Jag Edwards, Scottsdale, AZ
Thank you Janus for your AMAZING hospitality!!! Sapphire Apartments are very well appointed and was a nice ‘’HOME AWAY FROM HOME’’ Airport Transfer and grocery shopping with Kirhil was greatly appreciated!!! He was Professional, friendly, Knowledgeable and most humble and gracious. Ramiah also took good care of bringing my sister from the Airport and Elma was so efficient in her response to our emails. WHAT A PHENOMENAL TEAM YOU HAVE!!!! It was a relaxing few days! Balcony & Views were most enjoyable. We look forward to visiting again soon! In the meantime, we wish for you, your family, your team, much success!!! God’s richest Blessings to you all!! ‘’Jag Edwards Rob bell & Katherine from Canada
Arrived exhausted thanks to much help from Islander car rentals and advice from Janus (stop at grocery store coming out fast) with the pedestrian we navigated our little rental 4x4 down the rutted path past the house with the basement under construction and goats ( now known as goat corner over the narrowest culvert imaginable and onto the road past the school turning at the first department over the bridge into downtown. We had an excellent fish dinner (red snapper ron) and creole food (chicken. K) at Pitit Peak before collapsing in the A/C at Sapphire! Next day we tested our snorkels at the beach and enjoyed lunch & a shower at Hummingbird and Dinner at Ruby’s No Pizza Thou! Our day at Sugar Beach was Terrific- so lovely between the Gros Piton & Pitit Piton. Spectacular drive and waves. Good snorkeling in the small area and a side right hand of the beach. A wonderful but pricey lunch at the restaurant. Lovely service, great help with my lactose intolerance including a custom made dessert. On the way back, a highlight of the day was our walk through the forest with an excellent guide – pointing out trees and fruits and the warm waterfall on the road down from Sugar Beach. A great experience. Another highlight was dinner at Mango tree restaurant. Stunning views of the Pitons and Ocean. Excellent food. Head to Zakas coffee shop for the coffee and breakfast (quite good) and buying fruit from street vendors on the way back, which contributed to a late afternoon tropical fruit salad. We went to the Beautiful botanical gardens with their splendid flowers and hummingbirds. We passed the pools though as if was crowded and watched for our mountain waterfall plunge of a few days before. As we left my sister tapped Katherine on the Shoulder. She and her Husband are staying up for a month and just ran into us!!! We all went on up the mountain for lunch at Mourne Coubaril. Great view of Soufriere Bay and we can see Sapphire from there. We found some things we wanted at the Shop. Off on the road to the north and went for another swim at Hummingbird beach! On our return to Town, we stopped for a quick swim near hummingbird and as we left great shouts of ‘’Allez, Allez’’ we looked over and saw splashes in the water which we learned before meant tuna. The tuna had come in close to shore, meaning the local fishermen, who had been watching for several days as the school approached ever ready for the catch. All the small boats (including time to talk, our water taxi) gathered their men dove in, not ever spreading around and crowds gathered to pull, pull, pull on the Nots from where we were across to the little Pier. Nor stuck, divers (scuba) freed them- it was very exciting , a large community effort- and were the fishes there still??? It was hard to tell but yes they were- hundreds of small tuna, splashing, struggling in the nets flashing silver.Amazing to see! S watch out for splashing in the bay!! Tuesday (Halloween) we took a water taxi to Anse Chastanet. Snorkeling was better – coral really interesting and alive as the fav end of the beach for them from local frattic . Chairs & umbrella rented for the day 33usd. But it was good to have a base and shade. Amazing view of Pitit Piton on the way back in the boat. Tried again for Pizza at Ruby’s – no flour till Thursday so it will not happen. Landed at Hammingbird again. This time we were the only people at the restaurant. Most night we were the only ones there or maybe were one or two other people and had a wonderful meal. Their creole sauce is much lighter than others and the rice-corn -potato side dish was really good. If you are there check out the Gallery of Datiks made