers a riveting panorama. You can see the 18th-century sugar mill that once housed the Montserrat Museum and poke around the abandoned Montserrat Springs Hotel, where a few items remain just as they were left on the front desk during the mass exodus owing to 1997 volcanic activity. You might encounter a goat or cow nibbling mushrooms growing through the cracks in the pool and tennis court. The hotel's hot springs are down the hill by the beach, which has grown substantially and was long a favorite liming spot of locals and expats.

Montserrat's ghauts (pronounced guts) are deep ravines that carry rainwater down from the mountains to the sea. This natural spring, a short, well-marked walk into the hilly bush outside Woodlands, was the site of bloody colonial skirmishes between the British and French. The legend is more interesting than the trail: "Those that drink its water clear they spellbound are, and the Montserrat call they must obey." If you don't want to hike or picnic, a drink from the roadside faucet should ensure that you return to Montserrat in your lifetime.

The only drawback to this secluded strand is the occasionally rough surf (children should be closely monitored). The breezy but covered picnic area on the cliff is one of the best vantage points to watch migratory humpback whales in spring and nesting green and hawksbill turtles in early fall. From here, you can hike north, then down across a wooden bridge to even less trammeled Bunkum Bay, which has a friendly guesthouse and beach bar. Amenities: restrooms. Best for: solitude; surfing.