St Lucia

St. Lucia Vacation - Great Beaches and Natural Beauty

By Scott Bateman

St. Lucia is a beautiful gem of an island in the southeast part of the Caribbean Sea that almost guarantees relaxation on miles of great beaches.
It may not be surprising that one of the towns on the island is named Sapphire.

St. Lucia attracts nearly an equal number of people who visit via cruise or who simply go there to stay a week or more. Cruise visitors will arrive at the Castries harbor and immediately see why the island has one of the best landscapes in the Caribbean. The harbor is surrounded by tree-filled hillsides, and if visitors arrive at the right time of year, they will see plenty of flowers in bloom as well among both the trees and the orange-red rooftops of nearby homes and buildings.

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St Lucia Vacations and Holidays

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St Lucia Dive Sites

We have selected some of the more interesting sites to dive if you get the chance ask your dive operator about doing them.

Waiwinette freighter

Strong currents and the wreck being in 90 feet of water make this a challenge.

Keyhole Pinnacles

4 seamounts rising from incredible depths to within a few feet of the surface. This is a very highly rated dive in the Caribbean and among St Lucia's best.

Anse Chastanet

in a unique coral wall that continues from Anse Chastaner Bay around the headland of Grand Caille and in towards the harbor of Soufriere.

Anse La Raye

After a small wall there are some coral formations that are boulder shape.

Coral Gardens

How can you resist a dive at the base of the mighty Gros Piton ? Coral fingers extend out and down to just 50ft.

The Lesleen M

Upright in 60 ft 18.2 m is the wreck of Lesleen M located near Anse Cochon west side of St Lucia. You can get a great time on the wreck since the depth allows a good bottom time before you run out of bottom time.

Superman's Flight

Named from a scene shot on location in St Lucia for the movie Superman 2, this dive site is a drift dive on a gentle wall that drops to 1600 ft. Start the dive from the base of Petit Piton. Good visibility and Pelagic activity are features of this dive site.

Further Reading

If you want to learn more about the management of the water in the west of the island then you can visit the Soufriere Marine Management Association (SMMA) website there are now modest fees that help them protect the reef from illegal fishing and mooring etc this benefits you as a scubadiver, take a look and learn more about them.

http://www.scubastevesdiving.com

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The Beaches of St Lucia

Reduit Beach
Perhaps the pretiest on St Lucia - 1km long.

Rodney Bay Marina
Fancy restaurants and upscale tourism.

Anse Chastanet Beach

The black sand Anse Chastanet Beach, on the southwest coast, is very good for snorkeling a marine reserve area called Fairy Land the snorkeling is smartly cordoned off from boat traffic. Snorkeling in shallow water is available right off the beach, and the crystal clear waters are great for that underwater toy camera !
Anse Chastanet is also one of the best dive spots on the island. It can be entered directly from a black sand beach, eventually plunging down to 140 feet. In addition to the excellent coral formations, there are wrecks. [See Anse Chastanet Dive Site]

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The Complete St Lucia Island Guide

St Lucia Flag
St Lucia a sizeable chunk in the azure ocean that is the Caribbean has a hilly interior that is a paradise for many. The peaks that make St Lucia famous separate fishing villages often so take your time exploring perhaps get married here or just enjoy a secluded beach that could be every bit as memorable. Sitting between St Vincent and Martinique it is a Windward Isle. Its famous for it's twin piton peaks but visit the Diamond Waterfalls that cascade through six stages of fall. Visit the the 18th century ruins of a structure commissioned by Louis XIV as there are mineral baths here.

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Map of St Lucia

You wont find big brash hotels here but you can stay in plantations or more modest in height only luxury accommodations. There is also a campsite on St Lucia. St Lucia claims to have the only Drive In Volcano or at least the remnants that are muddy pools bubbling up.

SIGE by Kubik-Rubik.de

Images thanks to Frommers and Grijze, twoguns

Things to do in St Lucia

Pigeon Island National Park :

Hiking St Lucia : Hike around Pigeon Island, or through Cactus Valley. Or try Gros Piton (one of the twin peaks the other being Petit Piton) a steep but safe climb of 2,619 feet no real climbing needed however its smaller peak Petit Piton requires climbing gear.

