Oranjestad, a Destroyed City
Little later after Rodney sacked the island, a very strong seaquake devastated the lower part of Oranjestad, the capital and only city in St. Eustatius. As a consequence, warehouses next to the fort, fell down into the sea. At present, divers can explore the ruins of these buildings, as well as those of the wrecked ships, lying in the depths of the ocean. At the top of a cliff, 40m high, is Fort Oranje (open every day, free entrance), built by the Dutch in 1636. Restored in 1976 for the bicentennial of the Independence of the United States, this fort dominates the entire harbor. From the portholes, their dark cannons are pointing an imaginary enemy. From here you can have a magnificent view of Oranje Beach, a beach with almost two kilometers of dark sand, and one of the best for swimming.

Near the fort is the Doncker-De Graff house, a precious building dating from the XVIII century, that in the prosperous years of the island was the home of a rich Dutch trader, and that currently hosts the St. Eustatius Museum (open from Monday to Friday, free entrance). Exactly in this place, Admiral Rodney established, in 1781, his headquarters, during ten months, before being expelled by the French, and is now considered among the best historic museums of the Caribbean. The museum help us wonder how life was, on this island, during the golden years.

The plaques along the “historic walk”, that goes through the most important places in the history of the city, have an old fashion appeal. Honen Dalim, the second oldest synagogue in the Antilles after the one in Willemstad, in Curacao, deteriorated once the Jewish community started to leave the island, after the Rodney arrival. Built in 1739, their yellow bricks walls, now in ruins, enclose an ample inside space of two floors, though the stairs lead you nowhere.

Walking few minutes from the synagogue is the reformed Dutch church, built in 1775. Its tower, constructed with volcanic stone blocks, used to be the reference point for ship’s captains approaching the island. Now it stands still, thanks to restoration works; however, the blue sky is the only roof in this part of the church.

On the other side, every Saturday morning, the church of the Seventh Day Adventists, near the Wilhelmina Park, is full of people.

The Green Giants of the Crater
In 1995, after the sudden eruption of the volcano in the island of Montserrat, inhabitants in Statia began to look with fear at their own volcano, The Quill. Ancient paintings of the island, showed enormous smoke columns coming out the Mazinga, as the Amerindians called it. However, geologists have dissipated that fear, and now trekking fans can go into the crater from both faces of the volcano. Going out west from Oranjestad by the main road, you will immediately find the beginning of a path climbing to the crater. Once there, you have two options: keep walking along the crater edge or go down into it, where there’s now a tropical jungle, where speedy salamanders run, and humming birds rush between the orchids growing at the feet of the huge trees. Even more surprising is to see the hermit crab that crawls towards the sea to breed, and then comes back to the crater.

The tourism office in Oranjestad organizes guided tours to the volcano, lasting about three to five hours. Without a doubt, the best moment to enjoy the exuberant nature inside the crater is early in the morning, when the mist encircles the treetops; islanders have named some trees with Bible names, like Moses for example, a majestic tree of air roots.

The tourism office will provide you with a map with all the paths in the volcano. Many of them are in what is called Behind the Mountain, the other face of the volcano The Quill, where there is also the St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA) that has elaborated a project including the launching of an information center and a botanical garden, to protect the habitat of a very rare species of bell flowers. In the prairies of the lonely north, there are more paths going through the island, and some of them, reach the top of Boven, a hill 294m high.

Treasures in the Depths
Statia has, at least, a dozen good places for diving. The island is a destiny that usually satisfies diving lovers, no matter their skills. Maybe, while diving. you’ll find an old clay pipe at the bottom of the sea, but anyway, you’ll have to leave it there, because it is forbidden to extract objects, with historical value, from the depths of the sea. STENAPA is on the brink of starting a marine park in the coast of Leeward, as Saba did before. Dive Statia, the best diving center of the island, offers training at every level, and also organizes immersions around Old City Wall in the harbor. 

A few minutes by sea, there are other interesting places where diving can be practiced. In the morning, sun rays lighten the most splendid, like Barracuda City, where dozens of these fishes swim at 20m deep, next to a sea grave. An old anchor lies on the ocean floor since the XVIII century. There are others like this at Anchor Point and Lost Anchor. In Double Wreck, two ships that sunk two hundred years ago have become a phantasmagoric submarine sight, where blonds and brunettes stingrays, swim inside their hulls and cabins, where vast colonies of sponges and anemones live also.