Nightlife

Nightlife is not the reason to visit Nevis. Summer nights are quiet, but there's organized entertainment in winter, often steel bands performing at the major hotels.

Most action takes place at the Four Seasons Resort, Pinney's Beach (tel. 869/469-1111), on Friday and Saturday nights.

Oualie Beach Hotel, Oualie Beach (tel. 869/469-9735), offers a live string band entertaining guests.

If you're on Nevis on a Friday night, the place to be for happy hour (4-6pm) is Le Bistro. Islanders flock here for the reduced drink prices, the good company, and the fun atmosphere.

Another Friday night "jump-up" is at The Water Department Barbecue, Pump Road, Charlestown (no phone), to help raise money for the department. Tents go up in the late afternoon and meat goes on the grill. Some of the best barbecue chicken and ribs on island is served here.

Wednesday night is all the rage at Eddy's Bar & Restaurant, Main Street in Charlestown (tel. 869/469-5958), which serves the best conch fritters in town. Karaoke and dancing to music spun by an island DJ last way past midnight.

Finally, Sunshine's Beach Bar, Pinney's Beach (tel. 869/469-1089) is an ultra-informal shack perched provocatively a few paces away from the property line that divides terrain belonging to the Four Seasons Resort from the rest of the world at large. As such, the place attracts clients of that überupscale resort. It's appealingly raffish (that is, battered and makeshift) -- the kind of place with recorded reggae music, a leashed vervet monkey who may or may not be interested in the cache of bananas the staff provides, and rum-based drinks so strong they're virtually psychedelic. (One of these is the Killer Bee. Try two of them, and you'll know why.) It's all very island time around here, but pictures of the celebrities who have enhanced their holiday in Nevis with time spent here include Kelly Ripa (Regis Philbin's co-host), Oprah, and John Travolta. Why does this place have such a distinctive name? It's thanks to the charm and verve of its resident owner, Rastaman Llewellyn ("Sunshine") Caines.