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St. Kitts and Nevis Facts
Language: English, Dutch, French
Time: GMT - 4
Electricity: 110v USA style flat pin
St. Kitts & Nevis, Statia, Saba & St. Maarten Island group
The North Eastern Caribbean is an intriguing area offering a blend of Dutch, British, French and native cultures on some of the most scenic islands of the Caribbean.
Sitting north-east of Monserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica, these colourful and multi-cultural islands offer a lovely mix of above and below water beauty. The diving is diverse, with a wealth of coral colours on shallow pinnacles, walls, sandy gullies and deeper marine sea mounts. On land, picturesque coves with brightly coloured fishing boats, laid back villages and lush rainforests offer the chance to experience a little Caribbean life.
St. Kitts & Nevis, Statia, Saba & St. Maarten
The diving is diverse, with a wealth of coral colours on shallow pinnacles, walls to drift by, sandy gullies with wonderful light and deeper marine sea mounts at 20 - 30 metres. Sponges and sea fans crowd together in a low lying water forest for macro species and schooling fish to hide.
The marine life provides divers with multiple sightings of moray eels, hawksbill turtles, jacks, barracuda and stingrays and divers will also find frogfish, seahorses and nudibranchs buried in the reefs.
Usual water conditions are calm and warm with great underwater visibility. Across the islands, the dive sites offer fantastic hard and soft corals, reef plateaux, pinnacles and walls.
Owing to the structure of many of the reefs, the calm, warm water conditions and proximity to landfall, this destination also offers a fantastic holiday for snorkelers and non-diving partners.
The majority of the Caribbean Explorer II’s itinerary is spent in the area of Saba and St. Kitts.
Saba Marine Park and sea mounts
In 1987, the culmination of 3 years’ work between Tom van t’Hof (who played a key part in the set up of Bonaire’s marine Park in 1981), the Saban government, Saban locals, dive shops and fishermen resulted in the early establishment of Saba’s Marine Park. This has resulted in the conservation of its reefs to a very high degree and the benefits to fish stocks are clearly visible. It is also home to a hyperbaric chamber.
Saba offers 30 quiet dive sites, all within the confines of the park. Just off the west of Saba lies a smaller volcanic sea mount that offers 4 dive sites, with dramatic drop offs, walls and gullies.
St. Kitts & Nevis’ little wrecks
The wreck of the M.V. Corintian (The Tug) lies at an easy 18 - 20 metres, with a lovely reef encrusted around the bow, growing towards the surface.
M.V. Talata has a small volcanic vent to keep you even warmer around the wreck, close to the capital’s harbour of Basseterre, lying at less than 18 metres.
These shallow dives provide plenty of interest at the beginning or end of your liveaboard diving week.
Regaldive also feature Bahamas liveaboard trips .
Flights
Flights to St. Kitts with British Airways. Please see below for sample schedule.
Outbound: London Gatwick - St. Kitts (touchdown in Antigua)
Saturdays & Tuesdays: BA2157 LGW 10.40 - SKB 16:20
Inbound: St. Kitts - London Gatwick (touchdown in Antigua)
Saturdays: BA2256 SKB 17:55 LGW 08:30 +1 next day
Tuesdays: BA2156 SKB 18:15 LGW 08:50 +1 next day
A flight from St.Maarten to St. Kitts on LIAT Air or similar will be arranged on day of disembarking if required, as part of your package.
Flight Duration: 9½ to 10 hours
Departure tax: $20 - $30. Please refer airline notes on confirmation.
Passports & Visas
Please always check your own entry requirements regardless of your nationality. Your passport should always have at least 6 months validity on date of return travel.
British Nationals are currently granted one month tourist visa on entry.
Always check for last minute changes in entry requirements on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website.
Nationalities other than British citizens should check with their own consular office.
Vaccinations
Vaccination requirements are subject to change and should be confirmed before departure. For the most up to date advice please consult your travel clinic or GP. Further information regarding vaccinations for travel to this country can be found at www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk and from your local healthcare provider.
There are no compulsory vaccinations for travel to St. Kitts & Nevis, but we always recommend protection against typhoid, tetanus, hepatitis A and polio.
Caribbean Explorer II
I Had a Fantastic Time!
"The holiday was everything I expected and more! I had a fantastic time as normal - the team on board did everything they could to make it a great week. The transfers were perfect, like clockwork. There were no problems - everything was perfect.
