Along with Bense, the area has a population of 495,[1] and was used as a filming location for 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

[3] During British colonial rule, a sugar factory was powered by water and operated near the banks of the Hampstead River.

The estate shifted to cocoa and lime production and by the 20th century it had changed again to coconut and copra.

[3] Filmmaker and director Gore Verbinski used Hampstead as a filming location for scenes of a three-way sword fight from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

Since then, tourism has developed in Hampstead and the Batibou Beach is a popular tourist attraction.