St Lucia Itinerary Help
 

Heading to St Lucia in July for our honeymoon!

We're looking forward to enjoying the weather and water, but both of us get bored sitting on the beach all day so we chose St Lucia because it has great secluded resorts and a variety of activities (beach, hiking, excursions, towns to explore, etc). Looking for advice on hotels and itinerary.

We'd love to stay at Jade Mtn for a few nights, but can't afford to stay there the whole time (7 days, 6 nights). We're trying to decide whether it's worth it to stay there and then change hotels, or whether we should just stick with a more affordable one for the entire time. If we do stay at one place, we want to make sure there's enough to do (that doesn't always involve an expensive excursion!)

A few questions:

1. Is Jade Mtn worth the expense for only 2-3 nights? (we'd probably choose the all-inclusive plan)
2. If so, we'd stay at another resort the remaining 3-4 nights. Has anyone else done this? Is transportation btwn resorts an issue? I know St Lucia can be harder to get around, so I'm not sure if taxis are available?
3. If you were to choose a 2nd hotel for the remaining 3-4 nights, what would it be? We're considering Anse Chastanet (close to Jade, not a hassle to change), Ti Kaye Village (looks beautiful, but I've read mixed reviews about food?) and Calabash Cove (for an entirely different location & we could check out Rodney Bay ).

Any/all suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

We spent a week in St. Lucia last month so you can check my trip report if you wish.
Our flight was delayed so we ended up with 6 nights on island and we spent 4 in an apartment near Rodney Bay and 2 at an hotel near Soufriere.

I would recommend the split stay as it gives you the opportunity to see more of the island with 2 bases.
It's a long drive (OVER AN HOUR) from Rodney Bay 2 Soufriere (and further to the airport) but there are places to see along the way (Castries/Anse La Raye). We checked out and made a couple of stops for lunch/snorkeling on the way to our hotel and really enjoyed not having to backtrack.

We hired a car.. I'd definitely recommend it for exploring and convenience and I'm very happy we did as taxis are available but expensive.

If you stay in one place .. there's more to do in the Rodney Bay area (closer to zip lining/ restaurants/ touristy stuff) but Soufriere area is not to be missed either.

St. Lucia is beautiful! Enjoy your honeymoon..

Here's a link to my report..

http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...a-295173-2.cfm

sassy_cat, Are the two snorkeling places you mention at resorts? If so, are you allowed on the grounds just to snorkel? Thanks.

Sassy cat - thanks for the response! Did you rent a car for the entire week, or just for a day or two? I guess my main concern with changing hotels is the transfer, since taxis are so expensive.

We don't want to rent a car for the entire week, but we'd like to rent one for one day or so. That way we can explore the island on our own, drive to Rodney Bay to check out the shops, restaurants, etc. Would one day in Rodney Bay be sufficient?

Thanks again!

livinglong,

Anse Cochon is the beach below Ti Kaye Village. There is a public access road but 4x4 is highly recommended or the road to the resort takes you most of the way (bumpy but 4x4 not essential) and then you can park at the resort, eat lunch at either of their restaurants (we didn't try the beach bar)and walk down the 165 steps to the beach. You can also use the pool and outdoor showers at the resort.
Many people access this beach via catamaran on snorkeling day trips too.

Anse Chastanet is another beach with a resort of the same name and the same access is possible... catamaran, self drive or taxi down the 1mile access road (bumpy but 4x4 not necessary). Some people are dropped off by taxi and snorkel here and we met a couple that didn't eat lunch but we did.

so it's possible to access both beaches.. I'd still recommend lunch at the Ti Kaye though.

travelbug,
we rented a car for the entire week as the weekly rate was cheaper (in fact the 8th day was free but we were stuck in Atlanta!!). Taxi fare to from the airport would have cost almost $200 and our rental was $360 on Hotwire.
We needed a car at the apartment to get around/ buy groceries etc and we're glad we had it for the entire week for the flexibility. We didn't eat dinner at La Haut because we had the car and other guests tended to use taxis after one or two nights at the hotel restaurant.

One day could be enough to explore Rodney Bay area.. depends how much you want to see. Personally, I enjoyed the market in Castries more than the shops in Rodney Bay. Rodney Bay is very touristy.