can anyone recommend a great romantic
getaway in soufriere where the bugs won't
eat me alive?
we are planning december 8-18. put in
request for ti kaye in castries and then
ladera...but looking like soufriere has more
for us and tikaye might be too remote.
read a lot of nice reviews on stonefield...but
isn't it at lower elevation than ladera? and
no a/c....not that humidity bothers us...it's
really the running from the mosquitos.
even bugs don't bug me....hahaha.
we are looking to be active: dive, snorkel,
whale watch, mountain bike during the day.
at night however, we'd like a little romance
and the fear of mosquitos has me bouncing
back and forth on which place to choose.

note: we live in florida - mosquitos run amuck.
how does st. lucia compare?

St. Lucia is a very tropical lush island with rainforest so here will be bugs. We have never been in December, but have been in March and I don't really recall any bugs or mosquitos, but then that is the dry season. I would just take along some good bug repellant. I don't it matters too much which part of the island you stay on how many mosquitos or bugs you will have. Have a great romantic getaway. You have picked a very romantic island.

Floridaaventurist - I too attract mosquitos whenever I am outside. I received an a mail forwarded to me which said that mosquitos are attracted to bananas and not to eat them when you will be outside if you are prone to getting biiten. It sounds silly but when I was attacked by mosquitos in St Martin, (Click on my scrren name and read my trip report from last November) I was drinking BBC's all day which have bananas in them. I hope wherever you go, you have an unbitten vacation!

hi! thank you for the advice!
i won't eat bananas!

The Center for Disease Control is recommending a new "skin-friendly" Mosquito repellent. It is not toxic like DEET. The main ingredient is Picaridin. The only repllent sold with it in the US so far is Cutter Advance Inssect Repellent.

Just my opinion, but if not getting bitten is a big priority, you are asking for trouble if you choose an open-air resort like Ladera or Stonefield (or Anse Chastanet). Stick with air conditioned places so that you will have some sleeping relief at night Just In Case the skeeters are in force!

Stonefield is situated similar to Ladera - it is also considered remote, because you will need a car to get to town or nightlife.

There are many different "skeeter" repellants on the market however there's one thing that people sometimes over look. Oftentimes mosquitos and no-see-ums are attracted to sweet smelling aromas. When travelling to the tropics you can lessen your chances of attracting those pesky flying inscets by avoiding the use of perfumes, colognes, aftershaves, scented soaps, scented hairsprays and similar cosmetics. It works for me!

Joan
I'm hoping you might know of a place in
soufriere that is air conditioned and romantic? Being from Treasure Island area
you understand the bug problems here.
We're in Sarasota and they come out in force after the sun sets. I've tried every herbal, non toxic repellant there is...and
in Costa Rica I use DEET.
I'd hate to miss out on the Ladera experience. Friends of ours just came back from there with stars in their eyes. We figured 7 days at TiKaye (a/c!) and then by the end of the trip we'd be adjusted to the island and could live without A/C.
Any tricks up your sleeve for avoiding the little buggers?
by the way...i'll take mosquitos over sand fleas any day!

hey there!
the only place in Soufriere that I can think would be a/c'd would be the Jalousie Hilton. Their villas sound romantic, with plunge pools, although they come up second to Ladera as far as reviews. I would say, if you're really "adventurists" then go for Ladera. Bring DEET - when we rented an open aired villa in the area, we did use the mosquito net at night. However, it was more to keep the gnats etc away than the skeeters.

I know the horrors of sand fleas (noseeums). We camped at Maho Bay on St. John once, and although I wore long sleeves and long pants at night, I was bitten to the point of No Return! This did not happen in either of our visits to the Soufriere, St. Lucia area (villa and Anse Chastanet). I'm hoping you will be as lucky.

The only other comment I'd make: I like to nest in a place, and not move halfway through my vacation. I'd stay at Ladera (or Stonefield if budget does not permit Ladera) the whole time. Just my humble opinion!

Joan:
My friends feel the same way you do...given a chance to go again they would stay at Ladera the entire time. I did find your Hermitage villa online...took a while...but it has all 3 properties
the terrace, the cottage and the villa which are still available for rental.
We are intending to go to Union Island for 4 days
to snorkel the Tabago Cayes and windsurf at the tail end of our trip so we have decided to stay in Soufriere the entire time we are in St. Lucia.

Do you think we can still bring a cooler with special treats to St. Lucia? If so, the Hermitage would suit us perfectly. Close to Ladera for meals and entertainment and the same distance (?) as to the beach as Ladera. Not afraid to drive the roads...after Costa Rica anything is possible!
Also, The Terrace is available, which, from your report sounds unreal.
Here's the new website in case you want to recommend it to someone else
http://www.villa-st-lucia.de

I'm going to post a general note on the property to see if anyone has rented it lately....nothing to be found on trip advisor or through google as far as I can tell.

I'd love to tug on your ear a bit via email if possible.

Yes, I was going to mention Hermitage, but I got the impression you wanted a resort instead - and it's three walled so you know what that means! . I'll be pleasantly surprised if you find a review, since I could not find it on the web for a couple years - I believe the owners are German and pulled the property from the US rental market for awhile(?). Also, when we rented, there was just the two houses, not the "cottage".

I assume you can bring a cooler in - we always do when going to the lower latitudes - no problem!

Post your email and I will be happy to reply. Please remember to code your email a little so the spammers will not see it.

Isn't DEET effective against noseeums as well as mosquitos?

DEET is the only thing that works for me against noseeums, but alas only for about 15 minutes, then the feasting begins. A combination of rum and DEET works better!

what did you like better about the villa as opposed to the resort?
what are the closest activities to hermitage area that you found easy to get to?
how far to go to pick up essentials? i looked at some pictures on virtual tourist. would hate to get lost. don't really want to explore too much if the roads are bad. once we are in a spot we'd like to hang, especially after a long day of adventure.

i think we are going to focus on tabago cays for snorkeling/diving. we've narrowed down activities on st. lucia to mountain biking, piton climb, kayaking around the pitons and massages and dinners at Ladera.
do you think the villa is still a good idea?

We are lookin for Joan who stayed at the Hermitage. Please share any information you have.