Eco Tourism in St. Kitts & Nevis

Welcome to our Underwater World
Writer Cris Lesser goes off the deep end once again.

You’ve probably never heard of anyone bragging about his or her scuba diving trip to St. Kitts and Nevis. Indeed, if you aren’t aware the twin islands boast diving on par with any other Caribbean destination, you are certainly not alone. As the diving here isn't as well publicised as more commercialized dive destinations, it is exactly that anonymity that has helped preserve what is a worldclass diving destination made up of virgin reefs, un-crowded dive sites and unparalleled customer service. Whether you’re a novice diver or a seasoned pro, the underwater world surrounding St. Kitts and Nevis has something for everyone.

There are dozens of easily accessible dive sites in the area and four local dive operators—three in St. Kitts and one in Nevis— with a combined century of experience to get you there and back safely.

Even if you’ve never so much as strapped on a snorkel, all the dive operators here are internationally certified to offer special training courses that will have you diving
sites up to 40 feet deep in just a day’s time.

Kenneth Samuels, owner of Kenneth’s Dive Centre, guesses he has trained hundreds of divers over the years. At 60 years old, Samuels is the granddaddy of scuba diving on St. Kitts, although you’d never guess his age—40 years of scuba diving has kept him looking much younger than his years. His eyes still light up when he talks about diving with groupers that eat out of his hand and remora fish so friendly he can rub their belly like a dog. “I wish I was an underwater photographer, because I’ve seen a lot of amazing things down there,” he said.

Asked about his favorite dive site, he just laughed. “It could be just four feet of water,” he said. “Get me in it and I’m going to enjoy myself.”

St. Kitts’ three dive shops all are centrally situated around Basseterre harbor—just minutes away from most hotels. But more importantly, the shops are all just a short boat ride from the most popular dive sites, which means less time bouncing around on top of the waves and more time underneath them.

“Being so close to the dive sites lets visitors get the most out of their time here,” said Austin Macleod, owner and operator of Pro Divers, Inc.

“On some islands you might have to deal with a two hour crossing to get to a site,” he said. “Here we can go out in the morning for a two-tank dive and be back in plenty of time to do
something else in the afternoon, or have lunch and get back out on the water.”

One of the area’s best dive sites, the River Taw, a 144-foot-long freighter retired to the bottom of Basseterre harbor in 1985, is also one of the easiest to get to. The Taw was split in half by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and now lies in two pieces under just 50 feet of water.
The wreck is encrusted in colorful hard and soft corals and is home to lobster, octopus, docile Southern Stingrays and the occasional sea turtle.

Seeing turtles during the day isn’t guaranteed. But on night dives you’re almost certain to find Greenback, Hawksbill or Leatherback turtles slumbering at sites like the River Taw.

Even if you don’t spy a turtle, there are more than 700 species of fish in the Caribbean, ranging in size from inchlong sea horses and soccer-ball sized puffers to six-foot-long nurse sharks and 10-foot-wide flying Eagle Rays.

Colorful hard and soft corals abound on the islands’ many reefs and wrecks, and evidence of the area’s volcanic past can be found in ancient lava tracks, black coral trees and hot
water vents.

Another popular dive site is a twosquare- mile coral atoll known as Monkey Shoals. Situated in the channel between the two islands, the open water allows for visibility of up to 100 feet and the large expanse teems with enough marine life to keep divers busy for days on end.

For Ellis Chadderton, who has seen other dive shops on Nevis come and go since he started Scuba Safaris there in 1984, the name of the game is customer service.

“What we sell is a good experience,” said Chadderton. “From the funny cynical commentary on the way out, to a relaxing rum punch on the way back in.”

Chadderton said one of the best dives of his life was at a popular site off St. Kitts’ South East Peninsula called Nag’s Head.

“It just decided to blow your mind that day,” he recalled. “The visibility was good and we had lots of minnows and bigger fish coming in and feeding on the smaller fish. And then a dolphin decided to show up and then an Eagle Ray chose to swoop in and make
reoccurring passes. Everything just fell into place, and that’s what diving is all about.”