We had heard about him in the press kit we received before our media-island adventure to visit St. Kitts’ idyllic hidden gem, the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Royal Beach Casino, located in the Caribbean’s pristine Frigate Bay area, offering up impeccable views of both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean:

“Come meet Wilbur the giant pig at Reggae Beach!” I doubted his existence; surely he was just some fancied imaginary version of a St. Kitts’ Snuffleupagus.

And then I saw him. Holy B.L.T., I thought, that’s a huge pig.

Slumbering like a porcine prima donna beneath the shade of a ramshackle hut, swathed deep in the sand and snoring like a pro wrestler fighting a losing battle with sleep apnea, lay the infamous Wilbur with enough body mass to feed the entire 69-mile island ten times over.

Wilbur, born a mere pink piglet in 2002, has blossomed into an 800-pound pork star and is, by far, the featured tourist attraction at the Reggae Beach Bar & Grill.

This laid-back rasta haunt, at Cockleshell Bay in the southeast peninsula , is just a short drive away from the Marriott and roughly nine miles from bustling downtown Basseterre. At Reggae Beach Bar, locals (called “Kittitians”), and tourists alike mix and mingle while bellying up to the bar for a refreshing Ting or an ice-cold bottle of Carib (www.caribbeer.com), the island’s (and the islanders would argue the world’s) best beer.

Wilbur’s diet consists of only fresh, made-to-order meals; after he dines, he makes the short waddle down to the water for a quick, mid-afternoon swim, and then it’s back to bed in his shaded, sandy sanctuary for another snore-tastic nap. He doesn’t mind the attention from all his admiring fans and will let you photograph him without a fight…but no autographs, please.