Voyage to the volcano in Montserrat

Montserrat’s Green Monkey Dive Shop and Tradewinds Real Estate have teamed up to offer a new holiday package on the island, combining villa accommodation, sightseeing tours and adventure activities.

The new six day package has a full itinerary organised by Green Monkey Dive Shop and will include all the highlights of the island – from the fascinating active volcano to nature activities in the northern part of Montserrat. Accommodation will be in one of three villas organised by Tradewinds Real Estate, all of which have outdoor swimming pools and spectacular surrounding views.

The itinerary includes a kayaking tour of Montserrat’s Leeward Coast with time to explore the secluded black sand beaches; a private taxi tour of the island stopping at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, the famous AIR Studios and the volcano viewing facility at Jack Boy Hill; a guided hike in search of the Montserrat Oriole, the island’s national bird; and a boat trip past the buried capital of Plymouth.

As well as this, travellers will take a day trip to the uninhabited island of Redonda, which is just an hour’s boat ride away. Redonda is a scuba diver’s paradise with pristine clear waters and an abundance of marine life. Divers are likely to see and swim with giant stingrays, moray eels, spotted eagle rays, nurse sharks and barracudas, some of which are over five feet long.

Non-divers can snorkel or swim with families of sea turtles which live around the Redonda’s coast, or hike to the summit of the island to visit the remnants of the 19th century mining camp.

Accommodation with this package is available at three different self-catering villas. Villa Pimenta has a swimming pool and can sleep up to six adults. Connemara also has a swimming pool, a large outdoor living area and sleeps up to six; and Vest View is a two-bedroom villa with a swimming pool, outdoor living area and sleeping up to four people.

The package costs from US$885 per person (approx. £518) based on two sharing. The price includes villa accommodation at one of the three villas; airport transfers; car rental for five days; guided kayak and snorkelling tour; island tour with lunch (drinks not included); mountain hike with a local guide; Plymouth boat tour; day trip to Redonda; dinner at Olveston House which is owned by former Beatles producer Sir George Martin (drinks not included) and kayak and snorkel rental. Flights are not included.

For further information and reservations email melody@divemontserrat.com or visit divemontserrat.com.

Further details of the rental villas contact Susan Edgecombe e-mail susan@tradewindsmontserrat.com or visit tradewindsmontserrat.com.

There are no direct flights from the UK to Montserrat. Travellers can fly from the UK to Antigua with either British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, from where flights to Montserrat are available with scheduled carrier WinAir (fly-winair.com) or via a private flight charter from Fly Montserrat (fly-montserrat.com).

For more information about Montserrat, go to visitmontserrat.com.