Short Trip Report

[OttawaBob]

I stayed at the Village Inn in Rodney Bay, which is located across the street from Reduit Beach (about a 3 minute walk).

For meals, my room came with a full breakfast buffet and I ate at a different restaurant in Rodney Bay each night (Big Chef, Buzz's, Castaways, Charthouse, Del Mare, Emerald's at the Village Inn and Spinnakers). Elena's Italian ice cream was good for a little something after dinner.

Activities included: visiting Pigeon Island, visiting Castries, golf, a Land & Sea tour to Soufriere, a rain forest jeep safari and a helicopter tour of the island.

This was my first trip to St. Lucia and I had a good time. Compared to the other islands in the Caribbean I have been to, St. Lucia is definitely more mountainous and has a lot more rainforests.

[OttawaBob]

I provided someone with some details on things to do in St. Lucia and thought I would also post them here because it expands on the Activities section of my trip report.

- Pigeon Island National Park. There is some shore snorkelling, if you have your snorkel stuff. Stay as long as you want. Admission was $5 US + guide book $4 US (if interested) + food/drinks at the waterfront café/bar.

- Castries including Derek Walcott Square, the Cathedral, duty-free shopping (have your passport) and the craft market. Depending on the amount of shopping you want to do, you can probably see Castries in a half-day.

- Land & sea tour to Soufriere. The first part is a drive down the coast with stops at Morne Fortune (overlooking Castries & the harbour), overlooking Marigot Bay and in Anse La Raye. Once in Soufriere, you see a botanical garden, a waterfall and the drive-in volcano. Then you have lunch. On the sail back, you have a snorkel stop and sail into Marigot Bay. If you prefer to spend time on a catamaran (as opposed to driving down the coast), then the sea only tour would probably be better because the first part is a sail down the coast to Sourfiere. Both are full-day tours leaving around 8:30 and returning around 4:30. Cost was $90 US.

- Off-road jeep safari. The half-day tour was $50 US and included a swim at a waterfall. The full-day tour (which included a 1½ -2 hour rainforest hike and cost $80-85 US) was cancelled due to lack of people.

- Helicopter tour of the island. The 30-minute tour goes from the helipad near Castries, down along the west coast (Marigot Bay, Anse La Raye, Soufriere, the Pitons), crosses over the island to the east coast, up the east coast, around the northern end of the island (Gros Islet, Pigeon Island National Park, Rodney Bay) and back down the coast to Castries. Cost was $155 US.