Nevis

Nevis is the smaller island of the two-island federation, a single volcanic cone — Nevis Peak, 985 metres — rising from the Caribbean Sea in almost perfect symmetry, often capped by cloud. The island is approximately 36 square kilometres, with a single main road running the circuit of the coast and a population of around 12,000. Charlestown, the capital, is on the western leeward coast facing Saint Kitts across the Narrows channel. The coastal character around Nevis is consistent: a narrow coastal strip between the volcanic slopes and the sea, with a ring road that passes through a succession of small communities, beach access points, and the ruins of plantation great houses and sugar mills that mark the island's eighteenth-century agricultural past. The leeward west coast — Pinney's Beach, the Four Seasons resort, Charlestown harbour — is the calmer Caribbean side. The windward east coast faces the Atlantic with more swell and wind exposure. The tidal regime at Nevis is identical to the regional pattern: mixed semidiurnal microtidal, spring range 0.3 to 0.5 metres. The Narrows between Nevis and Saint Kitts produces stronger tidal current than the open coasts; the ferry crossing from Charlestown to Basseterre takes the current into account on the timing. Pinney's Beach on the leeward coast is the most used recreational beach, a 4-kilometre stretch of dark volcanic sand immediately north of Charlestown with the Four Seasons resort at its northern end. Nevis has a documented historical significance as the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, whose first ten years were spent on the island before his family relocated to Saint Croix. The Museum of Nevis History in Charlestown, housed in Hamilton's birth house, is a small but detailed institution. Horatio Nelson married Fanny Nisbet on Nevis in 1787; the register is in the Nevis Parish Church. Tide data for Nevis pages comes from Open-Meteo Marine — accuracy within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height.