icanrel8

Going to St. Lucia in November and staying at Sandals - Grande on Rodney Bay. First time there. While I have read many great reviews, I have read just as many awful reviews - all about the resort. The resort is, what it will be - we'll deal with it. What I REALLY want to know, however, are the best excursions to take advantage of. We are planning to helicopter transfer from main airport to the resort and go 1/2 day deep sea fishing. We are not sure, however, whether to do a "land and by sea" (to/from the Pitons/Soufreire) tour or an all-day sailing to/from the Pitons/Soufreire) - we are leaning toward the all-day sailing, but how much of the rain forest/plantations do we miss out on if we're still going to see Diamond Falls, Botanical Gardens when we disembark for lunch? What is the best place to lunch in Soufreire? Any other recommendations for short/fun/adventurious (but not physically demanding) excurions? Must see? Must do? Must eat places? Any advice welcome. Thanks!

brenandg

I think you will get a lot more bang for your buck if you take the land and sea excursion, as long as you are not terribly prone to car sickness. The roads are quite winding. We hired a taxi to take us around the island for the day with another couple. Think you would miss out on a lot of sites and beautiful scenery if you just do the sailing. I guess it just comes down to how much you want to see of the island.

I also recommend checking out the Castries Market for a couple of hours. Fun to walk around and observe the culture. I would just get your own taxi and not do the Sandal's trip. Taxis are plentiful. I have also heard good things about the jeep safari trip.

We ate at The Coal Pot in Castries twice our last visit and thought it was wonderful. I would think it is about 10-15 minutes or so from the Grande. Excellent food and candlelit romantic atmosphere in an open air restaurant with water gently lapping. Gosh, I have island fever!

Squiggy

I agree with Brenandg, take the land and sea excursion. We did this and really liked it. We had lunch at Dasheen's at the Ladera resort (unbelievable view between the Pitons!). Also agree must do Coal Pot, you will not be disappointed! In Rodney Bay, I would recommend The Buzz (very good seafood, especially liked the mussels in Thai sauce if you're into that!). Enjoy!

Squiggy

Kimberly

We did the all day tour and loved it,we will be back at Sandals for 2 weeks in Feb and will do that same excursion again. Im sure lunch comes with this tour. We also did the sunset cruise which was a blast! email me if you have any ?'s. [email protected]

ktebe

If you can, while in Soufriere, I'd take a trip to the volcano. I expected a half-baked tour but was totally wrong. The guides there were knowledgeable on the history of the volcano and what it's done to the island, plate teutonics, it's impact on the local flora and fauna, etc. It was throughly enjoyable. The plantation tour was Ok, You see lots of plantation kinds of foods and spices, plantine (sp), nutmeg, bananas, and you get to sit in the mineral tubs.
I agree with Dashee and the Buzz, great places.

dominick2

I second the recommendations of Dashene at Ladera and the Coal Pot in Castries. If you like seafood, you should try the Friday fish night in Anse La Raye. It's about a half hour south of Rodney Bay.

beachkomer

icanrel8, I had that same question about doing the sea/land tour. I decided to do that, but didn't think about getting car sick. (rats)

Those of you that mentioned these tours, which group did you use, and would you recommend them? Was the lunch cost included? I would LOVE to see Ladera hotel, and would like to go on the tour that goes there.

I go early December, so any trip reviews icanrel8, will be appreciated!
Thanks!

Kimberly

Im sorry I also forgot to mention we rented a taxi (van) with 2 other couples
and did a sightseeing tour of the whole island. It was well worth the $, I cant remember but I think it was around $35pp. We were gone from 8:00 am to about 6:00 pm.

icanrel8

Thank you for all your responses! They are very much appreciated. We're going to helicopter to the resort (I know we'll miss the coastline, but will make up for it on the day sail), do the Sofriere Day Sail and have lunch at Dasheen on the stop, my husband will do the deep sea fishing excursion while I go to the spa, the sunset cruise and otherwise eat, drink and relax the other days! There seems to be plenty of things to do at the resorts and plenty of non-motorized water activities. We'll take the drive/long way/scenic route to the airport on the way home

Kimberly - which Sandals did you stay at? Since you are returning to Sandals, I would assume your experience was a good one. What time of year did you go? When was your last visit? Any other suggestions, food, etc. or resort activities must do's?

Beachkomer - I will definitely report back! Are you staying at Sandals? Grande?

brenandg

icanrel8,
Are you booking that day sail with Sandal's? If so, you might want to double check and see if that particular one stops at Dasheen. Lunch could be at another local restaurant or even on the catamaran.

