Considering St. Lucia.....Input Sought

Old Nov 21st, 2011, 08:05 AM
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Considering St. Lucia.....Input Sought

We're starting to think about taking a vacation in April and airfare to many of our favorite spots (St. Barts, Anguilla, Nevis) is getting to be astronomical and/or complicated by scheduling connections or having to take ferries. It looks like we may be able to get decent airfare to St. Lucia, but I'm hesitant to book without finding out more about the island.

Basically, our criteria for vacation include: no shopping to speak of, no gambling, no nightlife, great beaches, a few good dining out options, and some opportunity for hiking or sightseeing. Not too many tourists. We usually rent a small villa or cottage. I guess what I worry about is that the island is such a popular honeymoon and tourist destination that we won't get that feeling of being away from it all.........I'm also a little put off by stories of folks hawking their wares on the beaches.

Thoughts? Other suggestions?

Many thanks,
Adele
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Old Nov 21st, 2011, 11:47 AM
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Discover the lowest prices on best Saint Lucia hotel deals and 5-star luxury resorts. Browse hotel packages and save with Luxury Link.

www.luxurylink.com/fivestar/saint-lucia/hotels

Some public beaches dodgy lots of privates like

Windjammer are fine... I really like it for the

Pitons and overall greenness although the "snoot"

factor is less there than St Barts and Anguilla

jademountain.com Anse Chastent Jallousie for that...

Happy Deciding!
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Old Nov 21st, 2011, 03:51 PM
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Define what you consider to be great beaches? St. Lucia beaches are darker and coarser sand..it's not soft, flour, sugary stuff....
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Old Nov 21st, 2011, 11:12 PM
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The beaches are not all darker and coarser. Reduit Beach for instance is a light coloured beach and so is Anse Cochon to name two. However the beaches in the south by the Pitons tend to be dark sand, which esp by Anse Chastenet is very beautiful. People sell things on the beaches all over alot of Caribbean, St Lucia is no exception. If the beaches don't tick the box, consider Grenada.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2011, 04:27 AM
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There are some good dining out options and opportunities for hiking (including the Pitons) and sight-seeing on St. Lucia. The beaches are a mixed bag but if you don't expect Anguilla-like perfection you won't be too disappointed.

Here's my trip report from Feb 2010. I suggest you read others to get a better picture of the island.

http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...a-295173-2.cfm
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Old Nov 22nd, 2011, 06:05 AM
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Thanks for all of your replies. Sassy_cat, we live in New England also, near Springfield. So Bradley Airport in Hartford is our "home" airport. Unfortunately, the best prices for airfare to St. Lucia are from New York, but at least the flights don't leave till after 9:00 am so we wouldn't have to do an overnight.

A great beach, for us, is one with clear, warm water, no seaweed to speak of and other people few and far between. Soft white sand and lots of space for walking long distances are definite pluses, but we're also open to the charms of other features.

We always rent a villa or cottage when we travel, and we've found a couple of good options near Soufiere, with Piton views. The north looks great, too, but after a long day of travel, the prospect of having to land in St. Lucia at UVF and drive over an hour to get to our villa isn't all that appealing. Perhaps better to make it a day trip.

Thanks again! Right now it looks like a toss up between St. Lucia and Nevis.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2011, 09:53 AM
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I don't know how applicable you will find this, but we hated St Lucia. The beaches and food were only part of the reason. On the other hand, Nevis is our second favorite island. As you obviously know, the dining in Nevis is something really special. As are the locals, the scenery, the hiking and the monkeys. Our favorite island and the one we return to every winter now is Palm Island in the Grenadines. However, if we were able to find the time to do a second vacation, it would be Nevis hands down. I miss it! Maybe next year!
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Old Nov 22nd, 2011, 11:44 AM
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Oh, I'd love to go to Palm Island but it's a little out of our price range, even in low season. Once we no longer have to pay for someone to stay at home with our youngest daughter, maybe it will be a more viable option.

We were in Nevis about 6 years ago and had a pretty good time, but it's funny how we've grown more fond of it in our memories and would love to go back. The beaches can't compete with Anguilla but there's something about Mt. Nevis and the quiet rusticity (juxtaposed with touches of elegance, of course) that drew us in.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2011, 02:22 PM
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St. Lucia was one of our favorite Islands. It's absoluteley gorgeous, but is nothing like St. Barts, Anguilla, Nevis. We statyed at the Sandals Grande. The beach there was fine. The sand is a coarse brown. No vendors allowed. The best part of the location was it was within walking distance to Pidgeon's Point Park. Great place for hiking. For us, St. Lucia was more about sightseeing than a beach vacation. We did a land and see tour and the a jeep tour. Saw amazing waterfalls, botanical gardens, the Pitons, volcano, black sand beaches, plantations and villages.

We did take a shopping tour to the craft market and the duty free mall. If your not into shopping, that's about all there was anyway. Since we did AI, we didn't eat off property except on the tours we did. The area is so spread out and the roads are very winding, so unless staying within Rodney Bay or other confined area, not much for restaurants.

If you interested we have our pictures of St. Lucia on our vacation site at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn
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