by the owner his son (the whole place is a family business) Fish Parrots, Pitons – lovely designs, all sizes, colorful, beautiful. Wednesday- our last full day was full of surprises and amazing finds. When we came back from Anse Chastanet we discovered we had lost the key to Sapphire 1, but Janus came right over and gave us his spare when we called him. Janus thought the nearest key cutting service was vieux Fort but today we found someone who cut keys only 3 doors down from the hardware store. It sells dresses at the front and motor oil and keys at the back. From Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sapphire Apt. is the perfect place to feel at home in St. Lucia. It is a well, appointed with everything you need to relax and enjoy your vacation. We loved the balcony and lovely Piton, town and ocean views Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens and hot springs were delightful, we had the private bath for 2. The spring water is really hot, so they also have a cold water tap so you can adjust the temperature to your comfort. The provided gourds you fill with water to cool your head and face while soaking. The private baths are in the restored French source built in 1700’s. Napoleon’s Wife Josephine once lived there when her father owned it. Such rich and fascinating history here! We enjoyed Sugar Beach, soft sand and warm waters. The beach bar has many comfy chairs and a few hammocks to enjoy while listening to Caribbean music and the waves lapping the shore. We travelled to Vieux Fort and Micoud and saltibus. The road to Micoud is very nice. Thanx Janus and Marcus Day 1 – Tet Paul Nature Trail: great views of the Pitons, easy hike. The guides were busy when we got there so we went on our own. $10 USD per person. -Sugar Beach: Amazing View and good cocktails on the beach. Told the Security we were heading for the restaurant and the shuttles us from Guest parking. Drinks -$14. Be warned that the road dips towards the beach and back up the mountain before you get to the resort (we accidentally did some off roading on our way) Day 2 -Ziplining at Treetop Adventure Park (adventure tours St. Lucia) : This was so much fun! Since we have a car we drove the ½ hour drive and arrived around 11am. They were able to find our online reservation easily. Two guides took us up on the lines and were super friendly. The also took tons of Photos and videos for us on one of our phones. $59 usd per person. Glad we went alone because a huge tour group arrived as we were leaving! -Hotel Chocolat : made dinner reservation dinner here during sunset. Restaurant begins dinner at 6, but we arrived a little earlier for drinks. Dinner was delicious. The brought us out bready with different butters/dipping sauces as well as a creamy onion soup before our main meals. Allie had the Ribeye and Michael had the jerk pork. We loved it! Afterwards we split the chocolate lava cake. Everything was so fresh and the chocolate always enhanced the flavors. The view was also just incredible. Very Romantic. Day 3 -Fond Doux Plantation Heritage Tour: it was pretty neat to see all the different plants, flowers and fruits growing on the island and even tried a few straight off the tree. We did tour and snacks for $20USD per person and the snack were enough to full us up! They gave us a platter of fresh fruits (pineapple, watermelon, starfruits, bbq rib, cake, bread etc. etc to try. Very yummy!! -Anse Chastanet Beach- a little more crowded than we were expecting. We split a burger that has avocado, pineapple, jalepenos, onions, lettuce, tomato on it. Was alright. Definitely over-priced. The Bartenders made me a really delicious cocktail that I drank right out of the coconut! -Anse Mamin Beach – no one was there! It was so nice to have the beach to ourselves! Quick little walk from Anse Chastanet Beach. -Jade Mountain – Make reservations! We were just going up for drinks and sunset but they expected reservations. Luckily they were able to call up and we were able to get in! The view was the absolute best view of our trip. And was that much better at sunset. Drinks were the same prices as they were on the beach. $14. Wear your best and go. Must do! Day 4 Snorkeling @ Anse Chastanet- renting snorkeling gears was $11 per person for 1 hour for the scuba shop on the beach. Make sure you bring enough cash to put a $50 deposit on each set of snorkeling geards