Leaving for St. Lucia on 2/16 . . . have some q's
Feb 8th, 2007, 07:06 AM
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Leaving for St. Lucia on 2/16 . . . have some q's
We are leaving for our trip St. Lucia next Friday (staying at Tikaye Resort), and I had a few questions for any St. Lucia experts!
1. Money: Should we bring dollars, or use ATM's when we get there? I seem to remember reading on this board that St. Lucia takes dollars, but that their ATM's give out a different currency. We plan on using our credit card to charge most things, like meals, and exursions, but we will probably need some cash.
2. Excursions: We will be there for a total of 6 days. We were planning on doing maybe two excursions. Our resort offers many things, and I have heard the Land and Sea tour was a good one. Any suggestions for hikes or rainforest walks that are not too strenuous? Keep in mind that I will in my 9th week of pregnancy when we arrive, so I do not want to do anything TOO intense.
3. Water: Is the tap water in St. Lucia ok? I usually drink bottled water, but I am thinking in terms of brushing teeth and ice.
TIA!
1. Money: Should we bring dollars, or use ATM's when we get there? I seem to remember reading on this board that St. Lucia takes dollars, but that their ATM's give out a different currency. We plan on using our credit card to charge most things, like meals, and exursions, but we will probably need some cash.
2. Excursions: We will be there for a total of 6 days. We were planning on doing maybe two excursions. Our resort offers many things, and I have heard the Land and Sea tour was a good one. Any suggestions for hikes or rainforest walks that are not too strenuous? Keep in mind that I will in my 9th week of pregnancy when we arrive, so I do not want to do anything TOO intense.
3. Water: Is the tap water in St. Lucia ok? I usually drink bottled water, but I am thinking in terms of brushing teeth and ice.
TIA!
Feb 8th, 2007, 07:47 AM
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I was in St. Lucia in December, and although not an expert, here are my thoughts on your questions.
1. Money: Your choice, but most places accept USD and ATMs will give the local currency (EC $). I only exchanged USD in small amounts and used EC $ when buying from local vendors and/or for tips when I ran out of my small bills in USD. I also used cash for taxis. Credit cards are widely accepted at restaurants, hotels, and larger shops.
2. Excursions: I highly recommend "Land and Sea". I'm not sure how it would work from TiKaye though, since my land tour started in the north (picking up guests at hotels near Cap Estate, Rodney Bay, and Castries), went through Castries, and stopped at Marigot Bay before getting down to TiKaye. On the way back on the catamaran, we stopped for snorkeling near TiKaye and then continued to Castries, where we got on buses back to our hotels. You may want to see what variation TiKaye offers. I didn't do it, but I heard that the walk/hike at Pigeon Island is nice and not too strenuous.
3. Tap water is fine. I drank whatever they served in glassses at hotels/restaurants and didn't have any problems.
Have a great trip!
1. Money: Your choice, but most places accept USD and ATMs will give the local currency (EC $). I only exchanged USD in small amounts and used EC $ when buying from local vendors and/or for tips when I ran out of my small bills in USD. I also used cash for taxis. Credit cards are widely accepted at restaurants, hotels, and larger shops.
2. Excursions: I highly recommend "Land and Sea". I'm not sure how it would work from TiKaye though, since my land tour started in the north (picking up guests at hotels near Cap Estate, Rodney Bay, and Castries), went through Castries, and stopped at Marigot Bay before getting down to TiKaye. On the way back on the catamaran, we stopped for snorkeling near TiKaye and then continued to Castries, where we got on buses back to our hotels. You may want to see what variation TiKaye offers. I didn't do it, but I heard that the walk/hike at Pigeon Island is nice and not too strenuous.
3. Tap water is fine. I drank whatever they served in glassses at hotels/restaurants and didn't have any problems.
Have a great trip!
Feb 8th, 2007, 08:08 AM
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Beachdreams3 pretty spot on, small US$ bills work everywhere in the Caribbean and the exchange rate is fixed with the Eastern Caribbean EC$ at 2.67 EC to the 1 US, because of the exchange rate you must keep your wits about you a bit.
The EC$ also works in other Islands Grenada, Dominica & St Lucia.
I find my bank expensive when I use cash points abroad, but it is safer than carrying cash I guess.
Remember the 54EC$ departure tax EACH pretty much all the islands have it, a really good site to view is the St. Lucia "destination" section of destinationcaribbean.net which has lots of other stuff. You must see the Pitons so I would make that one of your trips.
You will also be out of there before the Cricket starts!
Sure you will have a great trip, beautiful island.
M
The EC$ also works in other Islands Grenada, Dominica & St Lucia.
I find my bank expensive when I use cash points abroad, but it is safer than carrying cash I guess.
Remember the 54EC$ departure tax EACH pretty much all the islands have it, a really good site to view is the St. Lucia "destination" section of destinationcaribbean.net which has lots of other stuff. You must see the Pitons so I would make that one of your trips.
You will also be out of there before the Cricket starts!
Sure you will have a great trip, beautiful island.
M
Feb 8th, 2007, 08:23 AM
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Murfus,
Good point about the departure tax, which must be paid in cash, but it actually has increased. It is $26 USD now or approximately $68 EC (I think, I paid this in USD and don't remember the EC amount).
Good point about the departure tax, which must be paid in cash, but it actually has increased. It is $26 USD now or approximately $68 EC (I think, I paid this in USD and don't remember the EC amount).
Feb 9th, 2007, 06:20 AM
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My family of five just returned (well, late Dec.) from a week in St. Lucia. The advice you received on money is sound; do take lots of one dollar bills as that helps with tipping. Can't help you resort-wise, as we stayed at the Windjammer. We took a day sail (catamaran) down to the south part of the island and the tour took us to a botanical garden/waterfall pool, volcano, a plantation (for lunch a mini-tour), snorkel/swim stop and Marigot Bay. We left around 8:30 and returned about 4:30. Another day, we took a tour of the island (land only), which included a moderate walk through the rain forest and included a stop at another waterfall pool. That excursion lasted about 5 1/2 hours. I can get you more info if you like. Personally, I thought the Castries market was so-so compared to others I've been to, esp. since some of the nicer items weren't made in St. Lucia (quality there really varied). We did not have any problems with tap water. Good luck (from a lab owner, too.).
Feb 10th, 2007, 09:57 AM
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Ti Kaye is a lovely hotel and has a beautiful beach (Anse Cochon) with good snorkeling, it is a popular stop for snorkeling excursions. There are alot of steps down to the beach.
There are excursions to La Soufriere and the Diamond Botanical Gardens, Anse La Raye Friday Fish Fry. It is also not too far to Marigot Bay where there are some nice restaurants (JJ's Paradise comes to mind)
There are excursions to La Soufriere and the Diamond Botanical Gardens, Anse La Raye Friday Fish Fry. It is also not too far to Marigot Bay where there are some nice restaurants (JJ's Paradise comes to mind)
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