SPAIN: Montserrat’s Attraction "Serrated Mountain"

Montserrat is a naturally beautiful Caribbean island whose government is seeking a tourism rebound. But it won’t be easy. The region’s tourist-dependent destinations have a big head start in marketing their nations to North American travelers. Montserrat also lacks the direct flights from major U.S. cities that are the lifeblood of Caribbean countries.

But Montserrat has something nearly all of the others lack – a capital city buried by a recent volcanic eruption. Dormant for 400 years, the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted on July 18, 1995, weeks after showing initial signs of activity. The event leveled the 40 square-mile island’s southern half, including the Georgian-era capital city of Plymouth and the main seaport.

The eruption buried streets, homes, buildings and businesses in 39 feet of pyroclastic mud and ash. Everything from historic monuments to small bridges was encased in mud, damaged or destroyed outright. In the days that followed, Montserrat’s southern region was evacuated and an exclusion zone was created. The zone remains in place to this day.

Further volcanic activity continued for years. A 1997 flow of pyroclastic ash killed 19 residents, the only deaths attributed to volcano’s eruption. However with government and business activity severely disrupted and housing also scarce, two-thirds of the island’s residents eventually fled Montserrat, as much for economic reasons as for their personal safety.

Located about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Barcelona is Montserrat - the 'Serrated Mountain'. The mountain gets its name from the rock formations which look like they've been sawed and sculpted, the result of thousands of years of wind and rain.

This unique rock formation is home to a Benedictine monastery and is a famous pilgrimage spot as it is home to the 12th century wooden statue of La Moreneta (The Black Virgin), Catalonia's patron. The Monestir de Montserrat is a source of Catalan pride as well. During the regime of Franco, the monastery continued to hold Catholic ceremonies in the Catalan language and became a stronghold of Catalan culture despite the oppression from the government.

Besides the religious and cultural importance of Montserrat, the mountain also boasts unbeatable views from it's peaks. A cog wheel train takes visitors to a lookout point where all of Catalonia and the Pyrenees can be seen. On the clearest days, you may even catch a glimpse of the island of Mallorca to the southeast.

Getting to Montserrat is a 1-hour train or 90-minute car ride. For those looking to get the most out of your visit, it's recommended to sign up for an organized tour. A guide will provide historical commentary while leading the group through the monastery and will head the climb up the mountain to enjoy the views. Various walking paths are also marked for you to take and explore the mountain at your own pace.

Under normal circumstances it’s safe to surmise most travelers would view vacationing in an active volcano zone with some degree of skepticism. But in Monserrat’s case, the Soufriere Hills eruption, and its aftermath, are unquestionably unique phenomena among present-day Caribbean countries. Simply put, the volcano is a draw.

This past week I visited Montserrat aboard Windstar Cruises’ 208-passenger Star Legend. The ship was making the first visit to the country by a major cruise line since the days before the eruption, a time during which Montserrat ranked among the Caribbean’s top exotic vacation spots.

I was among a rare group of media allowed to tour Plymouth, the buried former capital city, which remains largely closed off even to Montserrat residents. Visits are only occasionally available under license from the Royal Montserrat Police Force, and there is a $1,000 fine for trespassing in the area.

But with clearance and an escort from Rod Stewart, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, our group walked for about an hour across hills and overgrown trails, below which had once been the streets of Plymouth.

We passed what were once block-long, three-story buildings, now buried up to their just below their roofs in earth. I peeked through the broken windows of wrecked hotels and once-active commercial stores to see desks strewn with papers hastily left behind. A persistent blue haze drifted across the landscape, carrying a pungent and penetrating sulfurous odor.

The Soufriere Hills volcano loomed in the distance miles away, towering over smaller hills strewn with acres of buildings half-buried in mud. The volcano’s peak, as it is most times, was obscured most in clouds. The landscape is easily the most strangely fascinating of any I’ve encountered in the Caribbean.

Although this eerily magnetic terrain remains off-limits to visitors, MVO’s headquarters facility, established in 2009, provides safe ways for travelers to experience commanding views of the site. Guests also receive a detailed and authoritative account of the eruption and subsequent events.

MVO’s facility features an observation deck offering sweeping views of the exclusion zone. The on-premises visitor’s center is open Monday to Thursday and features self-guided activities including a video documentary history of the eruption and its impact on the country. The displays also include interactive kiosks and rocks, ash and other volcano artifacts.

Fortunately, the exclusion zone is separated from Montserrat’s north by tall, winding hills. The northern region remains relatively unaffected by volcanic activity and contains lush tropical forests, leafy hiking trails and quiet beaches surrounded by reefs well-suited for snorkeling and scuba diving. One would hardly know the island had experienced a volcano when traveling across the north end.

In fact Monserrat is coming back to life as the north absorbs activity once located in the south. Montserrat now numbers 5,000 residents after falling to around 2,000 in the days of mass departures. The island’s north is sometimes impacted by ash fall under certain wind conditions but is too far from the volcano to suffer additional effects.

In February 2005, the John A. Osborne Airport opened in the north and today receives daily flights operated by Fly Montserrat Airways. Star Legend, which will offer a series of calls at Monserrat this winter as part of current seven-night voyages from San Juan.

The vessel docks in Little Bay, where a new capital is under construction. The new government center is located at nearby Brades. Visitors in search of an off-beat Caribbean adventure can combine a two or three-night stay at a Montserrat guest house or villa (there are no major hotels) with travel to a nearby Caribbean destination like Antigua, which is well-served by major carriers.

A visit is well worth the opportunity to experience something unlike anything else in the Caribbean.