Allan and I recently traveled to the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, Montserrat. Why Montserrat? Well, if you’ve been following this blog or my social media channels for a while now, then you know that, as a Caribbean woman, I have had a goal for some years now to visit every country in the Caribbean. If you’re new here, welcome, and now you know! Montserrat was country number 31 for me, and Allan and I can now say that we have visited every Caribbean country! Yes, there are more islands in the Caribbean to visit because some countries, like The Bahamas, are comprised of multiple islands, but as far as countries in the Caribbean, we’ve now visited them all!

11 FACTS ABOUT MONTSERRAT - THE CARIBBEAN’S EMERALD ISLE:

Montserrat is a volcanic island in the South-Eastern Caribbean.
Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills volcano, which had been dormant for centuries, became active in July 1995, erupted, and buried the capital city of Plymouth, which is considered a modern-day Pompeii.
After the eruptions, the majority of the island’s population fled the island, mostly for the United Kingdom.
The population in Montserrat, at present, is approximately 5000 people.
Being a volcanic island, most of Montserrat’s beaches are black sand beaches.
Montserrat can be visited by small aircrafts, ferries, and other boats of similar size.
Montserrat is called the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean due to its Irish heritage and its lush green land.
Montserrat is the only country outside of Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as a national holiday. The St. Patrick’s Day celebration is the biggest celebration of the year on the island.
Arrow, also known as the Mighty Arrow, the original artist who created the calypso/soca hit, “Hot Hot Hot,” is Montserratian.
Montserrat is especially well-known in the music industry thanks, in part, to AIR Studios Montserrat, a state-of-the-art recording studio built by Sir George Martin, world-renowned producer of the Beatles. This is where Stevie Wonder recorded “Ebony and Ivory” with Paul McCartney. Many other artists, including Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Duran Duran, and Eric Clapton recorded at AIR Studios Montserrat.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo destroyed AIR Studios Montserrat. The property and remains of the structure are still there for folks to see from the walls and gates along the perimeter, but access onto the property itself is prohibited.

GETTING TO MONTSERRAT

The most straightforward way to travel to the island of Montserrat is by flying from neighboring Antigua. We traveled from New York JFK to Antigua ANU via JetBlue, then we connected to FlyMontserrat in Antigua. The FlyMontserrat airplane that we flew on is the smallest airplane we have flown on to date - a Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, which seats 7 passengers - which transported us safely to Montserrat MNI! On our return trip, we flew FlyMontserrat from Montserrat MNI to Antigua ANU. Even my airplane-loving self was somewhat nervous when I saw how tiny the airplane was, but once we got up in the air and saw those beautiful views during the 18-to-20-minute flight, much of that anxiety went away. Also, our landings in Montserrat and in Antigua on FlyMontserrat were very smooth. God is good, and we had a skilled pilot who happens to be a woman! Earlier in life, I wanted to be a pilot, so for this significant flight - the flight that would signify my visiting every island in the Caribbean - to have a Caribbean female pilot was such a special experience for me.

You can get a good taste for our Montserrat travel days in our YouTube vlogs: Come With Us To Montserrat | JetBlue & FlyMontserrat | The Smallest Plane We’ve Ever Flown On and Leaving Montserrat | Fly With Us From The Caribbean’s Emerald Isle.

There is also a ferry that operates between Montserrat and Antigua, but that service was suspended during the global health crisis, and we are not sure if/when it will resume regular operations. That said, even if the ferry were operating, we would likely opt to fly because the ferry takes around 2 hours while flying takes about 20 minutes maximum.

WHERE TO STAY IN MONTSERRAT

For our two-night visit to Montserrat, we stayed at Tropical Mansion Suites, which is located approximately 5 minutes away from the airport, by car, and is one of the few properties listed as an actual hotel in Montserrat. Unlike most other Caribbean countries, there aren’t any resorts and aren’t many hotels to choose from in Montserrat. Rather, there are mostly modest guesthouses, bed and breakfast accommodations, apartments, and villas.

