Beautiful St. Lucia
Anse Chastanet Beach with a bumpy ride by car to enjoy wonderful snorkeling, gold sands Sorry Sugar Beach was a late find for us. Such for seeing boat loads of Americans from Cruises. Lots off loading for time on beach to snorkel and love lunch and drinks. Gorgeous beach. Got shuttle down saying going for lunch and with a receipt from a drink or food can get shuttle up to parking. Road down to Sugar beach is also a challenge. Drive to Canaries, very spectacular and beautiful but also need to concentrate on bumpy road. Fond Doux Plantation – enjoyed guide walk through grounds and buffet lunch. Tet Paul Nature Trail – good Diamond Waterfall – beautiful Botanical Gardens – a highlight with excellent guide Sulphur Pool & Mud – Terrific and then did great guided walk to Superman Waterfalls and enjoyed lunch at Fedo’s on way back to apartment. Thanks to Janus for Help and quick replies to emails and text before and during stay. Goldestine Our trip here to St. Lucia has been like a slice of heaven. We are here for our Honeymoon and have many wonderful memories to take home with us. Some of our favorite activities were hiking to a private beach adjacent to Anse Mamin. Hiking Gros Piton and taking a cruise to Marigot Bay (call monica at Crystals to co-ordinate to her guest for a great rate).
By Far our favorite restaurant was Fedos’. Just down the hill from here. It’s great local place, delicious food and very affordable. We also very enjoyed find the 3 for 10 EC Piton at several Bars along the waterfront. We spent almost every evening, here on our patio watching the amazing Sunset. We also took the local bus to Castries one day. Quite an experience. Hotter!! We walked almost everywhere and it was very doable. Chris & Jenny Enjoyed our stay very much!
Visited 1. Anse Chastanet/Mamin – great snorkeling on sunny say with clear water, second time, big waves stirred up water so cloudy but some places still okay. 2. Hotel Chocolat/ Boucan Restaurant- great food, lovely setting. $$$$. Folks without car may have to pay U.S $20.00 each way for taxi (the official rate). 3. Fedo’s – open 9 or 10 to 5:00pm, Closed Sundays & Sometimes Mondays, have lunch there or order to go. Fish Bergur and chicken Roti, both good & in expensive, see google for location. 4. Fond Doux Plantation – we were the only people on the 12pm tour so it was excellent. The snacks was a good deal since the snacks (egg, fruit, melted cheese on bread, small portions of fried fish, carrot/celery sticks) made a great lunch. 5. Tet Paul Nature Trail- nice view, about 45 minutes with guide (mandatory) but couldn’t really go at slower pace, and look at what interest us because group of 4, other couple went first. Few notes for folks w/out cars: We walked to center in about 30 minutes, taking road to the right (towards the town). There is a short cut after the soccer field & in ventured school buildings, you will see people coming and going. With uphill maybe 45-40 minutes back. (At the intersection, just before the playing field, on the north side of the street that merges at small grocery/beverage shop + bakery next door (6:00am-9:00pm) Biggest Supermarket is Eroline (on google map) near church in town center, also another bakery on east side of the street near church. We picked up fish burgers in bakery for lunch several days. We didn’t know how to tell taxi driver how to get to Sapphire 3 so got dropped off at end of soccer field (our choice) So asked Janus what address/directions to give the driver. Also really enjoyed cooking most of our meals – trying new to us foods and mixing with locals in grocery store (most friendly and helpful). The kitchen had the basic equipment, so with a little creativity , could do most of what I wanted to do. Thanks for opportunity to ‘’live’’ as well as visit sites in Soufriere Veta & Mark Great dinner spot go before Sun set to take in the views and watch the sun set over the ocean.1/1/2017
Our first night here we walked down to Pier 28 for Food & Drinks- daiquiris are amazing! Our next day was spent hiking the Piton. Highly recommended but is a tough hike.
Day 2 we went zip lining with tree top adventures. Absolutely a must-do tour. 12 zip lines with amazing view and the staff is absolutely, helpful and accommodating. Our guide took one of our phones and took pictures and videos of us on the zip lines. We also stopped at la-tille Waterfall on the way back. Very cute spot (and cheap, 10 EC each) With pretty waterfall and a pond you can stick your feet in and get a pedicure form the fishes Sugar Beach is another must see. About a 10minute drive from here and it free to take a shuttle down to the beach. Amazing snorkeling and views. You have to buy at least one drink to get a shuttle back to your car… save your receipt. Mango Tree Restaurant is a great dinner spot go before Sun set to take in the views and watch the sun set over the ocean. Zoe & Patrick Thanks Janus for the tip on the Soufriere Area- If you’re reading this you likely have already received a welcome hug from him and a tour of the apartment.
