St. Kitts If you want proof that volcanic activity formed St. Kitts, look west to Mount Liamuiga or take the plunge. At sites, such as the Vents, holes tunnel from the seafloor at 65 feet toward the Earth's molten core. Hot fresh water, not smoke, billows from the furnacelike interior. The lava has long ago cooled into black, wrinkled fingers stretching into the deep. This nutrient-rich hotbed fueled a forest of undersea growth: Sponges and corals now crowd the sight of hawksbill turtles, gold spotted eels, lobsters and seahorses. In addition to lush reefs, St. Kitts offers divers a choice of several wrecks, including the MV River Taw, a 144-foot-long freighter, and the MV Talata, a freighter whose shattered remains shelter eels and barracudas. Topside, this former sugar colony erupts with life much of it green. A trek along the rainforest-covered Mount Liamuiga reveals the variety of life flourishing in the volcanic soil: cabbage palms, flamboyant and breadfruit trees, bamboo stalks and wild cilliment bushes. Afterward, you'll need little help understanding why the Kalinago people St. Kitts' original settlers named their volcano, as well as the island itself, Liamuiga, meaning "fertile land."