Amazing tour with Royston!

We recently returned from a Carnival Cruise that stopped in St. Kitts and I just wanted to pass along some information about an amazing tour that we did with Royston Island Tours.

After reading many of the reviews on this site, we decided to contact Royston because we really wanted to do a tour with just our family. We contacted Royston about 6 weeks before the cruise. His response was prompt (within a day) and he answered all of the questions that I had. He agreed to do a private tour with just our family. The price was $60.00 per adult and $30.00 for our son which included drinks and sandwiches. The van was clean, not pristine and did not have A/C, but the weather on St. Kitts was so beautiful that we were happy to be driving around with the windows down. Just as a note, we were considering going with another family of 4 (7 total) which would have brought the price per adult down to $40.00.

Royston basically created a completely customized tour for us. My son is studying the rainforest in school, so we were very interested in seeing that part of the island. That's where we headed immediately after doing a brief drive through the main town. Royston is very knowledgeable about the local history and vegetation and began pointing out local areas of interest immediately. We spent at least 1 1/2 hours exploring the rainforest. We saw local farmers, lots of amazing plants and even live monkeys.

Next we headed to the local batik "factory" which had a beautiful garden and to the old Brimstone Hill fort which provided amazing views. My husband is also a chef, so we asked Royston to take us somewhere that served very "authentic"/typical St. Kitts cuisine. Royston took us to a little restaurant where we ordered what I would refer to as a burrito, St. Kitts style. They were tortillas filled with your choice of fish, chicken or beef combined with mashed potatoes and curry and they were amazing! We took our “burritos” to go and headed to the beach.

We asked Royston to take us to the more remote beaches. We went to two that were wonderful. The first one was South Friars Bay….there were a few beach bars and chairs and umbrellas available, but it was not very crowded. Here is a link with additional information - http://www.discover-stkitts-nevis-beaches.com/st-kitts-beaches-south-friars-bay.html . We ate our lunch there and then headed to Sand Bank beach. It is on the Atlantic side, so I was a little concerned about how rough it would be, but it was breathtaking and we were literally the only people there! The water was not cold (as proven by the fact that I actually went in the water) and there was a shallow “ledge” that extended way out into the water, so our son was very comfortable. The only item I would mention about this beach is that there are no facilities/beach chairs/etc., so you should keep that in mind if it is important to you. We were there for a little over an hour and it was fine. I would not have traded it for anything!

Royston’s tour was a major highlight of our trip. We spent 5 hours and got to see so many wonderful sights. My only wish is that we had more time! I would recommend using Royston to anyone who is travelling to St. Kitts and I would definitely book with him if we went again!

I forgot to include Royston's e-mail address. It is roystontours@hotmail.com

We recently returned from a Carnival Cruise that stopped in St. Kitts and I just wanted to pass along some information about an amazing tour that we did with Royston Island Tours.

 

After reading many of the reviews on this site, we decided to contact Royston because we really wanted to do a tour with just our family. We contacted Royston about 6 weeks before the cruise. His response was prompt (within a day) and he answered all of the questions that I had. He agreed to do a private tour with just our family. The price was $60.00 per adult and $30.00 for our son which included drinks and sandwiches. The van was clean, not pristine and did not have A/C, but the weather on St. Kitts was so beautiful that we were happy to be driving around with the windows down. Just as a note, we were considering going with another family of 4 (7 total) which would have brought the price per adult down to $40.00.

 

Royston basically created a completely customized tour for us. My son is studying the rainforest in school, so we were very interested in seeing that part of the island. That's where we headed immediately after doing a brief drive through the main town. Royston is very knowledgeable about the local history and vegetation and began pointing out local areas of interest immediately. We spent at least 1 1/2 hours exploring the rainforest. We saw local farmers, lots of amazing plants and even live monkeys.

 

Next we headed to the local batik "factory" which had a beautiful garden and to the old Brimstone Hill fort which provided amazing views. My husband is also a chef, so we asked Royston to take us somewhere that served very "authentic"/typical St. Kitts cuisine. Royston took us to a little restaurant where we ordered what I would refer to as a burrito, St. Kitts style. They were tortillas filled with your choice of fish, chicken or beef combined with mashed potatoes and curry and they were amazing! We took our “burritos” to go and headed to the beach.

