When we originally booked our trip to Saint Lucia, it was honestly on a bit of a whim. I'd somehow stumbled across an incredible deal that was just too good to miss out on and so we just booked it without another thought about what we wanted to do there. Of course, I knew about the mountains and the beautiful rainforests but other than that, neither Debs or I had a clue about what else there was to see in this small Caribbean island.
Luckily for us, we have a friend Katy who we had met years back in Mexico, who has an undeniable love for this particular island. We reached out to her and told her our plans to see her favourite place in the world and were delighted to find out that she had booked Saint Lucia too and ever better, our dates matched!! As our Katy lives in Canada, it isn't often we get a chance to see her so the fact that we'd somehow managed to book our trips separately, for the same dates was a real result.
As Katy has been to this island many times, she knows the island very well, she knew exactly where we should go and what we should see and as an added bonus, she has a friend who is a Saint Lucian native, who agreed to give us a private full day tour of one of the Caribbeans most beautiful islands.
After having picked us up at our hotel and everyone getting to know each other a little better, we set off for our day of exploration. Our initial roadside stop was at a viewpoint overlooking Port Castries, Saint Lucia's main port for incoming cruise liners and ships. This viewpoint also gave us a fantastic outlook with breathtaking views of the island's surroundings - just beautiful!
On the way to our next stop, we drove through some of the islands banana plantations and saw miles and miles of bright green fruit trees - a really interesting thing to see for someone who lives in a place that struggles to grow any kind of tropical fruits.
Next up on the tour, we hit the Tet Paul Nature Trail, which provides some of the most outstanding views of the island's infamous Pitons. We opted to do the short hike, which probably took less than an hour to complete and were lucky enough to have had one of the owners show us around. Our guide explained that his family had lived here on this particular trail for generations and it was now his turn to manage the land. If you're going to do any kind of hiking and want to see the mountains up close, we'd highly recommend taking this tour.
En route to our next stop, we drove through the town of Soufriere, a vibrant and diverse village lined with colourful buildings and bustling activity. If you get a chance, definitely venture into this gorgeous village to explore some real Saint Lucian culture and lifestyle.
After cruising through the streets of Soufreire, it was time to brace ourselves for a dip in one of Saint Lucia's stunning waterfalls. Gotta admit, it was mind-blowing for me as i’d never been near, let alone IN a waterfall. The water was a bit chilly, but totally worth every shiver. If you've never done it and you get the chance, please find time to venture out of your resort whilst in Saint Lucia to take in one of the waterfalls.
(Toraille Waterfall - Please enjoy this photo. It's literally one of the only one's we got as we either couldn't stop laughing, kept falling over or being sprayed by ice cold water! :'))
After a very fresh, very loud experience at the falls our next stop was to the Super Springs: a place where thousands of people travel from all over the world to see each year. Here, you can soak and unwind in the natural black water pools and take in the views of the volcano. The water’s naturally heated by the volcano, and before you hop into the pools, you’re advised to literally cover yourself in the volcanic mud, which helps to exfoliate and rejuvenate your skin. The waters here are said to have healing power. From sunburn to arthritis, the sulphur springs are said to fully heal and detoxify your body.
If you can only do one thing whilst you're in Saint Lucia, I'd say this should be it. We had a great time in the baths and I would 100% do it all over again.
*Warning: if you didn't gather by the name, the springs have an overwhelming sulphuric smell, which basically smells like 100,000 rotten eggs. Honestly, when you get there it's pretty ripe but you'll soon get used to it and the mud pools are undoubtably worth it.
We’d already had an incredible day, but Katy had one final gem she wanted us to experience. Anse Chastanet is a very special and unique place on the island. To get there, you'll need to drive down a dirt track road at around 5 miles per hour which is painfully slow, but honestly its totally worth it. The views along the way are just incredible and once you get there, you'll be greeted by one of the most beautiful black sand beaches on the island. The sea colour here seems incredibly rich and different to other beaches in the area, and the beach is engulfed by lush tropical greenery from edge to edge.
We stayed here until almost sunset, dipping our toes into the water and just taking in the stunning surroundings that engulfed us. Pure magic.
Our day concluded with a drive through the mountains to get back to our resort, and although we saw an incredible amount in one day, there's still so much to discover on this beautiful island. I've compiled a little list of things we'd like to do next time, but can't provide a personal experience of these activities just yet. All I can say is that I'm sure whatever you do whilst in Saint Lucia, you certainly won't be disappointed.
Happy Travels!
Becca x
Our 'Next Time' list:
Project Chocolat by Hotel Chocolat
Diamond Falls
Rainforest zip-lines
Pigeon Island
Gros Islet street party
Balenbouche Heritage Site
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