St. Lucia Vacation in May - Advice Please

[Drifter136]

My wife and I are booked to stay at the Sandals Regency La Toc on St. Lucia in May. This will be our first trip to the Caribbean. For those that have traveled to St. Lucia, what are your recommendations. Any must-see / must-do activities? My wife is not certified, so I am especially interested in great snorkel spots. For me, what dive adventures do you suggest? Recommendations for both above and below water please. Thank you!

(Cross-posted on Scubaboard and ScubaToys Forums)

 

[mikeycanuk]

St Lucia is stunningly beautiful. However that beauty comes with a price. The volcanic natures of the islands leaves the roads a twisty turny mess of steep inclines and declines. So travel time is HUGE. To go hike the Pitons or do a waterfall hike plan on getting up at 6am and back by 6pm, the waterfall will be less time. We used scubasteve for an afternoon snorkel trip and it was a mix of divers/snorkellers (we didn't dive then). Would do that for sure. The zipline was a must do as well.

We had fun at the Sat. fruit and veg market as we had a villa over at Windjammer

 

[drrich2]

On a cruise ship stop, my wife & I did a rainforest tour to a waterfall, with a stop off at a banana planation. Beautiful lush vegetation; not much animal life. Wear shoes that give you secure footing; you can slide around on damp/wet rocks and could turn an ankle fairly easily.

On another cruise ship stop, did a scuba excursion with Scuba Steve's; my quick St. Lucia trip report. Enjoyed it.

DAN's Alert Diver Online version of the magazine has a recent article on diving St. Lucia called Estale.

Richard.

 

[ColoDale]

We stayed there twice. First on our honeymoon and was my first diving trip but not my wife's so I had little idea what I was doing. We went back 10 years later so I could better appreciate the dive sites. The first trip we paid one of the guys who worked at the hotel to take use around on one of his off days - in a taxi van. Nice guy too. We a bit of site seeing and did go into town. Note that this is not a sevice by the hotel. We just talked to him alot and he offered. We also went to the duty free area for cruise ships when the cruise ships weren't there (good idea). At that time we were able to haggle quite a bit but it's been almost 20 years. The second trip I did more diving (no site seeing - I have my priorities now) and the best sites are south by the Pitons.

There are quite a few discussions in this forum (Lesser Antilles) on the hotel, island and diving (and diving with Sandals which is not my preference but I have done it). I would search on Sandals and/or St. Lucia - you'll get quite a bit.

Check which airport you are using. George Charles airport near Castries is close to where you are staying. The other (and I think larger) is on the south end (Fort Vieux) and is a long drive to the hotel.

 

[Kmart4321]

Dove with Scuba Steve in Feb. 2 tank trip to the Pitons. 6 divers, 3 guides. A husband and wife also on board were snorkelling while we were diving. Spoke with them on way back to town and enjoyed the experience.
Clean professional operation and I would recommend.
The homemade finger sandwiches during the surface interval were DELISH