Snorkel St. Kitts For Sand Divers to Quick Squid
While St. Kitts may not be known as one of the best Caribbean Islands for snorkelling, we were pleasantly surprised by the marine life that we encountered at a number of locations along the island’s gorgeous Caribbean coast. While we reached one snorkelling hotspot as part of a boat excursion, we found many other worthwhile snorkelling options accessible right off the beach – You just need to grab a taxi or rent a car to get there. Here’s what we found…
Shitten Bay
We snorkelled the north end of Shitten Bay, which is located on the Caribbean (West) side of the southernmost point of St. Kitts while enjoying a sail and snorkel tour. The water there is like something out of a magazine – A stunning turquoise colour that you just don’t every day. Peering over the side of the boat I could see the ocean floor about 15 feet down, covered with seagrass along as well as a row of rocks/boulders in shallower water closer to shore.
As soon as I plunged into the water, I was greeted by a school of black & yellow vertically striped sergeant majors along with a handful of large shiny silver fish with a yellow strip down their backs that I believe are yellow jacks.
I left the boat area and headed towards shore. Once I reached the row of boulders I slowly swam northward along the edge. I was amazed to see such a wide variety of marine creatures swimming among the rocks. I saw little silver fish, medium-sized brown fish, an amazing butterflyfish with its distinctive black dot near its tail as well as a mixture of awesome-looking blue fish that are probably chromas and/or tang. Once I reached the north end of the bay, I floated over a coral structure jutting out from the shore into deeper water. I was thrilled to see these small black fish with fluorescent blue dots that I believe are jewelfish – An incredible sight! I also saw some fun looking bluehead wrasse as well as a number of unique yellow trumpetfish that I thought were cool.
One of the many highlights for me was seeing a fascinating ribbon-like eel. It was whitish with bi-coloured dots along its body. I couldn’t study it for long as it came out of one hiding spot and quickly disappeared again between two rocks. Perhaps it was a snake eel or a juvenile spotted moray. Whatever it was, it was awesome! I also saw a beautiful but deadly lionfish. I must have seen close to two dozen 20 different species of fish in all. There were several species of corals and other sea life down there as well. I saw fire coral, brain coral, a few different stick-like coral, as well as some vertical tubes, plenty of large purple fans as well as a variety of other plants I don’t know by name. Swimming back to the boat I was fortunate to see a decent sized puffer fish swimming near along the grassy ocean floor. Wow, that was special – Another great encounter
I believe that Shitten Bay can also be accessed by hiking across the peninsula from Major’s Bay, which is where the main road on the island ends. Following orange markers, it’s a rough one-hour hike along a river bed that ends at a beached shipwreck about 100 meters south from where we snorkelled.
However you get there, this is probably the best snorkeling spot in St. Kitts.
South Friars Bay
Located on the Caribbean (West) side of the north end of the narrow part of St. Kitts’ southeast peninsula is South Friar’s Bay. Just off the main (OK, only) road, there are two dirt tracks to the area, one leads to the Carambola Beach Club, the other to the Shipwreck Bar & Grill.
While we’ve been told that there is good snorkeling at the north end of the bay near the man-made point at the Carambola Beach Club, we spent our time snorkelling the area between the Godfather Beach Bar (next to the Discovery Beach Bar & Grill) and the Shipwreck Bar & Grill. We were pleasantly surprised by how good the snorkelling is in this area. This is thanks to a thin strip of coral, no more than 50 feet from shore, that runs almost the length of the beach. This reef is brimming with life, including a wide variety of juvenile fish, corals and sea fans.
Because part of the reef is just below the water surface, it is very dangerous for both humans and aquatic life to walk/swim over this reef. Scattered rows of sea urchins (little red ones plus larger black ones can really make for a bad day, so it is best to enter the water at the very south end of the bay just past the Shipwreck Bar & Grill, where there is a grass-covered sandy strip of ocean floor.
We slowly swam and drifted northward along the edge of the reef, on the ocean side (as opposed to the beach side) that is, up to the Godfather Beach Bar and back again. The sea floor has this really cool rippled texture, along with a few patches of sea grass. We saw tons of small fish flowing in and out of various nooks and crannies as the gentle ocean current ebbed in and out over the reef. I saw some fire coral, plenty of colourful soft corals as well as some hard corals and sea fans. The ocean floor was littered with black sea urchins with their long spikes poking out between and from under the rocks. I also saw some white urchins as well. As for the fish, there were lots of amazing ‘electric’ blue tang, yellow grunts, and plenty of other species I didn’t recognize.
While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the fish and corals in this area, including a few camouflaged lizard-fish hiding on the sea floor, the highlight of this snorkeling adventure was the incredible French angelfish. This is what I’m looking for when I snorkel the Caribbean!
The gentle waves were easy to negotiate, making this a nice relaxing and rewarding snorkel. This was our second favourite place to snorkel in St. Kitts. Of course, it helps when there are plenty of places (mentioned above) on the beach to dry off with some good food and drink.