Just to clarify for you. The road from the airport to Castries winds up the east coast and then somewhat through the middle of the island through the outskirts of the rainforest then to Castries. The west coast road is the way to Soufriere from Castries. If you were staying in Soufriere, you would take the west coast road from the airport.

Think you will like the helicopter ride on the way in. We really enjoyed it. Just make sure to bring some necessities in your carry on as your luggage will not arrive til later by ground transfer.

beachkomer

I am staying at the new hotel, Coco Palm. I think it's the sister hotel of the great snorkle hotel down in Soufre. (sorry my brain hasn't soaked up my coffee yet). This is before I get on my "easy cruise".

Does anyone recommend a company that will crusise down to the Pitons, lunch at Ladera and Jeep back to the Castries? (full day). Someone mentioned one before, but I wasn't sure which company takes you to lunch at that famous hotel.

thanks

sailor

I am pretty sure that a stop at Ladera for lunch will not be a part of any of the organized tour/excursions offered in St.Lucia.

You would need to book your own private or small group outing, and request Ladera as your lunch stop. This you can do with a taxi/guide or a tour company like Barefoot Holidays.

beachkomer

Ok, thanks sailor. I will look into that. The chances of me being able to afford Ladera are slim, so lunch would be the next best thing!

lucyeliz

Will be honeymooning at Grande Sandals during Thanksgiving week. My fiance and I love snorkeling and other water sports and especially want to deep sea fish. Just booked the trip yesterday, however read reviews of the Grand on another forum and most were mediocre, especially about the food. Almost made me want to cancel the trip. Would love to hear some positives to make me feel better!! I know nothing about St. Lucia except for what I have gleaned from my travel agent, who assures me that the island is beautiful and the resort is great. This is a second marriage for both of us 50ish love birds and I want it to be a very special beginning for the next 50 years with the love of my life.

brenandg

Aaahhhh, the Sandal's debate. Not a popular chain on this forum. Seems like people either love it or hate it. I guess we fall somewhere in the middle. We stayed at the Regency twice and have no regrets. The first time we went, I know we had stars in our eyes as we had not been to the Caribbean in 5 years. The second time we noticed more warts. All in all, I'm sure you will have a nice time, it is your honeymoon after all. The breakfast and lunch buffets offered plenty of variety, made to order eggs, fresh fruit and salads for lunch. We are not big eaters for these meals so it was fine for us. You can also get something relatively quick if you are off to an excursion. The dinners are definitely not as gourmet as they advertise and on the whole, we think Sandal's is overpriced for what you get. We never stayed in high end rooms.

Recommend you go off the resort and check out St Lucia. Your TA is right, it is beautiful and lots to do. My DH "bonded" with some other guests who had had hired a local for a fishing trip. The boys went fishing for 1/2 day and had a blast. It cost $75pp. They only caught one measly tuna though.

As recommended by myself and others, check out the Coal Pot for dinner. Very romantic for a honeymoon.

Kimberly

We have been to just about all of the Sandals Properties, some of them a few times. Our last stay was in Feb 05 at Sandals Whitehouse for 2 weeks. We will be spending 2 weeks at the Sandals Regency this will be our second stay at this resort. We travel pretty much the last 2 weeks of Feb. We loved all the Sandals properties.Sandals Negril
is my favorite along with Sandals Whitehouse. Hubbies are Sandals Regency and Sandals Nergil. Do the Day Sail and Sunset Cruise you will have a blast....

icanrel8

That is what I have concluded from the reviews -- either love or hate the Sandals resorts on St. Lucia with not much in between and most say food "okay." I have never been anywhere in the caribbean; I was to Cancun once but was evacuated shortly after arrival due to a hurricane; and, I have otherwise not had a real vacation in at least 10 years so I think I will find it difficult to be disappointed about anything except going back to work once I return.

deny

We went to Sandals Grande for my 50th birthday. We absolutely loved it. Food was great. I recommended it. Just go with the flow and have a good time. One day they ran out of bananas (don't they grow bananas in St.Lucia!) but just order a different drink, no biggie. If you want more reviews on Sandals try Chris-n-Cheryl.com. It is a big Sandals bulletin board. The Land and Sea is a good trip as well as the volcano and rain forest...and make sure you go to the Friday jump up. It's a local street party. lots of fun..

WhiZa

I just got back from the grande and I loved it. I did some research on it before I went and it seems that the first year it was opened they had some customer service problems and initially got some bad reviews. They since fixed those and are running a great resort in their 4th year (???). So if you see a bad review just make sure it was a recent one.