Soufrière Hills is a peak attraction in Montserrat, and there are several places from which to view it: Garibaldi Hill and Jack Boy Hill provide visitors with dramatic and stunning views of the volcanic rise, as well as the island’s buried capital of Plymouth, Richmond Hill, Old Towne, Salem, Old Road Bay, and Isle’s Bay Hill.
The Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), a research facility and scientific monitoring station, was established in response to the ongoing volcanic eruption that started in 1995, and on top of viewing Soufrière Hills, visitors can learn more about the eruption and disaster. Operated by a team of experienced scientists and technicians who continually monitor the volcano, tourists can discover how these experts use seismology, ground deformation and gas emissions in their work, and visit educational kiosks and the souvenir shop along the way.
The star attraction of the Soufrière Hills region is of course Plymouth, the ‘Modern Day Pompeii’, from which buildings and remnants of the town rise in a bleak yet awe-inspiring image of a town frozen in time. Plymouth remains the only volcanic-buried town in the Americas, and visitors may experience a ghostly calm in the lack of wildlife that was disturbed by the initial eruption and has not yet returned. Proof of human life can be seen all across the once-busy urban centre; in homes, personal items and clothing are two examples of what remain, and in offices, papers and stationery sit like degraded relics of a bygone time. Located in Montserrat’s Exclusion Zone (Zone V), experiencing Plymouth is only available via certified Tours & Taxi Association, and is well worth a visit between cultural festivities, hill trekking and water-based leisure activities on the northern side of the island.