We are staying at Ladera for 8 days in July. We love to snorkel & sail. What tours/ things are a must there? Thanks!

Definitely try a Jeep Rainforest Tour as long as you are in good shape to do lots of walking. The Jeep will drop you off at the Rainforest where a guide will take you through the rainforest. They will point out the local fauna and possibly wildlife. I saw a lot of exotic birds. We had a good time, just wear firm walking shoes and don't wear anything you don't want to get wet.

I'd say the botanical gardens are a must-do, but you don't necessarily need a tour to see them. If you take a bathing suit with you, you can change into it and swim in the mineral pools on site. The garden paths cut a swathe through the jungle-like atmosphere where all kinds of exotic flowers await you and beautiful birds dart here and there around you. At the entrance to the gardens there will be several local folks offering to walk with you and identify what you're seeing. We did this and found it very informative and could go at our own pace--other groups were there with one tour guide trying to make herself heard and we were glad to have the more "private" walk.

The snorkeling around the base of the Pitons at the Jalousie is pretty good, and I believe you're able to access that free of charge as guests of Ladera. No doubt there are plenty of good daysails you could take. I don't have any to recommend offhand, but if you go to the Stonefield Estate Villas website, they have a list of excursions available to their guests--they would also be available to Ladera guests.

If I were to go back to St. Lucia, I would want to take the Grenadine daytrip--you fly to Union Island and from their sail down through the Grenadines. Several posters here have enjoyed it and you can find reviews by reading trip reports. I hope you have a wonderful time in St. Lucia and return as entranced with the whole experience as I was!

Make sure you allow a day to visit the North end of the island. Pigeon Island and Rodney Bay come to mind. Castries was a bit too congested for my liking. I would also recommend to try to make a stop at Marigot Bay, at least to have lunch. You can get a water taxi from the Jalousie Hilton beach that will take you to Doolittles and then back. This would cost about $80 dollars return which unfortunately is the going rate for a water taxi but I thought it was worth it.

I will second the suggestion for The Grenadines trip. We did it late last year and loved it. If you love to sail, you will love this trip. It does not allow for extensive snorkel time though. The stops are for about an hour at each island.

Hi llp711 - My wife and I did the Grenadines day trip and rented a video camera for it. It is a MUST! The beaches in St. Lucia are not that great and it was my wife's first trip to the Caribbean. If I didn't take her on that trip, I would have been bummed. Saw a few dolphins for a moment off the boat, every island had crystal clear water (though the beaches at some were small, some were really cool). The sailing was great between the 4-5 we stopped at, and a little exciting at one point (November) - just some larger waves for about 10 minutes - not sure if they did it on purpose or not, but added to the fun. Mostly super calm...but hard to hear us on the video with the wind...you are sailing afterall. Palm Island was awesome! What a beach! If it had anythng else to do but golf, I would have liked to stay there for a few days. If you have a video camera, take it, that was neat. Great shots of the Piton mountains as we flew by. Have fun!

Brigg unicorn,was a great boat trip,actual boat they filmed roots on.