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Before getting into the nitty-gritty of how to do this pricey island on a budget, let’s set the scene.

Nevis can feel like a fairytale. A story will illustrate. Liz Smith, the co-owner of Dasents Estate on Nevis, picked me up on a February night at Newcastle Airport after my late arrival. In between slowing down for donkeys, she gave me some background on the island. I asked her about the famous Miss June’s Cuisine, an iconic restaurant popularized by Oprah, among other celebrities, and she fondly recounted a recent evening she spent at the restaurant. A few minutes later, we passed the lights of the restaurant itself.

"Miss June’s is open! I had no idea! You just must see the place!" she exclaimed. She slid her car into reverse and we puttered up Miss June's driveway. We snuck in via the side entrance, only to run into Simone, Miss June’s daughter, who greeted Liz with a hug. Simone, who opened her own restaurant on St. Kitts in early 2009, told us to help ourselves to beers.

Before I knew it Simone had also invited us to sample Miss June’s signature curries, along with all sorts of delicious sides. Later Miss June, an 80-year-old native of Trinidad, entered the bar area to greet her guests. She has a presence unto herself, with clever Caribbean idioms coming fast and quick. After a short and hilarious rapid-fire chat she kissed me goodbye, warning me not to quote her.

And I won't. Well, I will. But only in the service of correcting the record: “It was not Oprah who started the whole thing. It was her boyfriend,” Miss June told me. “Journalists always get things wrong.” So there you have it. (Thank you, Stedman Graham! You are responsible for my incredible, and unexpectedly gratis, meal.)

At $70 per person for several courses and an open bar, it's impossible to place Miss June's in a budget culinary category. That said, it's not terribly expensive for Nevis and certainly, without question, is worth a splurge as the single big meal expenditure over the course of a week. In any case, as a free and accidental meal—and a delicious one at that—my Miss June's snack was both a wonderful accident and an enchanting introduction to Nevis.

Hunting for Budget Gems on Nevis

There are big and small Caribbean islands; there are islands more or less completely turned over to tourism and those that feel like secrets. Nevis is small and somewhere in the middle of the supertouristy-to-castaway scale. What sets it apart is the way it has developed as a tourist destination. Aside from the massive Four Seasons resort—one of just two in the Caribbean, and currently undergoing renovation—the island's hotels and guesthouses tend to be small. Most are very expensive, even outrageously so. From a budget traveler’s perspective, so far not so good.

Yet there is a little secret on Nevis—the island’s surprisingly deep inventory of cheap beds, many of which get very little press. From low-key guesthouses in capital Charlestown to guesthouses like Dasents Estate and Banyan Tree Bed and Breakfast, there are plenty of bargain beds on an island firmly associated with high-end hotels. We count 15 hotels or guesthouses on Nevis with nightly rates of $100 or less, and another five with rates under $150 per night.

Costs: Transportation, Grub, Activities

It’s also easy to get around Nevis for little. Transportation around the island can be done via public taxi for a few EC dollars. Car and scooter rentals can be quite cheap if you’re willing to go with a local agency.

Grub can be done on the cheap as well. The island’s rum shops are a great place to pick up sandwiches, roti, and other snacky food. Café Des Arts, run by Liz of Dasents Estate, offers lunch for around $10 as well as an open grill on Friday night. You’d have to eat for two or three to break $20 at one of the café’s Friday night grills.

And a hike through the wilderness with Jim Johnson of Walk Nevis starts at just $20.