Montserrat trip report

[silvernotch]

I have been meaning to post this for a long time. We traveled to Montserrat via Winair from Antigua and spent a week on this wonderful island the first week of June '10. We stayed at Erindell Guest House and dove 2 days with Green Monkey dive shop.

First things first, I hate touristy Sandals type places and Montserrat seemed to be an island that no one had ever heard of before and I knew I would get the seclusion I was looking for. And I did. We were 2 of 8 tourists on the island that week.

We flew into Antigua via Newark (I'm 15 mins from PHL airport but Newark had a direct flight to Antigua whereas Philly didn't) and then hopped via Winair. The flight from Antigua to M'rat was ridiculously expensive for a 20 min flight. If I were to do it again I will take the Ferry but we flew in on a Sunday and the ferry doesn't run that day. But the flight in was beautiful. We had our first look at the emerald green hills and we could see some of the destruction in Plymouth.

Erindell Guest House was almost like a home away from home. It is run by Shirley and Lou Spycalla. Shirley was born in the Caribbean and Lou is originally from Wisconsin and has been living on the island with Shirley for 20+ years now. Lou even special requested I bring a jar of horseradish from home since there was none left on the island lol. Erindell is made up of Lou and Shirley's house and two separate guest houses with a pool inbetween. Breakfast is provided and you have the option to have Lou cook lunch and dinner or venture out on your own. Most of the time we just had Lou make us food. The cottages have ceiling fans but no AC but you get a decent breeze since the house is up on a hill. The only downside was that there are frequent power outages and it can get a little warm in the room if it went out. But when that would happen I would just hop in the pool. Also Lou will take you down to the river and what used to be the golf course. You can see how the river reacted when mixed with the ash from the eruption. It's incredible.

Montserrat itself is absolutely stunning especially when seeing it from the water. We spent a few days at Woodlands beach and we had the entire 1/4 stretch to ourselves. There are a lot of large rocks out in the water that was home to a ton of marine life so we spent a LOT of time snorkeling. I even spotted an octopus hiding under a rock. Woodlands used to be a pretty popular beach pre-eruption so there's still a working bathroom and shower but of course you'll be the only ones using it other than the lizards. But one of the best and awe inspiring parts of the island was the boat tour of Plymouth given by Troy with Green Monkey. I'll add pictures to this post but words cannot even describe the devastation created by the Soufriere Hills volcano. It is a must see for anyone traveling to M'rat or even Antigua. Also a nice touch that Troy pointed out what used to be the homes of celebrities prior to the eruption. Troy is so full of information on the island. Another note on the island, mostly all of the food is imported since the farmland was destroyed from th eruption so eating on the island can be fairly expensive.

Now to the diving :cool2: we did 2 days of diving with Green Monkey and I wish we did more. Green Monkey is located in Little Bay which is also the port where the cargo ships come in. Troy takes you out and around Little Bay and Rendezvous beach (the only white sand beach which is totally secluded and only accessable by hiking or boat). The diving was fantastic. Since the tourism is very minimal, none of the coral is damaged and all of the marine life seem really surprised by your presence. We saw many stingrays, turtles, eels, fire worms, little crabs, many juvenile fish, and an anchor from the 1700's. We also dove into the "bat cave" which was pretty much a U-shaped slit in the rock. Troy's boat is very clean and keeps it stocked with lots of water for SI's. He and his DM (I can't remember his name sorry!) took very good care of getting us loaded up and in the water. This was our first ocean dive outside of the quarry after our AOW and he took very good care of us and made sure we were comfortable and happy. I would recommend Troy and his shop to anyone.

Now for some pictures

Rendevous Beach

The bat cave

All of these homes are abandoned

someone thought that they were going to be slick and sneak into the exclusion zone. He crashed into the rocks instead and had to walk about 3 miles through the ash and hills to get to anyone

what used to be Plymouth

what used to be a 5 story building

All abandoned - and they still have to pay their mortages

Woodlands Beach

opposite end of Woodlands

Erindell

Beatles manager Sir George Martin's home - he wasn't on island that week but we ate dinner there. It's called the Olveston House. You can also stay there

If you would like to see my whole album you can go here
Montserrat pictures by spflo033 - Photobucket

 

[shawrg]

Thanks for providing useful details on a destination I've previously ruled out. You were very brave to choose Montserrat as your first ocean water dive trip. I'm glad you had a good time. I like seclusion too, but I felt a little depressed seeing the photos of destruction & the abandoned areas.

 

[Rhone Man]

Thanks for posting!

 

[1erCRU]

Thanks for the post! It brings back great memories of Montserrat pre-volcano. We used to go out of our way to visit and dive as we sailed the Windwards and Leewards. Then as now the diving was good and the people were some of the nicest anywhere.

 

[silvernotch]

Thanks for providing useful details on a destination I've previously ruled out. You were very brave to choose Montserrat as your first ocean water dive trip. I'm glad you had a good time. I like seclusion too, but I felt a little depressed seeing the photos of destruction & the abandoned areas.

One of the reasons I chose it as our first ocean dive is because I knew we would probably be the only ones diving and we could get that 1-on-1 attention that we needed at the time. Troy and his wife Melody were very helpful and full of information months before we even booked to come down.

And I understand your feeling of depression. The one good thing is that while staying on current day Montserrat you cannot see the destruction at all unless you go out and try to see it. The hilly landscape covers everything and all you can see is the sulfur coming out of Soufriere hills. The volcano is very ominous but the destruction is never in easy view. It's a very beautiful island and definitely worth making the trip for.

Thanks for the post! It brings back great memories of Montserrat pre-volcano. We used to go out of our way to visit and dive as we sailed the Windwards and Leewards. Then as now the diving was good and the people were some of the nicest anywhere.

I wish I was able to see Montserrat pre volcano but I think I was 14 or so at the time of the eruption :doh: and the people are unbelievably friendly. We were the only tourists on the plane and the locals seemed very excited that people were coming to see their island. Also a lot of people in the stores were surprised when we said we were from America. One person said "we don't get many of those around here". now that's not something you hear everyday in the Caribbean haha