Discovering St. Lucia: The Ultimate Guide to Hotels, Activities, and Local Highlights
Oct 14
Welcome to St. Lucia, a stunning Caribbean island known for its lush landscapes, iconic Pitons, and vibrant culture. Fun fact, St. Lucia is the only island in the world named after a woman, which makes it one of the best. 😉 Join us as we explore the best accommodations—both all-inclusive and non-all-inclusive—along with exciting activities and local attractions that make St. Lucia a must-visit destination.
Let HER inspire you!
Top All-Inclusive Hotels
A majority of the properties offer both All Inclusive plans (like we are used to booking in Caribe from the US) as well as European and even Half Board Plans, where you can secure breakfast and dinner at the resort included in the cost, but alcohol and anything additional will be extra.
These are my picks for top all-inclusive options on the island:
Sandals- Grande St. Lucian, Halcyon Bay, La Toc: Sandals has 3 amazing properties in St. Lucia, all situated on the northern side of the island. Stay at one, and you get to play at all 3, with free transport provided to and from each hotel. With Sandals, everything is included, from airport transfers, to Scuba Diving (which can tack on up to $500+ if you dive more than once). Green fees are also included to the golf course. I am a Sandals Specialist and can help guide you through your pick or rooms, levels as well as activities and excursions to balance out your stay with relaxation and adventure!
Calabash Cove or Ti Kaye: If you are looking for a more quiet/romantic and secluded vibe, then these two resorts will hit the mark. Both are situated in the north, and offer a smaller number of rooms + one main restaurant. There are cottages available at each so you can have a truly secluded getaway with your significant other.
Check out our stay at Calabash Cove here: Adventures at Calabash Cove
Anse Chastanet / Jade Mountain
I selected Anse Chastanet as it is a part of Jade Mountain - one of the only hotels with views of both pitons. This is an open air resort, which means, no AC. However, your room is on the hillside with lots of air flow, plus the resort will bring in extra fans. But due to humidity, don’t expect to wear ANY make up during your stay here! 😉 There is also no real need to as it is a smaller resort, but the food is excellent with Michelin star chef. The resort was designed by famed architect Nick Tourbetzkoy. I selected this resort due to its location on the protected reef and the house diving company: Scuba St. Lucia (Important to note: you must stay at Anse/Jade in order to book a dive with Scuba St. Lucia). The resort also offers its own rainforest and sugar mill reserve to explore by foot or bike trail! There is even a waterfall as well as access to the less traveled Anse Mamin beach. (also the location of the best burgers on the island thanks to their beach chefs!)
View our stay at Anse here: St. Lucia @AnseChastanet
Windjammer Landing: This family friendly resort sits on the northern most part of the island and is home to the Eastern Caribbean Divers, which i will highlight later in this article. It would be a great option for families as there are multi-room suite options as well as fun for all ages.
Zoetry - Marigot Bay: This is a newer resort that caters to wellness and relaxation. Located in the beautiful and protected area of Marigot Bay, you will share an area with a house that belongs to Oprah and she considers St. Lucia to be one of her top FIVE locations to visit in the entire world! This area is protected from the weather and actually provides a safe haven where boats will relocate to during the event of a hurricane threat.
Top Non-All-Inclusive Hotels
I would recommend an all inclusive option if you plan to spend most of your time on property and have meals/drinks there. If you like to venture out for dinners, then I would recommend booking a non-all inclusive option or half-board at the hotels above, or go with one of the options below.
Sugar Beach: Likely the most luxurious resort on the island, Sugar Beach is situated right next to the Pitons, which will offer some amazing snorkeling experiences and the only white sand in St Lucia (fact: it is shipped in from nearby islands - St Lucia is a black sand/volcanic island).
Ladera: Ladera is located in the actual pitons, so set in the mountains. I would suggest booking a few nights at Ladera, then moving to a beach location like Sugar Beach or Cap Maison. A stay in Ladera will consist of more private time in your plunge pool, and you could stay the entire time in your room if you so choose.
Cap Maison: This is a beautiful hotel on the northern side of the island with amazing beach vistas. Splitting your stay allows you to see multiple parts of the island and experience its beauty from both the mountains and the beach.
By staying at a non all-inclusive property, you allow yourself the opportunity to explore some of the top restaurants on the island, which i will include in a later post.
