Basseterre - General Info
Description:
Basseterre is one of the most attractive towns in the Caribbean, with a range of both French and English architecture due to its history of colonisation by both countries. It is the main commercial and industrial centre of St. Kitts and is the main port of entry for both sea and air travel as well as being home to most of the island’s shops.
Entrance Notes and Cautions:
Cruise ships arrive every day during high season and their lifeboats take priority on the main wall, bringing in hundreds of passengers.
Cruiser Highlights:
Despite being a little off the popular cruising route, there is a boatyard here which is said to be one of the cheapest in the eastern Caribbean for leaving your boat strapped down during the hurricane season.
Position:
17° 17’10″N, 62° 43’14″W
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Related to following destinations: Basseterre, St Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis
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Jason Ball says:
We cleared into St Kitts via Basseterre at the end of March 2019. The eAPIS spreadsheet was a nightmare to complete as it asks for ISO Country Codes and UNLOCode Seaport Codes without any guidance on how to find these – we eventually found them on Wikipedia, or you can download ZIP files from the eAPIS website http://www.caricomeapis.org. We then discovered that Immigration are not currently using eAPIS as their internet connection is apparently not reliable enough, so we had to complete all the information again on paper. Customs then announced that they are still using SailClear, which we hadn’t completed, so we had to fill in all the customs paperwork too. I have better things to do with my time, but Brimstone Hill Fortress made it worthwhile visiting St Kitts.
This comment posted on main St. Kitts page:
If you consider to drydock the boat during hurricane season I can recommend St Kitts Marine Work near Brimstone Hill on the southwestern coast of St Kitts. The boatyard is located on a field and is very simple. Not much facilities. But I must say it is the cheapest boatyard in the whole Caribbean.
I have compared boatyards between Trinidad and Antigua. The solution to do a safe hurricane safe choking is to dig a hole for the keel and put the boat there and put some truck tires around the hull.
Easy and hurricane safe. Google on St Kitts Marine Works. The disadvantage is that there is no boat chandleries on the Island. You have to bring all stuff you need. Close to the boatyard (which is very remote located) is some good apartments for rent while you are working with shut down or the opposite.
St Kitts & Nevis has daily flights to Miami. I have more info of my experience if somebody is interested. Give me a mail jan.o.h.guste@gmail.com
Update on clearing into St Kitts and Nevis: Customs now have an office in the Port Zante marina office (on the second floor of the yellow building). Customs fees were USD $12. There doesn’t seem to be a “cruising permit” anymore and they checked us in for both St Kitts and Nevis. As we were only staying a week, they also cleared us out at the same time.
You also need to stop at the immigration office and the port authority office. Both are located in the cruise ship “welcome building”, immigration on one side the port authority on the other. Port authority charged USD $13. No immigration fees. I asked about any need to check in at Charlestown in Nevis and was told that there was no need.
Cheers- SV Perry
http://www.svperry.com
Anchored off the marina. Marina did not charge for dinghy tie up. Customs/Immigration is at the cruise ship dock in the green building with the round roof, about 1 block from the marina. Customs/Immigration is in the second door on left.
Port Control is the first door on the right. $12US for customs/immigration and $12US for Port control. This covered Kitts and Nevis — no list of anchorages was asked for, nor was there any place to fill them in.