Money Exchange?
 

Okay, we have planned a honeymoon in St. Lucia and our renting a private villa. I just got a lot of information from the company that we are renting from. The information I am most concerned about was the currency and ATM situations. You cannot use your bank ATM at the ATM machines, correct? You have to use a major credit card (if you know what your credit card pin number is) for the ATM’. Or bring cash and/or traveler checks. Where is the best place to exchange your money? Any information you have would be helpful.<BR><BR>Thanks

In St.Lucia, the official currency is the Eastern Caribbean (EC) Dollar. However, you don't really need to exchange US$ for EC$. Just about everyone will accept your US currency happily, and a great many prices will be quoted in both currencies (and the exchange rate is fixed at $2.68EC to $1 US). Oftentimes, you will get change in a combination of currencies. Just be sure to spend all of your EC before you leave (holding some back for departure tax) and make sure that when you are paying, you know which currency your price is quoted in.

There are a lot of people that use ATMS overseas. Check with your bank, they should be able to tell you whether it can be used or not. My ATM card is affiliated with Visa, but it is NOT a Visa credit card. I think US Dollars are well accepted also.

Can you tell me about this departure tax?

I think the departure tax was $30 or $40 per person when you check in to depart. Make sure you have exact change. I've heard others claim there was difficulty making change. However, if you're going with a package deal, e.g. through Apple Vacations, the departure tax is already included and you won't be asked to pay this.<BR><BR>The best rate for exchaning money is with the banks down there but there's not much of a difference if you do it somewhere else. You can usually exchange money with the front desk of most hotels. However, we never needed to because just about everyone, if not all, takes American $. <BR><BR>