We had great communication with Tropical Mansion Suites in booking our stay, and we were even able to request round-trip airport transportation and coconut water for our stay through email communication with Zenoushka and Merle, Head of Client Happiness. Now, with a title like that, you can expect great hospitality! To be honest, hospitality was a highlight in staying at Tropical Mansion Suites. Although the on-site restaurant has not yet re-opened since the global shutdown, we were provided with instructions on how to request each day’s menus and place our orders through a restaurant concierge service on the phone app, WhatsApp - yes, there’s WiFi included at Tropical Mansion Suites. Our food would then be delivered to our room! This service worked well for us. Additionally, during the first evening of our stay at Tropical Mansion Suites, Merle brought two coconuts to our room, already cut open, and with straws, for us to enjoy a refreshing drink of coconut water while awaiting our dinner to arrive.

While we were happy to have hospitable staff greet us and cater to our needs during our stay, we also aim to provide a thorough review of places that we visit, and as great as the hospitality was, the hotel itself is quite dated. Add to that, it has an open sort of design, so being nestled in and near the hills in Montserrat, we are sure that the frequent breeze and rain brings in dust, water, and other elements that add to the wear and tear of the premises. As Caribbean natives, we are no strangers to that sort of thing, but for a hotel, intentional upkeep is needed to address the worn look which is a result of that. In addition to that wear and tear, the outdated kitchenette area, and a fairly large stain on the shower curtain lead us to classify the physical accommodation itself as below par for us, and in our estimation, it would likely be considered below par by most frequent travelers.

That said, there are an assortment of guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, apartments, and villas to choose from across the island, so we cannot necessarily say that this applies to all accommodations on the island.

WHAT TO DO IN MONSTERRAT

During our visit to Montserrat, we enjoyed a five-hour island tour with Charles Daly of Daly’s Taxi, Tours, & Rentals, and we highly recommend this tour service, which can be customized to your liking! Also, we hired a photographer, Wendicia Aymer, to capture moments from our visit to Montserrat. We suggest doing so because time spent exploring the Caribbean’s Emerald Isle is truly special, and if you are photo and video fanatics like we are, then it’s worth investing in a local photographer - we highly recommend Ms. Aymer - to capture your Montserrat memories!

What exactly did we do during our tour? Well, along with conversation with our tour guide and photographer, here are some of the tour highlights we enjoyed after Mr. Daly picked us up bright and early from Tropical Mansion Suites:

We went to a lookout point where we could see the runway on which we had landed the day before;
We drove to Runaway Ghaut and drank from it - legend has it that any visitor who drinks from Montserrat’s Runaway Ghaut will return to Montserrat;

We drove to AIR Studios Montserrat - state-of-the-art recording studio, mentioned earlier in this article, built by world-renowned producer of the Beatles Sir George Martin - a place where music history was made by a number of artists;
We drove through Belham valley - we learned that there had been a river there and a bridge going over it, as well as a number of houses, but now it’s quite desolate;
We drove through Plymouth and the exclusion zone with a police escort;
We briefly stopped by Montserrat Yacht Club;
We briefly stopped at the dock in Little Bay, which is where cruise ships, such as Silversea, Windstar, and SeaDream, port in Montserrat, and the ferry, when in operation, would dock there also;
We then continued driving around to various lookout areas, including Jack Boy Hill;
We stopped at the People’s Place to pick up two servings of Montserrat’s national dish - goat water;
Then, we returned to Tropical Mansion Suites.

This tour was educational and intriguing. It really showed Montserrat to be a Caribbean jewel!

OUR CONCLUSION ABOUT MONTSERRAT

We enjoyed our visit! Montserrat definitely delivers on being a place to simply relax! This tiny island in the Caribbean is very peaceful, slow-paced, and tranquil. That said, as a volcanic island, Monsterrat is not your typical “lay on a white sand beach” Caribbean vacation destination, as most of its beaches are black sand beaches, and are not the island’s main attraction. Montserrat is filled with rich history, from its Arawak, British, French, Irish, and African roots. Its Soufriere Hills volcano, Plymouth also known as a modern-day Pompeii, and its impact on music history combine to make a visit to Montserrat feel like living in a history book. If searching for the most peaceful Caribbean vacation, then yes, we recommend a visit to Montserrat. That said, more so than other vacation destinations, we highly recommend doing your research and managing your expectations because there aren’t resorts and hotels to choose from as one may be accustomed to. Rather, there are modest guesthouses and accommodations that are more dated than those you’ll find in more popular tourist destinations. If you prepare yourself for what to expect, then you too can have a pleasant, relaxing, and enjoyable time in the Caribbean’s Emerald Isle.

Montserrat: Our First Visit To The Emerald Isle

As Featured In