The best of Saint Lucia

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I was chatting with someone the other day about living in New York City and how it affects the types of vacations I take: the constant chaos of the city leaves me craving something calmer, which is why I end up in the Caribbean so often. Bonus points that it’s fairly convenient, with plenty of direct flights to beaches, palm trees and pina coladas that are under five hours.

And when it came to a honeymoon, we felt pretty strongly about going somewhere to R-E-L-A-X, not explore (even if our wedding planning wasn’t uber stressful). And although I had a lifelong daydream of overwater huts on a sparkling turquoise sea, we also didn’t want to spend oodles of time on a plane or money on a flight halfway around the world. And so: back we went to the Caribbean! We opted to spend the first three days in Saint Lucia: a glorious stint where I turned my out-of-office AND out-of-blogging-office reply on. Although part of the joy of that vacation was that I didn’t want to feel obligated to blog about it–aka I didn’t take a million photos and I wasn’t working with any partners–we did have a lovely time and I did want to share a few things from our time there!

A few top-line takeaways from Saint Lucia: it’s naturally stunning, and it’s inclined to be luxurious (aka: it’s not cheap and it’s hard to find affordable options). The island itself isn’t enormous, but because of the hilly terrain and dramatically winding roads, it takes a while to get anywhere. Taxis are expensive and not metered, but kind of a necessity if you want to leave the resort (note: we still have PTSD about renting a car after our experience in the Dominican Republic). We organized an airport transfer before we arrived, which I’m glad we did–the hustle at the airport arrivals gate is real and a little overwhelming. We used the same company for a ride to the ferry terminal, and we were happy with the service both times (and it cost less than the hotel quoted for the same rides). There’s a definite laid-back Caribbean vibe: I saw a water taxi named “patience is key!” (which didn’t seem like a taxi concept that would fly in New York City) and I overheard a man saying in…

We stayed at the Stonefield Resort: it’s not cheap, but it’s by no means the most exorbitant option on the island. For a honeymoon, it’s pretty great: we had our own little villa with plunge pool, a view of the ocean and the pitons, a hammock on our patio and an outdoor shower. There’s a great little restaurant on site: we opted for complimentary breakfast within our package, and it was great.

I had the Caribbean pancakes with banana and cinnamon and a big bowl of fresh fruit very morning overlooking the ocean, which was one of my favorite parts of our stay! The two things I would say: there’s a BBQ every Thursday night that is grossly overpriced for what it is (we landed on Thursday night, so I feel like we just sort of got ushered in because we were hungry and didn’t know what the options were)–I would not recommend. And I would double-check your bill (I noticed we were overcharged a few dollars here and a few dollars there on our last day, and no one seemed very surprised or apologetic when we brought it up–which was concerning).

One huge perk: there’s a free shuttle down to Sugar Beach a few times a day! Sugar Beach is one of the super hoity-toity resorts on the island that’s located right on the beach, and it has a gorgeous private cove. There’s a little public beach with free basic chaise lounges where we set up. Definitely go early: it’s a popular stop for snorkeling boats, so a lot of people are coming in and out throughout the day. And bring cash–we didn’t, and we totally missed out on fresh smoothies and a cheap local lunch! You can also pay for a fancy chaise lounge and private beach access (and a nice lunch) over at Sugar Beach if you feel like splurging.

There’s another beach that’s about a 15-minute walk straight down from Stonefield: we basically had the entire beach to ourselves, other than a few horse friends who trotted by for a swim!

We walked a bit past the beach to go to Piton Falls, a warm water waterfall with a little setup of pools at the bottom. It only costs about $3 to enter, and it’s not too fancy–but we had the whole thing to ourselves!

We also stopped by Sulphur Springs on our way to the ferry station the day that we left–so we didn’t have a ton of time to hang out, but we still wanted to check it out. We were both really surprised by how smooth our skin felt after making our little homemade mask and enjoying a dip in the mud pools. It smells like a giant rotten egg when you arrive, but I was surprised by how quickly we got used to it! It costs about $5 to enter, and we had a great time–highly recommend.

Soufriere from the other side! I love this view of the double pitons. The view out the car window on the way from Stonefield to the ferry depot in Castries–so many colorful houses and characters to spot!