Liveaboard is an old boat, but everything is in excellent working order and kept clean and tidy. I love it and I have been on it many times over the years. Food is fabulous - good quality and selection with a good range of wines and spirits.
The dive sites and itinerary were perfect - I had some great dives. The staff/crew are ALL fantastic. One of the highlights was making new friends and having a great week with a great group.
Great service from Regaldive and I will most certainly book again with you.
"
Karen Butler - UK
Caribbean Explorer II
We Saw Turtles on Virtually Every Dive!
"I had a lovely holiday. This trip stands out for several reasons: there were no other boats/divers on any of the sites, the coral is exquisite and the macro and other wildlife is abundant. We saw turtles on virtually every dive, reef and nurse sharks and too many other groovy things to mention. Ooh yes, and the water is a steady 29 degrees. Only a shorty or Lycra skin needed. There was little or no current, apart from on one of my dives.
I am happy to report that I had no problems at all while I was away. I did not do the night dives, but it might be worth mentioning that they insist everyone has a tank light as well as a flashlight per diver.
• Accommodation - on the boat I was fortunate that the female stand-in crew member I was meant to share with decided to sleep in a crew bed instead. I was really relieved about this as the cabin would have been very claustrophobic with two of us in it. The top bunk is accessed by standing on the bed below. I could not have got up to it easily and the ceiling was extremely low. However, not all cabins have this arrangement. Generally, the boat is much older than those on which I have previously done a liveaboard dive holiday (Egypt, Maldives, GBR). It all worked - the air con was fierce! But not the same spec generally as the Blue O2 fleet, for example.
• Food and other services - the food was outstanding. There was always plenty and freshly cooked. ALL drinks are included, even alcohol! The tip for the crew at the end of the trip was a bit awkward. The US culture is so different - in the end I parted with 15% of the boat price. And the purser wanted even more! But generally, the crew were always on hand and extremely attentive. The captain shared his dry British humour every briefing, which went down especially well with the mainly American guests!
• Dive sites/itinerary - the dive sites are really well identified and the crew incredibly knowledgeable. There was someone in the water with us on every dive, which I really appreciated as a lone traveller. There were no other divers or boats on any of the sites all week. That has to be a bonus! I don't know about flights to St. Maarten from the UK, but guess they would go from Amsterdam. I think I happened to do the itinerary in the best order, although the very early morning flight from St. Maarten to St. Kitts is a bit of a drag - a long wait for the BA flight and I missed the last dive the day before, although I could have risked it as the altitude of the flight is low.
• Dive Centre Staff/Liveaboard Staff and Crew - the crew was a great team and they were all very helpful. There are five dives available every day except for the last day, when there are two. This is great value - each site was very different and it was good to have the fourth dive at the same site as the night dive. The main reason I did not do the night dives was because I wanted to enjoy my dinner without risking indigestion. The night dives all occurred after dinner. The first dives also took place after breakfast. The surface intervals are therefore a lot shorter than I am used to, so I ended up switching to Nitrox after two days because my deco was building up.
• Transfers and ground arrangements were all very straightforward. I also did both land tours on St. Kitts ($33 paid to the driver) then on Saba ($20 paid on the boat), which were very interesting. You do miss a dive, usually - although as almost all of us did the Saba tour there was no dive. On the final day, Percy took me over to the Marriott from the airport and picked me up again - he charged £40 for these two trips. I enquired about the cost of a day room, but baulked at $150. So I went to the on-site Spa instead! Use of the whole facility is included - sauna, plunge pools, steam, shower and hairdryer, etc. - if you have a treatment. And there was hardly a soul there. Bliss! Gave me a chance to sort out my wrecked hair!
If I were to do the trip again, I would certainly spend some time at either end ashore and explore more of the islands. The flights on BA via Antigua were great - timing it just right for arrival especially.
There is no longer any departure tax to be paid on leaving St. Kitts. You may also be interested to know that the boat sails every week no matter how many guests there are on board. I was told that one Christmas week, there were only two guests. Incredible!"
Jeanette Redding - UK
Caribbean Explorer II
Caribbean Liveaboard Vessels
Caribbean Explorer II
The 32 metre, aluminium built Caribbean Explorer II can comfortably accommodate 18 divers, in 9 en-suite cabins.
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