Planes

The nearest airport is F.D. Roosevelt, a mere five-minute drive from the resort. Most visitors connect via Queen Juliana Airport on the nearby island of St Maarten, arriving on St Eustatius by small twin-propeller plane in just 15 minutes. From there, a free shuttle whisks you to Golden Rock Resort. Should you fly into Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport on St Kitts, there's a transfer service to and from the resort (for an additional cost), which is operated and booked via Paradise Sun Nevis.

Automobiles

On an island this small, a car is very much a luxury rather than a necessity. That said, there are plenty of rental agencies should you wish to explore the extremities of this tiny island paradise independently. Taxis are also plentiful and cheap.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Some might argue there’s no need to leave the grounds of Golden Rock Resort at any point during your stay. And they’d be right: tennis, yoga, massage, cocktails, poolside lounging, tropical gardens, swoonsome volcano views – it’s all right here. They even have their own dive centre, where experienced and novice divers alike can marvel at underwater lava flows and archeological sites. You can also visit a couple of historical monuments, to wit: an original water cistern built by Dutch colonists in the 1600s and a memorial marking the site of a slave burial ground.

However, should you wish to further immerse yourself in Statia’s troubled history, head to its tiny harbourside capital, Oranjestad. Here, narrow cobbled streets garlanded with fragrant frangipani and blazing bougainvillaea point the way to Fort Orantje, a 17th-century clifftop bastion complete with turrets, cannons and an incredible back story that includes a starring role in the American War of Independence. Pause in the jasmine-scented courtyard then climb the tower of the nearby Dutch Reformed church for far-reaching views to St Kitts and St Maarten. The decaying vine-covered walls of Upper Town’s ruined (and roofless) 1739 Honen Dalim synagogue and adjacent iron-gated cemetery are also worth a look, a reminder of the Jewish community that once flourished here.

Underwater thrills abound here, too. You need only don a snorkel to spot 17th-century sea walls reclaimed by the ocean just beneath the surface in Oranje Bay, where moray eels play hide and seek in rusting cannons and butterfly fish dart playfully among colourful corals. There are over 30 more major dive sites around Statia, including a pair of coral-coated Dutch tallships at the aptly named Double Wreck and the self-explanatory Barracuda Reef just off the southwest coast.

Back on dry land, a hike up (and into) The Quill should be considered absolutely essential on any trip to St Eustatius. You’ve spent long enough gazing at the Quill from the resort, so why not hike up (and into) it? Leave the rust-red roofs of Oranjestad far below as you ascend the mountain’s steep slopes, before scaling the crater rim into dense rainforest, crammed with mango trees, orchids galore and several species of butterfly. Look out for the striped Zebra Longwing, native to volcano, and the majestic kili kili kestrel, Statia’s national bird.

As well as diving and hiking, the resort can organise big-game fishing excursions, starlit evening cruises and more; all sure to make for much more convincing postcard fodder than a dubious ‘wish you were here’.