you rent. It was nice to see all the different typed of tropical fish. -Anse Mamin – we walked down to Anse Mamin where we found a shady sport to hang our hammocks and nap/read. Nice and breezy! -Sulphur Springs and Mud Baths- it was pretty crowded with a loud tour group when we went around 3:30pm. Know that you can/should put the mud on yourself if you go. A tour guide may try to do this for you and will want a tip. Be sure to use the light colored mud. The black mud we were told, it is used only for decoration and will stain, be hard to wash off. Mud baths was an experience -Sugar beach – We returned to enjoy the beautiful sunset between the Pitons. Well worth it! Thank you, Janus, Fabian and team for a wonderful week! We had so much fun on our honeymoon and will fondly remember our time in St. Lucia! Love Allie & Michael Loved every minute. Sapphire one is the perfect nest for relaxing after a long day of exploring.3/24/2017
Matt & Rose: Montreal, Quebec
We only spent two days in Soufriere but loved every minute. Sapphire one is the perfect nest for relaxing after a long day of exploring. Thanks to Janus and his team for an incredible stay. Day 1: Make sure you explore the beautiful town on feet earlier on, act acclimated with your surroundings. Amazing sunset at waterfront, bite to eat at Martha’s Kitchen (church or bridge street) for budget local cuisine. Amazing smoothies and coffee at ZAKA’s Art and Café. We picked up groceries on church street and had a romantic home-cooked dinner on Sapphire Terrace. Tourists restaurants are expensive so this is a great way to save some bucks. Day 2: Anse Mamin Beach … WOW!!! (best beach we’ve been to (I’ve spent 3 days up north) secluded + quiet + picture que (right by the jungle) Relax with the sound of birds chirping, total paradise. Bring lunch, snacks and water to save money. The Burger Bar looks great but pricey $20 USD. As you can tell we are travelers having a great time on a budget 😊 We Taxied up but hitchhiked back (easy peasy) Amazing Stay, Thank you Janus Mike & Casiha - Cincinnati, Ohio
What spectacular views! Janus has been kinds the whole trip and quickly answered any question we had. We were here for 10 days ans the last 4 days we rented a car. Worth every penny! If you are staying a while connect w/ Janus on having one delivered. A cup of coffee on the balcony is worth every morning view and the evening sunset is spectacular. Walking down into the City ''Skippers'' is a great affordable lunch with many options. If you are a coffee snob ''ZAKA's Art Cafe'' had great iced coffee, they also have delicious smoothies. One of our favorite dinners just down the road is 'Ruby's' Incredible Pizza's! It took us a few days of attempted Pizza runs to make sure we stopped in ahead to make sure pizza would be available (usually after spin- as it takes 4 hours to heat up the oven). Beaches: Our personal favorite was Sugar Beach, if we had a car earlier we would have made a daily visit. Getting a taxi was $40 just to visit Sugar Beach and that adds up quickly. As long as you have a receipt for food or drinks you can take a shuttle down the hill to the beach. The food there was delicious but pricey and it's quoted in USD, keep that in mind. We also visited Anse Chastanet Beach, it was much cheaper to rent a chair + hat ($33 USD) on the far left side. The views were not quite stunning and the ride over Soufriere was incredibly rocky and steep, and give yourself extra fire when driving over there and i would recommend not venturing out after Dark or be cautious. Hotel Chocolat: we made reservation for 6 pm dinner the following Monday. We were here and the Sunset View was amazing, worth visiting even if its just for drinks and desert. The Chocolat Lava cake was incredible and the Salted Caramel drink is pretty amazing. The Sulphur Mud Baths was a must, we were recommended to go in the evening, it wasn’t as crowded and less hot, however if you want the mud to dry on you best to go when the sun is shining brightly. We were content to enjoy the bath without the mud. A nice a comfortable lunch you can walk to is ''Fedos'' delicous ham, egg and cheese Sandwich!!! Over all incredible trip! We loved the views and :) Very glad we brought our selfie stick! Capture every day and moment by a quick snapshot! The Rawks :) Due to airline scheduling we arrived a day earlier. We stayed at Downtown Hotel. Janus arranged pick-up from there
