Diving St. Kitts
Crystal seas filled with fish, wrecks, and reefs encircle Nevis making diving excellent even for the most experienced of scuba divers. Many divers consider Monkey Shoals, a reef stretching from 40 feet to 100 feet in depth, among the best diving. You’re likely to encounter schools of bright tropical fish, nurse sharks, and turtles sharing the waters. You can also dive the Caves, a collection of grottos filled with marine life off Nevis’ southern tip. Some diving operators provide the use of hydrophones – underwater listening devices – to detect the melodic clicks produced by the whales and dolphins that pass through between January and April.
The islands offer a wealth of relatively new, untouched dive sites. More than 400 ships sank here between 1493 and 1825, but only a dozen or so have been identified to date.
Best time to dive
Year-round diving is great, although August through October can be tricky with hurricane season.
Visibility
Visibility averages 60 to 100 feet.
Water temperatures
The water temperature ranges from 78°F to 84°F.
Weather and climate
Cooling Trade Winds blow consistently along with a sunny climate all year round and an average temperature of 84°F. The hottest portions of St. Kitts weather appear from May to October. Weather includes very little rain.
Language
English. Creole is also spoken in many areas.
Passport/Visa requirements
U.S. and Canadian citizens can enter with a valid passport or government-issued birth certificate. Citizens of all other nations need a valid passport. All travelers should have a round-trip or onward ticket.
Currency
Eastern Caribbean dollar – Get exchange rates at http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Electrical current
110 volts is most common, but 220-volt electricity is available in some areas.
Capital
Basseterre
General information
St. Kitts lies in the Leeward Islands. It lies near the top of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 200 miles south of Puerto Rico, and just west of Antigua. Nevis is one half of a nation along with its larger sister island, St. Kitts. The island is volcanic and is just 7 miles long and 5 miles wide. Nevis is quiet and lush, a perfect place to relax. Nevis has excellent beaches and a tropical rainforest with trails to hike. All ten thousand residents of Nevis, sometimes called the “Queen of the Caribbees” for its serene natural beauty, embrace the simplicity of life here and invite guests to do the same.
Map
Get a map of St. Kitts from WorldAtlas.com.