This week’s travel dream: An unheralded Caribbean paradise

Southeast of the Virgin Islands lies a true Caribbean Shangri-La, said Scott Elder in The Washington Post. The tiny Dutch-controlled island of Sint Eustatius—referred to as Statia by “the few people on Earth” who know it exists—has the pristine beaches you’d expect, but also an intriguing past and such a friendly vibe that even the scorpions lack stingers. I first laid eyes on Statia several years ago during a sailing venture and was “immediately smitten”: A “storybook” fort overlooked the palm tree–lined coast, and the island’s only town, Oranjestad, “looked to me like a New England fishing village transplanted to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.” Recently, I returned to find out if my first impressions could be trusted.

The island’s most prominent feature, a dormant volcano known as the Quill, “provides a serene cathedral for nature worship.” Jungle covers the crater’s floor, and as I explored it with a small tour group, the dense forest canopy draped us in a “cool all-day twilight” while we hunted for orchids and were serenaded by whistling frogs. On another day, I focused on history. Fort Oranje overlooks what was once a major trading port, and I learned, while admiring its cannons, about the roots of Statia’s special relationship with America: During America’s Revolutionary War, the island helped smuggle gunpowder by the ton to George Washington’s army. On the dirt road back to town, our guide pointed out that the ground was littered with artifacts from Statia’s heyday, including shards of Delft pottery and the midnight-blue beads once used as currency by Dutch merchants and their slaves.

A few of Statia’s most intriguing attractions lie underwater, in the marine preserve that encircles the island. All that’s left of two ancient shipwrecks is coral-blanketed ballast stones, now supporting abundant life. But a second scuba excursion allowed me to explore a ghostly sunken Taiwanese fishing vessel. In the gloom under the bow, I survived a close encounter with a “massive, dog-size” lobster, then stopped to watch a school of sardines swirl and shimmer “like a scene from Fantasia.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

At Sint Eustatius’s Old Gin House Hotel (oldginhouse.com), doubles start at $225.