Before the cruise while researching about St. Kitts, I found out from Tripadvisor forums that most previous cruise goers were recommending either Cockleshell Beach or South Friars Beach. Since Cockleshell Beach is much further south compared to South Friars and there did not seem to be that much quality of beach difference based on reviews we chose the latter.
After disembarking from the ship and walking through the duty free area of the terminal at Port Zante we started negotiating fares from the terminal to the South Friars Beach. Finally we found a cab driver who would drive us for $4 one way per person. There were 2 other couples who shared the van for the ride.
The South Friars Beach is located on the Caribbean side while the North Friars beach is on the Atlantic side. While researching on the St. Kitts forum on Tripadvisor I already knew that the beaches on the Atlantic side can be treacherous and the recommendation was to swim only on the Caribbean side.
There are 2 main beach bars on South Friars Beach – Shipwreck Bar and Carambola Beach Club. The Carambola Beach Club is a much newer property and I had read online that the beach is also much nicer on this side and so all of us got off on the same place.
The beach club is really nice with plenty of chairs and umbrellas available. The chairs are $10 each for the day and so are the umbrellas. Being the cheapskate that we are, we decided to share a chair and an umbrella for $20.
The water was very clear and warmest we have had in this cruise. There were some waves on main part of the beach but we stayed close to the rocks where it was milder.
We stayed in the water for about 4 hours. We had brought some snacks as I had read about the pricey menu at the beach club.
There is a cove just beside the beach that has some really good snorkeling opportunity. We sat by the rocks and ended up seeing some small colorful yellow, blue and grey colored fish.
By around 3 PM the beach crowd was starting to thin out and we found another couple who agreed to let us tag along with them back to the cruise terminal. This time also the fare was $4 per person.