 

We asked Royston to take us to the more remote beaches. We went to two that were wonderful. The first one was South Friars Bay….there were a few beach bars and chairs and umbrellas available, but it was not very crowded. Here is a link with additional information - http://www.discover-stkitts-nevis-beaches.com/st-kitts-beaches-south-friars-bay.html . We ate our lunch there and then headed to Sand Bank beach. It is on the Atlantic side, so I was a little concerned about how rough it would be, but it was breathtaking and we were literally the only people there! The water was not cold (as proven by the fact that I actually went in the water) and there was a shallow “ledge” that extended way out into the water, so our son was very comfortable. The only item I would mention about this beach is that there are no facilities/beach chairs/etc., so you should keep that in mind if it is important to you. We were there for a little over an hour and it was fine. I would not have traded it for anything!

 

Royston’s tour was a major highlight of our trip. We spent 5 hours and got to see so many wonderful sights. My only wish is that we had more time! I would recommend using Royston to anyone who is travelling to St. Kitts and I would definitely book with him if we went again!

Thank you for your views. Did he give you enough time at Brimstone Hill, is it up to you or did he rush you guys. Also I wanted to know if the amount was included in the amount that you paid him. Thanks again for the beatiful acount of your trip.

We felt that we had plenty of time at Brimstone Hill, although we didn't chose to stay longer than 1/2 hour (and yes, he paid the entry fee for us). For us it was mainly about enjoying the views.

Royston never rushed us once...we had complete control over what we wanted to do and how long we stayed. He knew we wanted to get to the beaches, so he asked if we wanted to see the Fort. We asked if he thought we would have time to do both, and he did, so we went for it!

From his website, was yours considered the full day tour or the half day tour? What about South Friars Bay, would you recommend that beach? Thanks

I'm guessing that it was somewhere in between - he customized it for us. I basically e-mailed him with what we wanted to do and he responded with a price.

And yes, I would recommend South Friars Bay....the only reason we didn't stay there is we wanted to see an even less populated beach. Based on our experience I would say that if you wanted to stay away from large crowds, but still have a few ammenities, South Friars Bay is a good choice.

Sounds good! We are wanting to somewhat customize ours too so this sounds like a better option than Thenford Grey...I have read alot about him being really good but we want more beach time than tour time also, and don't really want to have to do what the other 20 people want to do. Plus we will have an 8 and 5 year old with us so a 4-5 hour tour might be a little too drawn out!

So after writing to all the tours on the island, royston seemed the best, so we will be going with him. He mentioned that we can do what we want and spend as much time as we want. He is charging us 40 pp with drinks, snacks and all the entrances paid!!! Can't get a better deal.

We felt that we had plenty of time at Brimstone Hill, although we didn't chose to stay longer than 1/2 hour (and yes, he paid the entry fee for us). For us it was mainly about enjoying the views.

 

Royston never rushed us once...we had complete control over what we wanted to do and how long we stayed. He knew we wanted to get to the beaches, so he asked if we wanted to see the Fort. We asked if he thought we would have time to do both, and he did, so we went for it!

Thank you for that. I told him about your review and he was so happy to hear about it.

Just back from the Celrbrity Solstice 3/22-3/29/09 and this was our 2nd time to St. Kitts & couldn't wait to spend another fun day with this wonderful Ambassador of St. Kitts. We visited the fort & headed to the beach snorkeling. What a great snorkeling tour. I cannot say enough good things about Roystons Tours.

One of the highlights of our entire cruise

Dawg

Royston sounds like a great option. How long do you have at a beach? Do you pay in advance or when you get there? What type of drinks and snacks are provided? Thanks.

Hey Pina,

We spent 5 hours? at the beach. Yes he provided a cooler w/local beers, juice, soda & water. He'll customize a tour to your liking. He's honest & reliable. No worries. You pay at the end.

Tell him Snorkel Dawg said hello!

Thanks for the review. I'm almost positive that I'll be taking one of his tours in November. I would love a customized tour that includes beach time so this review was really helpful.

Kat-happy to help you. I'm also happy to help Royston get some business. The guy is awesome!

You'll soon see,

Dawg