Ginger Travels :: St. Lucian Vacation

It has been two long years since my husband, Wes and I were able to take a real vacation. For me, it felt like an eternity. We finally decided to take a last minute much needed trip to St. Lucia. And I was so thrilled with the location. We had such a wonderful time, and I feel like we were actually able to experience some of the culture even though we stayed at a resort.

If you are wondering where St. Lucia is, it is one of the Caribbean islands way, way down by Barbados closer to South America. It was a 10 hour flight for us (2 five hour flights to be exact), but it was worth the travel.

Upon arrival, we took about an hour and twenty minute windy ride to our resort (I did not know there was a helicopter option...if you get car sick, you might want to consider this route). It was however a beautiful drive -- very lush, we stopped and saw some cashew fruit trees along the side of the road, passed through a few small towns and the port where all of the cruise ships come in.

Sandals La Toc

We decided to stay at the Sandals Regency La Toc (which in my mind I had always kind of decided that I would never stay at one because it seemed too commercial, but actually it was quite delightful). The resort is beautifully nestled in the hillside with various levels. We were greeted with cool towels and the island favorite, rum punch. Very sweet, but oh-so-delicious. Wes and I immediately took part in the "all-inclusive" and indulged in some pub food while we waited for our room. Wings, fries, and other deep fried goodies. (Side note: I am a gluten free individual who is border line Celiac. My doctor told me that if I were to go abroad that she would guess eating the local food gluten and all, would not bother me. And she was RIGHT! This to me is further evidence of the disgusting way our food is processed. Shame on us! BUT this is a whole different story for a different day.) Once I realized I could indulge in all the goodies, it was game on! (I am sure I gained at least 10 pounds, because I sure ate a lot.)

View from our room

Our room was perfectly located near the pool and overlooking the ocean with a walk out patio. Our patio ended up being among my favorite places to be. Morning coffee and evening wine were enjoyed by looking out at the gorgeous views.

During the course of our trip, we spent time hanging by the pool and beach sipping on various cocktails (rum punch included), playing volleyball (my favorite), bocce ball, and so on. We made several best friends on the trip (of whom I will probably never see again) and just had a really awesome time. April is their dry season, so we didn't experience much rain other than the day we arrived and departed (lucky us!).

One day we took the shuttle to the other Sandals Resort, Grande, which was also very beautiful with

Sandals Grande

a nice stretch of beach. We paddle boarded there (not my favorite thing, but it was actually better than my last experience), had lunch and hung out in these floating mesh tubes (not sure what to really call them?) that were anchored in the ocean water. Very cool!

We had one bad experience with a tour that came highly recommended. The Joe Knows Tour. It was overbooked and being the nice people that we are, us along with 10 others said we would stay behind and wait for the next boat...which never came. (I could go into more detail, but I would rather not taint my memories). The one positive of being abandoned by the tour was that was spent some time in town (unfortunately only near the dock though as we were waiting for the alleged boat). We hung out in the local marketplace area at a little bar that was almost hidden and sipped on some Piton beers. It was nice.

Wes & I under a waterfall

After that debacle, the following day we went snorkeling which was pretty cool, minus all of the jelly fish that magically appeared. A jelly sting and a few sea ant bites later, I decided I was done with that experience. It kind of felt like the ocean creatures were attacking me on their turf. Not my favorite thing.

Despite our negative experience with Joe, we decided to give the tour another try (because my heart was set on it), this time we booked with Our Toy Boat Tours. You know how they say everything happens for a reason? Well, I was pretty glad that Joe didn't know, because the Our Toy Boat Tour ended up being amazing! A bonus with this tour was they picked us up on our beach rather than taking a shuttle into town. Everyone on our tour happened to be staying at our resort and they were all young. So needless to say, it was a party.

View of The Pitons

This tour was a major highlight for us. We snorkeled (I gave it another whirl) in Sugar Bay (which is where Matt Damon renewed his wedding vows -- so it is now known as a celebrity spot). This cove was exquisite. It is nestled between the two Pitons (the Pitons are the two mountains that are a very famous landmark in St. Lucia. Oprah says it is one of the 5 places you must see in your lifetime. And if Oprah said it, then it must be true!) The cove was lush with white sand beaches and clear water. I absolutely loved it!

Sugar Bay 

Once we completed our snorkeling (no jelly fish or sea ants this time...whew!), we went into Soufriere  which used to be the capitol of the country. It is a neat town with a lot of culture and history and I am glad we were able to explore it a bit. Once in Soufriere, we went into the mountain area where the volcano is. We enjoyed the mud and sulfur baths, then went to a waterfall that is a run-off from a natural hot spring. Gorgeous. After this experience we went back into town and enjoyed a local made lunch, that was de-lish-ous! The local food is very tasty (and spicy...yum!). After our visit in the town, we jumped back on the boat and headed for Marigot Bay which apparently Oprah, Mick Jagger and George Forman all have homes. It is also where the original Dr. Doolittle was filmed. This bay was gorgeous and very wealthy. One yacht was bigger than the next. Covered in palm trees and beautiful architecture it is definitely a great spot for tourists.

As we headed back to the resort, we stopped by this arch (a small version of the arch in Cabo is what it reminded me of) where all of these local kids where hanging out on. Everyone on the boat was shouting "jump, jump, jump!" at the kids and sure enough, one by one they started jumping. Everyone clapped and gave the "woot woot." Then, our captain said we were gonna need some dollars. Everyone kind of looked at each other, then to the water to find all of the kids swimming rapidly toward our boat. We all chipped in a few dollars and the captain shared them with the kids. I found this to be quite interesting. I am no expert on the economics of the country, but it was mid-day on a Thursday and none of these kids were in school. I guess I will just leave it at that.

Our pets on the trip, JoJo & CeeCee, named after our babies

Upon our return, we spent the last afternoon of our trip with some friends we made on the tour, then had an early dinner, followed by an early sleep. We were exhausted from all the fun. Then sadly the next morning it was time to pack up and go home.

Overall, we had an amazing trip, and I was really glad we were able to squeeze it in. I cannot wait though for our next adventure! :)

Night exposure at Sandals La Toc

Side note: One of the items included in our all-inclusive was couple sunset pictures. I was happy to participate as I like to see other photographers in action. Wes also was happy to participate.... :) Here is one of my favorites from the session:

I took many more photos than this. To view the complete gallery, please click here.