Nevis Plantation and Beach Tour Review

[igooutsidesometimes]

We were recently on a cruise to St Kitts and Nevis, January 2023. We knew we wanted to go to Nevis, so we booked the only cruise excursion with Nevis as an option - Nevis Plantation and Beach Tour. We were particularly excited about Alexander Hamilton's birthplace. (Notes: We were on Windstar Cruises, but have seen this excursion on other cruise lines. We paid $139pp and it was 5 hours.)

 

Excursion Description: 

• Catamaran ride to Nevis
• Van for panoramic tour of Nevis
• Pause for photo at Hamilton House
• Stop at St Thomas Lowland Church, the oldest Anglican Church in the Caribbean
• The *highlight* of the tour is Nisbet Plantation
• Pinney's Beach for a Caribbean style lunch served beachside. Included beach chair and umbrella

 

The catamaran ride was great. The crew was lovely and attentive. The Nevis tour guide was great too. Very personable and cared about sharing his knowledge with us. He made sure we knew Nevis is pronounced Knee-vis. 🙂 

 

The tour did make a brief stop at Hamilton House, where we stood outside the gates and took pictures. The guide said it was because it was a Sunday, it was closed so we couldn't enter. This stop was within the first 10 minutes, as since this was our highlight of the day, we were just along for the ride the rest of the way. 

 

We drove around Nevis a good bit, stopping by the bath houses, old hotels, cricket stadium.

 

We drove by St Thomas Lowland Church, but again because it was Sunday, we could not enter. 

 

Pinneys Beach was great. The restaurant was closed (Sunday), but they served a wonderful meal. Everyone on the excursion raved about the option they selected. The beach was almost completely empty. The sand and beach were great. We spent the duration of time in the water, as it was the first warm day of our vacation.

 

We don't recall ever going to or near a plantation (as the title and description suggest). Looking at a map of Nevis, I am sure we never went to that direction of the island, and Google Maps shows that the plantation is permanently closed. 

 

I am not upset about plans changing due to circumstances, but there was no reason for us not to be informed that certain parts of the tour were closed due to it being a Sunday. We could have used this information to use our time and money selecting a more fulfilling experience. In the end, Pinney's Beach made the excursion worth while, but it would have been nice to know ahead of time what we were not getting out of what we paid for. 

Edited February 10, 2023 by igooutsidesometimes