Published: October 28, 2007
Often overlooked by Caribbean-bound travelers, low-key St. Lucia has all the makings of a tropical paradise: tawny, palm-studded beaches, sheltered coves, a lush interior replete with rain forests and waterfalls, and helpful locals who seem happy (if amused) to wave you in the right direction when the curvy roads fork off in three vertiginous directions. But St. Lucia's under-the-radar status is changing as a bevy of new luxury resorts vie for the best view and the most over-the-top amenities. Still, if the $1,000-a-night, private-plunge-pool experience doesn't appeal to you or your wallet, deals abound, and with them, a chance to sample the real St. Lucia.
Where to Stay
On the island's quiet southern tip, the Villa Caribbean Dream map (Cap Moule à Chique, Vieux Fort; 758-454-68-46; www.caribdreams.net) is a roomy guesthouse with gingerbread trim perched high above untouristy Vieux Fort, near a good windsurfing beach. For $40 (single) or $50 (double), you can stay in one of four rooms in a separate wing with two shared bathrooms. Two apartments, with kitchens and baths, are available for $80. All guests are encouraged to lounge on the deck, which offers a splendid view of sea and coastline.
At the 33-room Bay Gardens Inn map (Rodney Bay; 758-452-82-00; www.baygardensinn.com) on the northwest coast, published rates start at $115, but scratch below the surface and you'll easily find under-$100 deals. A recent Expedia search yielded a $72.75 December rate and, on the hotel's Web site, a $90 rate turned up as a “manager's special.” The rooms are bright, with balconies or patios facing a peaceful courtyard and small pool. All have effective, if slightly noisy air-conditioning, refrigerators, modern bathrooms and thoughtful extras like thick beach towels. A bonus is free access to the larger pools at both the Bay Gardens Hotel across the street and the higher-end Bay Gardens Beach Resort on nearby Reduit beach.
Where to Eat
With all the roadside stands offering grilled chicken and pork (starting at 10 East Caribbean dollars, or about $3.70 at 2.70 E.C. dollars to the U.S. dollar) and cheap Piton beer, it's easy to grab lunch on the fly. At the sprawling market across from the port in the capital city of Castries, find your way around tables laden with breadfruit and coconuts, to an alley where vendors sell local fare like rotis — spicy lamb and chicken curries wrapped in a tortilla-like pancake (7 E.C. dollars) — and chewy disks of cassava bread, flecked with cherries and nutmeg (5 E.C. dollars). For breakfast, grab a papaya juice and a coconut turnover for 4 E.C. dollars.
On Rodney Bay's main strip, locals often recommend the Lime map (758-452-0761), which serves a filling version of rotis (10 E.C. dollars) and conch sautéed in a Creole sauce (58 E.C. dollars).
But the meal you'll linger over is at La Haut Plantation map (Castries-Soufrière Highway; 758-459-7008; www.lahaut.com). The view of the Pitons — two towering, spiky outcrops — is mesmerizing. Lunch, too, isn't bad, especially the fish cakes (a fried concoction of cod, flour and peppers for 12 E.C. dollars) and crispy pumpkin fries (15 E.C. dollars). Top it off with cocoa tea, a rich brew of grated cocoa sticks, cinnamon, nutmeg and steamed milk (7 E.C. dollars).
Free Beaches
Most tourists head straight to the Caribbean beaches — either Reduit Beach map, or the broad coves at Anse Chastanet and Anse des Pitons map where the snorkeling is good. A four-wheel drive is needed on the scary, torn-up road that leads to Anse Chastanet, which fronts the resort with the same name. And the easiest way to visit Anse des Pitons, in front of the Jalousie Plantation resort, is to have lunch at the resort's midpriced Bayside Bar and Grill so you can catch a free hotel shuttle down the precipitous hill.
Meanwhile, the swaths of pale sand and frothy turquoise surf on the less-developed Atlantic coast are popular with locals and European windsurfers. One lovely stretch, Anse de Sables map, is hidden in plain sight near the Vieux Fort airport, offering the possibility of a farewell swim before heading home.
Where to Party
Both tourists and locals congregate at bars and restaurants lining Rodney Bay's main strip, where techno, dance, zouk and reggae tunes pour into the street from places like the Lime and the unnamed, but popular, open-air bar just up the street. For a unique taste of St. Lucian night life, go to a Friday night “jump up” in nearby Gros Islet village map. Residents sell cheap homemade rum punch, jerk chicken and fried flying fish (from 10 E.C. dollars), and then settle back to party themselves. By 11 p.m., the tiny, dim bars are overflowing, and the streets are packed with diners, drinkers and dancers.
What to Do
St. Lucia's green interior is an antidote to beach burnout, with trails that include easy marches through former sugar and cocoa plantations to rain-forest treks where you might spy a blue-headed St. Lucia parrot or a boa constrictor wound around a fig tree branch. For instance, the Forestiere Rainforest Trail map in north-central St. Lucia is a three-mile hike through fig trees, ferns and châtaigniers, trees with elaborate, draping root systems. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (758-468-5645; www.slumaffe.org) will arrange guide service. Go during the week when the fee —$10— is half the weekend charge. For a quick, drive-up sampling of St. Lucia's lush foliage, stroll among the gaudy tropical blossoms at Diamond Botanical Gardens map (Soufrière; 758-459-7155; www.diamondstlucia.com, $5) with its 55-foot-tall waterfall, or visit the quiet trails at Mamiku Gardens map (Vieux Fort-Castries Highway, Praslin; 758-455-3729; 15 E.C. dollars).
What to Buy
Avoid the indoor craft area at the Castries market map where some items — like the bright, silky scarves that look so authentically Caribbean — bear tags from India or China. But outside, you'll find clay coal pots for 30 E.C. dollars and spicy banana ketchup for 7 E.C. dollars. At roadside galleries like the Melting Pot map (Castries-Soufrière Highway, Anse La Raye; 758-458-3048), you can watch a local artist, Winston Feverier, carve and paint colorful masks (prices start at $25).
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