White House Bay
Located on the Caribbean (West) side of the southern end of the narrow part of St. Kitts’ southeast peninsula, we visited White House Bay. We followed the sign on the main road for “Salt Plage at Christoph Harbour”. While the restaurant facility was (permanently?) closed when we visited in early 2022, there are a couple of small parking lots right off the road.
From there, we walked for a few minutes along a dirt road to the beach area where we found a few abandoned buildings along with a pier. The beach is rocky, as in, the entire coastline is covered in golf ball, baseball, and softball sized rocks, although none of them are exactly round. Unless you have leathery tough feet, shoes or sandals are required to traverse the shoreline. I had heard that the best snorkelling was at the north end of the bay, so we walked about two-thirds of the way up the beach before heading into the water.
We kept our sandals/water-shoes on for this snorkel as the sea floor is littered with rocks. There are rocks and boulders of all shapes and sizes on the sandy ocean floor, several of them splashed with a bumpy yellow paint-like substance called ‘fire coral’. We avoided contact with that nasty stuff as we looked for fish. We didn’t have to look far as there were plenty of small – medium sized creatures swimming around in water about 4 to 10 feet deep fairly close to shore. I slowly swam north and saw a few sergeant majors, some small schools of yellow grunts as well as schools of black and yellow horizontally striped fish I assume was some other type of grunt. I saw some yellow goatfish, with their distinctive silver bodies and yellow tails, along with a few blue tang and yellow trumpetfish – Those are so weirdly cool! We also saw plenty of black spiky sea urchins who have made their homes between the rocks.
We were thrilled to also see a few starfish, mostly yellow/gold in colour, although I also saw one that was red. There was a bit of a current/tide to contend with, but nothing to worry about. A decent, if not overwhelming snorkeling experience.
Eventually, we got out of the water and headed to the south end of the beach where we had heard there was a shipwreck by a large rock protruding out of the water. Even though this was in much deeper water, we had to check it out! For several yards in from the beach, the water is very shallow and the rocky sea floor is covered in marine life. As a result, it is best to swim over to the rock outcrop from the end of the pier.
As we swam out toward the large black rock, I was struggling a bit against the relentless waves. As I finally got into deeper water I was immediately met by a small school of fish which I appreciated. The sea floor in this area is very dramatic, with non-uniform small rolling hills and deeper trenches, probably over 20 feet deep. I was exploring an interesting ledge with large sea fans waving back and forth with the strong current when my partner motioned me back. I swam back to see her looking at a large rectangular shape on the sea floor in about 20 feet of water. We were both tiring from the constant fight against the current and decided to get back to shore. Talking with someone a few days later, I found out that the shipwreck was actually on the other side of the rock that we unfortunately never reached.
One thing to mention is that we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. When we first arrived, there were a couple of guys from a sailboat moored in the harbour hanging out on the pier for a while, and we also encountered a tour guide with a couple of tourists going for a kayaking excursion – That’s it.
Well, after that workout, we now had an excellent excuse to take the short drive to the southernmost part of the island to check out the famous Reggae Beach Bar where we enjoyed some Carib beer, rum punch and a meal – All to the beats of awesome reggae music. A great way to spend the day!
Timothy Beach / Frigate Bay
On the Caribbean (west) side of St. Kitts, near the iconic Timothy Hill lookout at the north end of the southeast peninsula is Timothy Beach and Frigate Bay. This is St. Kitts’ most famous beach town known as “the strip” for the 10+ bar/restaurants that line the beach.
A little over 100 feet from shore there is about 400 hundred feet of man-made reef/barrier that marine life now call home. Please note that there is a gap in the barrier reef that is a channel for boats to come in and out from shore, so be aware of where you are at all times.
We waded in from shore and easily swam out to the rock pile where I immediately saw a lizard-fish, lying still on the sandy ocean floor. On the ocean side (as opposed to the beach side) of the rock pile, there are patches of sea grass with little sand mounds and craters – I wonder what’s going on down there. Regardless, there’s a surprising number of juvenile fish swimming among the rocks. They seem shy, but there’s plenty to see. I saw schools of yellow grunts over the sea grass and sergeant majors, blue tang, and other species. I was totally amazed when I saw a couple of Caribbean reef squids for the first time in my life. I tried to follow them, but man they’re fast. On the way out of the water, my partner pointed to an amazing gold/orange starfish as well as a much larger but duller coloured starfish. Cool!
If you’re staying in the area, or are visiting from a cruise ship, this man-made rock pile reef, while not the best place to snorkel in St. Kitts, is definitely worth exploring.
ACT Staff
For more information on snorkeling in St. Kitts & Nevis, including a list of tour operators who will get you to the hot spots, check out our St. Kitts & Nevis Snorkelling page
If you’re looking for other ‘active’ things to do while vacationing on the Sister Islands, click on our St. Kitts & Nevis Adventures blog for some great ideas!
For an overview of the beautiful and unique islands, take a look at our St. Kitts & Nevis Vacations page
For an overview of great Tourist Attractions on the islands, including tour operators who will take good care of you, check out our Things to Do in St. Kitts & Nevis page