Some tips, things we learned and did during our stay. -The road to the apt is rough but it is part of the adventure. We wrote down backwards directions in our phone with landmark, and these were our guidelines on every trip: Yellow House, Fedo’s and Ruby’s Downtown Soufriere: definitely a local spot but there’s a good supermarket for essentials and its worth a drive through Anse Chastanet: We drove to the beach here- crazy roads but basically a private beach once you’re there. Bring a big sheet to sit on. Burgers, sandwiches, beers=usd 50+… but decent Botanical Gardens: Nice walk through on an off- beach day, but not spectacular. Sugar Beach: AMAZING BEACH!!! Free spots to the right, but get there early, it’s a luxury resort + prices reflect that but you’ll be glad you made the trip. Martha’s Tables: Cute local restaurant near Sugar Beach. Good Food + cheap for lunch. * Directions- connect to wifi here, find the directions and just follow the map. It will work without cellular. Piton Warm Mineral Falls + Mud bath: Not a touristy spot but on the road near Sugar beach/Martha’s Tables and Nelson there showed us a good time. Lots of locals and out of the ordinary but it was cool. Thanks to Janus for the Blackberry + taking our questions. HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY!! XOXO Jamie & Tamir Janus is the best host. Always answers questions right way, very helpful. Sugar Beach is amazing and Beautiful, Anse Chstanet is another must! The Sulphur Bath is totally worth the visit, open- 9:00am to 5:00pm. Go early to beat the crowd.
For a water taxi, call Aaron ‘’ERIN” +1 758 384-5748. He is fair and great. Tell him Alaska Chris sent you. For taxi call Aaron & ask for friend that is a driver. Thanx Janus for the Most Amazing place to stay. The Alaska’s Ashley & Chris Thank you Janus, for letting us stay and being quite helpful
Some things we did I really enjoyed & why: Sugar Beach: Beautiful & Picturesque. One side or the beach is very rocky (right side) but this is where you snorkel. Other side is Sandy and just gorgeous. We got a drink there (U.S$15) and had a shuttle there and back. Nice staff. Gros Piton Hike: 5 hour hike…Actually quite hard. My sister doesn’t like hiking so she hated it, but I loved it except I had Nikes so coming down was very hard. Water fall: cool & refreshing (U.S$3) Mud bath: awesome & very relaxing (U.S$5.50) Place was lovely and our stay was excellent The sisters Dec.2016 Day 2: First full day in town- came in the night before, as per email from Janus, we stopped off @ Massey for groceries & Supplies. Janus was wonderful, gave us directions & met us to show the stretch to the apartment. What an amazing view! Coffee + BF on the balcony, what an amazing view!
Packed up gear and headed to Anse Chastanet, what a drive! Roads were tricky so be careful. Pay Attention! Wonderful day @ Jade Mountain beach , snorkeled for a few hours, amazing! Then lunch at the beach bar. Jerk pork, callalou + crab soup was delicious. Recommend the snorkeling here! We walked over to Anse Mamin Beach. Water was a bit more choppy; snorkeling was not as good there! Heard the burger there is the best but we left our $$ in the car , lunch for another day. Dinner at Ruby’s was ok. Day 3: Sulphur Springs – Go early when they open you will have the place all to yourself! Was wonderful! Did the Tet Paul Nature Trail. Lunch @ Dasheene Ladera – view is absolutely breathtaking, better than view for Boucan. An absolute must if you can! Sugar Beach : walk down was long! View is amazing! Got the chairs close to the Piton where you snokel- those are FREE! Snorkeled, watched the sun almost go down while sipping a Piton Beer @ the beach bar! We did that so we could get a ride Back up the hill. Dinner & Drinks at Boucan. Food was amazing! Day 4: Drove from here to Castries, stopped along the way @ a few places, went to Pigeon Point, climbed up to the front – Do it!, view is amazing! When we came back down we found out Prince Harry was visiting so stuck around to see him . Had a swim after, walked over to Sandals, on the way back, stopped off @ Rodney Bay, Reduit Beach, drove through down town Castries – back to the apartment. Day 5: BF @home, then went down to the town to check the market. Was OK. Not much of a selection. Pay Attention to cost and what is charged, we got charged for 8 coconuts when the vendor only cut 6! Not much in the Bakery, was a bit disappointed . Lunch at Fedos Spend the afternoon at the beach Anse Chastanet. Day 6: trip into town for supplies, it’s Sunday so lots of stores closed. Visited Torille waterfall. U.S $3.00. Lunch at Marie’s next to Botanical Gardens was good, Local goat buffet. U.S $15.00. Spent afternoon @ local beach, opposite Sugar Beach, really quiet not a lot of people, a but rocky but calm waters. Day 7 : Woke up to rain! Lots of rain! Weather forecast says it would rain all day!. Plan to have lunch at Fedo’s, took a trip to the beach – Sugar Beach, water was a bit rough- due to rain. Dinner @ Mango Tree- Stonefield Resort, food was ok. Day 8: Back Home Thank you Janus for your help during our stay. Paddy & John Thank you, Janus for the wonderful time here in Soufriere!