Exciting Activities in St. Lucia
Boat Tour: Captain Cliff Adventure Tours:
An excursion on the water is an absolute MUST when you visit this island. The chance to see the Pitons from the water is a once in a lifetime experience and we found Captain Cliff Adventure tours to help with that! This is a father/son business, and they will customize your excursion to your liking! The typical visit will take you to the Sulphur Springs for a volcanic mud bath and waterfall rinse, with some snorkel stops along the coast. We opted to skip the mud bath so they just took us on a longer boat tour instead. We did do the Tet Paul Nature trail, which left from Soufriere - the guides went with us on our journey which made us feel very safe during transport. The views are amazing, but definitely require a certain level of fitness to complete, so keep in mind! (steep hills). I also will state that the Piton climb is not for the faint of heart. We met two honeymooners in their early 20s who were VERY in shape - and they had HARD climb, lol -so we opted to skip. ;-) Be ok with your own fitness level, and just opt for the excursion that is best for you! You’ll get to experience the beauty of the pitons no matter which route you take.
This is our first hand experience on Captain Cliff’s Tour: St Lucia - The Pitons, Tet Paul Nature Trail, and Sugar Beach
The Tet Paul nature trail is an option for this as there is an easier route and a steeper route. We passed some travelers in their 70s on the trail and they were doing just fine! This is a great way to see some of the beautiful flora and fauna on the island and get a unique view of the pitons from the top!
Check out our trip on the trail as well as views from Sugar Beach here: St Lucia - The Pitons, Tet Paul Nature Trail, and Sugar Beach
Chocolate Tours: Did you know that St. Lucia has many cacao farms and produces their own chocolate!? In Fact, they have a resort dedicated to it - Hotel chocolat! If you are a chocolate lover, then allocate some time to explore how it is created and make a custom bar of your own to take home! Hotel Chocolat
Scuba Diving Operators:
If you follow our travels, then you know we are certified Scuba Divers and love to incorporate dives into our trips. We have been with two companies in St Lucia and wanted to highlight these guys:
Scuba St. Lucia: This is a 5* PADI resort and the oldest on the island. So well maintained and these guys knew what they were doing. The are situated on the Anse Chastanet reef and you can shore dive, or go down 70+ feet around the pitons. This was some of the best diving we have ever experienced. Due to recent changes, you must stay at Anse/Jade in order to book a dive with Scuba St. Lucia.
Here is a dive video from this trip: Scuba St. Lucia - "Superman's Flight"
Eastern Caribbean Divers: On our second trip to the island, i did not know that above fact. We stayed at Calabash so opted to book a dive with Eastern Caribbean Divers, who were housed at the windjammer landing resort just a cove to the north of us. They picked us up at our resort dock, which was SO convenient, and then we set off to the pitons for our dive. We also did a ship wreck dive off the beach of Ti Kaye, which was amazing and our first shipwreck!
You can check out that dive on our YouTube channel here to get a first hand look: Shipwreck Scuba - Part 1
Scuba Steve and Dive St. Lucia: I have never been with Scuba Steve, but he is a smaller owner and dive master on the island that can take you on trips! Both Scuba St. Lucia and EC had great things to say about Scuba Steve.
TRAVEL TIP: Helicopter Tour / Departure Transport to the Airport:
Transport to/from the airport in St. Lucia can be long, just due to the landscape, slower speed limits and rolling hills you have to drive through. It’s a great experience to see everything on your drive in, but I will encourage you to spend a tiny bit more on your return to the airport if staying in the north. You can hop on a ride with St. Lucia Helicopters from the George F. L. Charles airport, that will take you on a 15 minute tour which includes beautiful vistas around the pitons from the sky! You get to access airport security from a private area which makes things faster, but it is truly an amazing way to close out your trip that you should not miss!
You can view the entire ride via our YouTube channel here: St Lucia - Helicopter Ride
Exploring Castries and Soufriere
Top Spots in Castries:
If you are staying in the northern part of the island, then Castries (the capital) will be the city to visit. There is lots of shopping, including duty-free, in the city center. This would be a great spot to visit for a few hours to explore the local culture. We hit up the shops and the local grocery store for some sundries for our hotel.
Top Spots in Soufrière:
This is a smaller port and will welcome you into the Tet Paul and Sulphur Springs areas. We found this area to be a bit more less developed, with gates around the dock to keep our vendors. We did not explore shopping or dining in this area though there were a few spots that were recommended to hit up. You can research the town to see the best spots to visit, but I would target this area for the Mud baths and Tet Paul / Piton activities.
Shout-out to Julien Alfred:
It would be wise to mention Julien Alfred's achievements in the recent Olympics, winning the first ever Gold and Silver medals for St. Lucia in track.
These wins and Julien’s success have truly elevated St. Lucia to the world stage.
Ready to experience the magic of St. Lucia and let HER inspire you?
Contact me, Kristin, your trusted travel agent, Certified St Lucia Expert, and let’s plan your dream vacation! Whether you’re seeking luxury, adventure, or a taste of local culture, I’m here to create the perfect itinerary just for you. Don’t miss out on the beauty of St. Lucia – book now and let the adventure begin!"
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