Today’s stop on our Carnival Valor cruise was the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. Our ship has docked here in the port of the capital Basseterre.
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Arrival on St. Kitts
St. Kitts (also known by its former name “Saint Christopher”) forms the island state of St. Kitts and Nevis together with the southern island of Nevis. The island in the Caribbean is quite tranquil with a maximum length of 30 kilometers and a width of 10 kilometers and has about 40,000 inhabitants. There are three volcanic mountain ranges on the island: the Mount Misery mountain range in the northwest, the Verchilds mountain range in the middle and the Olivees mountain range in the southeast. The highest mountain at 1156 meters is the dormant volcano Mount Liamuiga. The capital of the island state is Basseterre. Among the most famous sights are Brimstone Hill Fortress (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Cockleshell Beach, Wingfield Estate and Romney Manor plantations, and a train ride on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway.
Diving trip on St. Kitts
Since we really wanted to dive in the Caribbean, we signed up for a diving trip with 2 dives via the Carnival. After breakfast on the ship we were picked up by 2 small buses at the port and taken to the dive center Dive St. Kitts. Here we got our equipment first and then there was a short breefing about today’s diving spots.
In total, we were a group of 12 people, which is quite a big dive, as everyone has different experiences. A Canadian had already completed more than 100 dives with his son, another German about 20 and we had 11. The rest was formed by a group of Chinese, who unfortunately did not make a good figure in the water. Our guide usually had to take part of the group by the hand and guide them. We stayed with the other divers and the second guide rather at the end, which was quite good.
The dive spot: Shipwreck “M.V. River Taw”
The first dive spot was the m.v. river taw wreck, a freighter that went down in 1985 and was broken in two by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Since we dived at a wreck for the first time, it was of course quite exciting to see up close what animal and plant life develops over the years on a wreck. However, our glasses are permanently fogged during this first dive, so we could only see to a limited extent. Even cleaning underwater didn’t really help much.
After a good 50 minutes we are all back on the boat and took a break.
The Dive Spot: Rocky’s Reef
Our 2nd diving spot was the “Rocky’s Reef”, which was located not far from the diving school “Dive St. Kitts”. Our glasses were cleaned again by our guide with baby shampoo and with that we had really clear view. So again off into the 29 degree warm water.
Our video of the two dives in St. Kitts
Here are some impressions of our two dives in St. Kitts.
The cruise port in Basseterre
After filling in the logbooks we went back to the port of St. Kitts in Basseterre. This one is actually quite nicely designed and with its many shops & bars completely designed for the many cruise tourists. Just in time at 5 p.m. we started again and on to the next destination: Sint Maarten!
All travelogues from our Southern Caribbean Cruise
The Carnival Valor of the shipping company Carnival Cruise Lines has a capacity of almost 3,000 passengers and over 1,000 crew members. The ship, built in 2004, is 290 metres long, 35 metres wide and belongs to the so-called "Conquest Class". The Carnival Valor is a classic cruise ship that offers a wide range of entertainment. There is a huge theatre, a casino, numerous bars, a disco, a karaoke bar, sauna, jacuzzi, steam bath, a fitness centre with jogging track, two pools and several restaurants. Our route led us for 7 days through the southern Caribbean with stops in Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia. St. Kitts and St. Martin.
Day 02 » Saint Thomas: By scooter across the island (US Virgin Islands)
Day 03 » Day at Sea
Day 04 » Barbados: Catamaran Tour & Swimming with turtles
Day 05 » Saint Lucia: A tour of the island to the sulphur springs
Day 06 » Saint Kitts: Diving on the west coast in Basseterre
Day 07 » Saint Martin: Island Tour & The Planes at Maho Beach
Day 08 » Puerto Rico: San Juan – Tourist Attractions, Things to Do & Photo spots
Day 08 » Puerto Rico: El Yunque National Forest – Hiking through the rainforest