Janus picked us up in the town to bring us to the beautiful apartment with its amazing view, the balcony is the best place for dinners! The well-equipped kitchen was very helpful for this . We had only a short stay (2 days). Nevertheless, we saw some attractions: 1. Botanical Gardens & Waterfall (nice) 2. Gros Piton – funny climbing, take enough water with you. It was great that there was the possibility to call Janus if you had any questions! Now we are flying back to Germany Thank you, Coco & Patrick P.S :Maybe we will meet each other on a German Autobahn one day! Janus :) First off, Janus has been amazing since the moment I clicked reserved on Airbnb. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Eating: We made breakfast here every day because it’s the off-season and nothing is open. Restaurants close early (8:00pm). Soufriere Area Pitit Peak: Good food, nice location and good service. Hamming bird: Not where google map says. Food was ok but not worth the cost. Nice view but slow service. Boucan by Hotel Chocolat: Seriously thinking of coming back solely for their food. I’m not a fan of chocolate so I wasn’t excited, but the food blew me away. Worth every penny. Go before sunset as the restaurant will have a perfect view over the pitons. Service was great and there’s honestly not a bad thing to say. Pier 28: Americanized menu, slow service (1 ½ hour) and orders were off. Food was so-so. Anse Chastanet Beach Bar: $50.00 for a burger, roti and a soda. It was good but not $50.00 good. Castries Area Cheff Robby’s: Great view, food and service, prices were decent to. Reduit Beach Bar: (Bar by inflatable obstacles): Ok food, slow service, great view. Our first day we went to Castries. Roads are crazy! But drivable. We hit up the duty-free shops. Not really, much there in way of tourism but a huge city. The market looked neat but we did not have the time to stop. We did Sulphur Springs, Botanical Gardens and Volcano Baths Garden Springs: About $38 for 2 people. Pretty and relaxing, Flowers we not in season but I’d still recommend. Volcano Bath: Smell is terrible, but amazing experience , definitely worth checking both out. Gros-Islet Wit-Bit Aquatic Park: U.S $13 per person for 1 hr, more than enough time and seriously fun for all. We quickly found children can manage it better. We’re both military and struggle but it was a blast. Comparable to the show ‘WIPE OUT’ definitely would go again. Pigeon Island: Very Nice. U.S $7.00 and a very quiet walk that ends with and incredible view that extends to Martinique,. Quiet, private beach and history and jumped in. Definitely worth a trip. Rodney Bay Mall: Very Large compared to the other shopping areas. A lot of more American restaurants and a few duty free stores Gros Piton: U.S $35.00 per person. Hydrate. Pay before and bring at least 2 bottles of cold water. Tough but definitely worth the view. Beaches Anse Chastanet -Rocky beach but easy to get to by car! Just a dicey road, Pay attention for other drivers. We rented snorkeling gear (U.S $22.00 for both) and we weren’t disappointed. Very calm waters and probably my favorite. Sugar Beach – about a 10 minute walk from an incredibly ridiculous hill for a ‘white’ sandy beach to pay U.S $50.00 for 1 beach chair that we didn’t use. Water was nice and sand was better than the rocks. We found out after we paid for the chairs that there were complementary ones to the right by the rental shop. You can get a ride back up the hill on the ‘trolley’. Reduit Beach – Busy beach but very calm and nice. Only down side was no rinse off station. There was a lot of water activities offered. Clear sandy water. Water Taxi – we used ‘feel good’ our last day. The water was rough and it didn’t make for a good snorkeling day. About U.S $160.00, good experience. I hope you find our notes helpful! We wish we could stay here forever! This has been one of the best experience ever! We recommend downloading directions on your phone, but after a few times driving you shouldn’t need it.
Have fun!! Ricky & Bethany P.S – Thanks again for everything Janus! |
WEATHER IN SAINT LUCIA
While most places in the world have four well-defined seasons, its proximity to the equator means that this is not really the case for the island of St. Lucia. Archives
February 2020
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