St. Eustatius, more commonly called Statia, is a quiet Dutch enclave that remains one of the best-kept secrets in the Caribbean.
"The Golden Rock" has plenty of black-sand beaches, but they're fairly ordinary by Caribbean standards, and there's little to no nightlife on Statia. So why is this place a valuable secret? Because you can trek through rain forest on The Quill, and extinct volcano on Statia's southern tip, without encountering other hikers; You can dive shipwrecks or snorkel a sunken city with bumping into other swimmers; You can travel back in time to the Old Caribbean at the Old Gin House. Statia is a unique escape for everything that it is not: busy, developed, and glamorous.
In 1776, the little-heard-from island was the first foreign government to officially recognize the United States as an independent nation. When the U.S.S. Andrew Doria entered Statia's harbor, the Dutch island hailed it with an 11-gun salute. In angry response, the British seized the island. It was to echange allegiances a total of 22 times before a permanent tie with the Netherlands was established.
DON'T MISS
– Counting orchid varieties as you hike The Quill
– Scouring the beaches for blue glass beads, relics of Statia's glory days as a major trading post.
– Snorkeling the ruins of Oranjestad's sunken warehouses.