An excerpt from larsonoutdoors :"The Enbas Saut Falls is a diverse 2.5-mile trail through 
rainforest, cloud forest and elfin woodlands. Enbas Saut means "below the falls," 
and hikers can cool off under two cascading waterfalls and pools along the trail.
Two strenuous treks are the Des Cartiers Rainforest and the Edmund Forest Reserve
 on the western end of the island. The later hike is filled with rare flora and fauna
 including bromeliads, orchids, mushrooms, lianas and others, and the western part
of the trail offers magnificent views of Mount Gimie, St. Lucia's tallest peak."

ScubaDiving : Anse Chastenet reef in the South West is perhaps St Lucias most dramatic site the wall starts a 20 ft and drops to 140 ft. Every August after the full moon brittle stars come out to spawn, try and get on a night dive for that. Also dive the Pinnacles seamounts and the artificial reef Lesleen M. St Lucia has its wrecks too the Waiwinette is a challenge due to the currents. At the base of Petit Piton Mountain there is a dive you can do its a strong drift dive.

All Terain Vehicle Tours : AKA Quadbikes With a guide after an orientation session you can visit banana plantations ride the panoramas and coastline of St Lucia. Eat at the banan farm and take a dip at the end.

Kayaking : We have a selection of great kayaking tours here available also to our cruise ship visitors.

Horseriding,kitesurfing,

Mountainbiking : 12 miles of trails designed on Anse Mamin Plantation in Soufriere.

If you have a dive shop or resort please add it to this website using the links in the main menu.

Nightlife : You can find some street parties going on from time to time, otherwise don't be shy to visit the rum shops or shacks and converse with the locals. Castries has the most clubs otherwise your resort will probably satisfy your thirst for music and drink.

Things to See in St Lucia

Castries : Cathedral of the imaculate conception, Derek Walcott's Square, Reduit Beach

Special Events

When to Go and Other Travel Essentials

The most popular time to visit is January to April, this is the driest time.

! JOIN THE ST LUCIA GROUP ! For updates on St Lucia News and to discuss travel resorts and whatever you like so long as its about St Lucia its good here, even self promotion.

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Video showing the highlights of St Lucia

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St Lucia Property Offers the World without Costing the Earth

St Lucia is one of the most dramatically beautiful of all the Caribbean islands, but its beauty is not the best known. Known for its steep hills and breathtaking valleys, both covered in lush green vegetation, St Lucia is somewhat undiscovered in comparison to the likes of Barbados. None the less, it offers some of the finest white sandy beaches, and most secluded coastal alcoves that you'll find anywhere in the world.

Its near-virgin nature means that St Lucia property is not as expensive as some of the Caribbean's better known hot-spots. In fact there are currently properties for sale in St Lucia from as little as £125,000.

2008 was the year when the undiscovered became the desirable in terms of overseas property and holiday destinations. As a result the popularity of St Lucia property, and the island's tourism sector both grew rapidly during 2008.

The growth was so phenomenal that even the international downturn couldn't put the genie back in the bottle, let alone put the lid on the growth potential of tourism to or property in St Lucia.

The fact that tourism to St Lucia is still very much a growth sector was made evident earlier this year, when several airlines announced the addition of new routes to the island, all of which will now be in operation.

At a time when the reports of an international tourism industry in contraction -- when more flights were being removed than added -- any announcement of new international flights came as a massive testament to an area's growth. In September the report said: British Airways are increasing their direct flights from Gatwick to St Lucia from three to five times per week from October 2009. There is also a new weekly service from Frankfurt, operated by Condor starting from 1st November 2009 and in the US Jet Blue has announced a new service from New York to St Lucia with three flights per week from October 26th 2009. Virgin already flies three times per week from Gatwick.

The other good thing buying St Lucia property now -- at this early stage in its development cycle -- is that the recent downturn has shown the damage overdevelopment can do, with Spain the shining example. So governments around the world are determined to avoid their property market's facing a similar plight.

Of course the final benefit of buying property in St Lucia is the friendly tax regime, which offers VAT free property transactions, as well as no capital gains or inheritance tax.

About the Author

Mark Burns is a Director of Offplanworld.tv, a real estate consultancy specialising in Caribbean property, and offering a wide range of St Lucia real estate.

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St Lucia Info

Population : 180,000
Main City : Castries (capital)
Language : Officially English but mostly Creole (Kweyol) a French-based Creole

Currency :Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC$)

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