Sapphire 3: Reviews From Those Who’ve Lived, Shopped, Explored & Dined in St. Lucia

This is a great place to stay, great value and Janus was awesome in attending our needs and answers our questions. Loved the view from the balcony, we spent a lot of time there, reading and relaxing.
We are Frugal travelers and didn’t want to spend $65-80 US a day to rent a car or US $100+ for taxi rides, so we did a lot of walking within Soufriere and used Janus’s car service for short trip to places like Gros Piton US$20 each way. Highly recommend utilizing the service. Janus recommended all our pick-up times, thank you Janus and drivers!

The walk to the core of Soufriere took us about 20-25 mins going at a leisurely pace, although a bit convoluted, we think the shortest route is – walk out of apartment, go left down the hill, at dead end (yellow house) turn right, at next dead end turn right then take first left, when you get to another dead end turn right, when you can see a road on your first left (left leading) to soccer Stadium take it and where it ends go left for a short distance then take a quick right and you’ll see a bridge at the end. Take the bridge and then either go left to go to the main drag or right to stay on quarter streets. The much simpler route is to go to left at step three above at dead end then right at Ruby’s. We opted for the interior route because its unpleasant walking alongside the busier streets (not pedestrian friendly).
We took the bus to Castries and Rodney Bay (have to transfer to another bus in Castries). This is the cheapest form of transportation at E.C $8.00 each way/person. Note that this mode of travel is not for faint of heart or those prone to motion sickness. Basically 1.5 hrs or non-stop curves, and drivers are very aggressive. Good thing it’s cheap!

What we did and where we ate:

1.    Belle View by waterfront – enjoyed or lunches

2.    Hummingbird Resort beach – decent but no chairs or cabanas and not much shade until late afternoon.

3.    Castries Market – massive market (event on Saturdays) very cool!

4.    Diamond Falls & Botanical Gardens – (25 mins from Sapphire) – we are nature lovers, so we enjoyed it! (US$7/person)

5.    Anse Chastanet/Mamin – road out there is atrocious, Anse Chastanet only had a few Cabanas for non-resort guests and they were all taken, so we went to Anse Mamin (have to pay US$50! So just found a shady spot and laid on our towels) which was nice and quiet but beware of the prices at the bar (US$20 for one drink!)

6.    Gros piton – we are both active in out mid 30’s and are experienced hikers and for us the hike was fairly hard but don’t let that deter you – just take your time and lots of breaks, because the reward at the and is worth it (EC$88/person US$37)

7.    Sugar Beach – great experience because we patronage the restaurant. We were able to get a trolley ride to the beach and back. Would be a long walk, otherwise. Our meal (lunch) was awesome but pricey (US$100 for a drink each and our meals). Lots of free chairs for non-resort guests (right side of beach) no umbrellas but mostly shaded (we were there from 1 to 4)

8.    Pigeon Island – neat old ruins and view from Fort Rodney Bay was awesome. Nice small beach there if you’re looking for something quieter than Rediut Beach (water taxi from Reduit beach was US$40/person round-trip.

9.    Spinnakers restaurant on reduit beach, both had the jerk beef wrap and found them very tasty and reasonable prices.

10.    Reduit beach – very nice white sand beach. We went to the public beach area at the south end to avoid paying for beach chairs (no beach chairs there though)

11.    Coconutz Bar in Rodney Bay – 2 for 1 cocktails after 5:00. Quiet when we were there but seems like it would be a happening place (pool tables, dance floor etc.)

12.    Rodney Bay – seems to be the most commercial part of the Island. Lots of shops, restaurants etc.

13.    Tet Paul Nature Trail- easy trail and our guide was very informative. Awesome views of the Pitons although we missed our because it was cloudy and raining (US$10/person)

14.    Fond Doux Holiday Plantation – really enjoyed this experience. Great Tour guide and awesome snacks at the end (more like a lunch. US$40 for the tour and snack option for both of us.) 

All in all and amazing trip. We love St. Lucia!

Mel & Broodie
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

We spent 4 night here in Soufriere and had a wonderful time. We visited the mud bath for $5.50 US each and it was a great experience.

We went for a swim under the Torille Water Fall $3 US for 2 and snorkeling at Anse Chastanet. We hiked Gros Piton for $37 US/ec plus tip for our guide. You must have a guide during the hike it’s recommended. We started our hike around 7:30am to be back before the heat. It’s about a 3.5 hr – 4 hr hike and the second half is quite a climb but a great challenge for adventure seekers’.

The cab to go to Gros Piton is $40 us round-trip. Make you’re your guide take you to the second look off, they tend not to take you unless you ask them. Spectacular view of Pitit Piton and the village below.

1.    Pack at least 1.5 ltrs of water each
2.    Eat a big breakfast before
3.    Pack snacks for the top
4.    Wear proper foot wear, hiking down will be a challenge in sandals
5.    Bring our camera!

Have Fun!

Tommy & Steph
Nove scotia, Canada