Back in the begining of August I shared an article I wrote and submitted to several sailing magazines. Well turns out Multihull Sailor chose to publish it in thier fall…
Montserrat is at southern end of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. The island is 39 square miles and has a population around 5000, which is 1/3 of the population before the evacuation
due to the southern volcano beginning to erupt in 1995. The island is recovering and use of the northern third of the island poses zero problem from the still sputtering volcano. The southern 2/3 of the island is an exclusion zone and off limits, including the former capital of Plymouth, which is buried in mud flows.
Helpful Info
Population – 5,200
Money – shares the Eastern Caribbean dollar with 6 other countries and 1 British island (fixed at US$1 = EC$2.70)
Language – English
Religion – 78.7% Christian (with 67.1 being Protestant)
When to go – Dec-June is most popular. Summer is nice also, but a little hotter and more humid. Hurricanes most active Aug-Oct.
World Heritage Sites – 0 – None
Country formed – Settled by the United Kingdom in 1632 and remains a colony today
Christopher Columbus visited the island during his second voyage and named the island after the Monastery of Montserrat near Barcelona, Spain, which means “serrated mountain” in Catalan. The island has been claimed by Britain since Irish settlers arrived in 1632 and plantations were set up to cultivate sugar.
My Visit
I visited Montserrat in the spring of 2017 as part of the six-week cruise I did through the Leeward Islands. Montserrat was one of the places I was most looking forward to and am glad that we got to visit for three days.
Likes, Dislikes, and Recommendations
The people of Montserrat are extremely welcoming and as soon as we checked in we were invited to watch the cricket match going on (I must admit I didn’t know the rules, so I was lost). The two things I enjoyed the most are hiking to Rendezvous Beach, just north of Little Bay and an island tour looking at the volcano and its destruction.
The only negative about the island is the only anchorage is at Little Bay and does not provide much protection if the weather is rough.
When you visit I recommend you hire Joe Phillip (664-492-1565) for a tour around the island and make sure you pay the extra fee to go into the old capital of Plymouth. You will be humbled to see the destruction caused by the volcano and Joe does a great job of helping you comprehend with photos and stories from before the eruption.
Below you can get even more helpful hints by watching the travel video I made for Montserrat. Also, you can read what all I did there in my blog posts located below the video.
All Blogs From Montserrat
[Shane – this week I broke up an article I wrote summarizing our cruise for some sailing magazines. The first part was on Sunday, the second part was on Tuesday, and…
[Shane – on Sunday I told you how I wrote an article and submitted it to some sailing magazines, but I was letting my readers read it first. This is…
[Shane – this is an article I wrote and submitted to several sailing magazines to see if they would be interested in publishing it. Of course, my readers do not…
This is a question you will ask a lot in the eight countries that use the East Caribbean dollar (EC$). All eight of these countries are former British territories, except…
As many of you know, you don’t really get any exciting moments while sailing other than seeing other boats and if you`re luckily some dolphins might come to say hi….
I wrote about it yesterday and at the top of the hill I saw this amazing tree and thought it would make a great photo of the day. I hope…
When you sail to Montserrat you have to check in at Little Bay, which is also the only anchorage left on the island since the capitol has been abandoned due…
Want to learn more about it? Then come back tomorrow and I will tell you the different ways to get here and how wonderful it was. Plus there is a…
This is Runaway Ghaut and is fed by a fresh water spring. It is said that whoever drinks from this spot will return to Montserrat someday. That sounds delightful and since…
I arrived in the Virgin Islands in January 2012 and every now and then for the next two years I would have streaks of black on the counters after I…
Today’s photo of the day is the photo I feel shows the devastation the island of Montserrat suffered after the volcano erupted 20 years ago. Melek told you yesterday her…
After beautiful Antigua, we sailed to an island with big mountains. Apparently, they were volcanos! One of them is active and the other 2 are not. Shane is gonna write…
To me they look like rows of shark teeth, but they are really just part of the break water in Little Bay that became the only port after the volcano…