to Sapphire 1. He has looked after our need ever since, has made the stay very easy. Tour arrangements at your finger tips. Have done the beaches in the area, Anse Mamin is our favorite, however do enjoy the smoothies (soursop) on Sugar Beach. Sulphur Springs and mud baths. Enjoyed the mud bath, Pam found it drying. Water is pretty hot! volcano tour is misable However, you are there so why not! (We only used the light-colored mud!) Walked to the waterfalls in th area. Diamond Falls & Botanical Gardens was Very enjoyable. Nice way to spend a couple of hours one day. Fond Doux Plantation Tour was also very nice, we did tour & snacks (snacks were good)- another very nice, late morning activity - then hit the beach. (for a quick swim at the beach we used Hammingbird beach few times - it worked well, but not a 'beach day' place though). I dove six times while here, Action Adventures diving with Chester. Small stop at Hammingbird Beach (+1-758-485-1317). I highly recommend him especially if you are experience. Of my dives here my Favorite was 'Super Man's Flight 'Fairyland' All dives are no more than 20-25 meters. Get used to the islands pace, don't arrive to early or you will spend some time waiting. RELAX!!! Restaurants - Ruby's just down the hill, we ate there on several occasions. FEB.14 - a wonderful 5 course 'Valentines Dinner'. Their pizza's is also good. Pitit Peak - downtown waterfront, also serves us a very nice catch of the day dinner. Mango Tree @ Stonefield -we recommend a visit there, good lunch , fantastic view and Surroundings. ZAKA's - Coffee & Breakfast - Art shop unique and enjoyable (grow theur own coffee beans) Do our grocery shops at the grocery store on Church Street. It did the trick, also used a butcher shop down the street Had lion fish (fresh), caught while diving, the only fresh fish we had Rented a car for our last week and traveled the island. Enjoyed Pigeon Island and its History. Had to get directions to find it. We believe we picked the right area on the island to stay in. Janus and his crew were very helpful and enjoyable to work with. A great Stay Janus Robin & Pamela This was a last second weekend trip we decided to do with our Delta employee benefits. Expectations immediately blown out of the water. Janus and his crew welcomed us with open arms and were extremely accommodating.
We came with an idea of what we wanted to do (Pitons, Volcano, Waterfall, etc. ) and Janus said no more and within minutes had us set up with a full tour and private driver for a very reasonable price. We will spend our first night in the city for dinner and bars, and will leave the following evening after our tour. Thanks to Janus for hooking us up. Definitely recommend to friends. Thanks a ton! Matt & Chase My stay In St. Lucia was pretty short but really lovely. Janus was a great host and Kirhil and Fabian were really great too! Highlight for me were the Fond Doux Plantation tour and also the Tet Paul Nature Trail.
Fabian recommended some great food spots (Fedo’s, Whispers BBQ, Hummingbird Resort) and Kirhil gave me some great insights into local life here in Soufriere. My stay was too short but ill def be back and be booting with Janus when I come back. Thanks! Rashida Thank you, Janus for a very happy and relaxing week here. We didn’t hire a car so we walked everywhere and hired a taxi one day.
The highlight of each day was watching the Sun Set from our patio. We really enjoyed our walk, up Gros Piton. Janus arranged the tour for us. All the guys that work for Janus are great. We got dropped off at sugar beach en route home. The return to Soufriere via water taxi (USD 30) was a highlight though for sure. We enjoyed buffet lunch at Hummingbird on the beach and the restaurant by the botanical gardens; we enjoyed our private mineral bath there. We found the walk to Anse chastanet Challenging, we probably should have treated ourselves with a water taxi. But it was much more welcoming than Sugar Beach. We splashed out a fabulous lunch. We loved hanging around Soufriere. We also enjoyed the local Pizzeria Ruby’s. Good food plus great music (not live). Very Friendly Staff. But that’s the least about S.L -The friendliness it’s people Jill + Bill Fort Augustus, Scotland |
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
March 2020
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