St Lucia Island Tour

Canaries Village

St Lucia Island Tour – From the Pier

We visited St Lucia by finding our own tour at the pier – realistically they find you as soon as you are past the ship’s tour line ups. Our tour was $40 each and lasted more than 4 hours. The van was very new and nicely air conditioned. The roads on St Lucia were also very new, very steep and very switch-backed.

Anse la Raye, Fishing Village

St Lucia Island Tour – Anse la Raye

After passing Columbus Square, renamed Derek Walcott Square after St Lucias’ Nobel Prize Winner, and passing the Catholic Church, we ascended Morne Forture, a hill with lovely views of the town and the inner harbor. We could see Martinique in the distance. Next we wound our way through banana plantations to Anse la Raye. Here we enjoyed picturesque views of this fishing town. Then we climbed into rainforest and stopped for my photo shoot with a boa constrictor. We climbed and switched back to heights that might have been dizzying if the view weren’t so obstructed by the vegetation. After that we stopped at a view point above the coastal village of Canaries. It was very quaint and brightly colored.

Souvenirs, Pitons, Soufrière

St Lucia Island Tour – Pitons and Soufrière

Next we came out of the rainforest above Soufrière. We enjoyed views of the village, the Pitons and the steam from the volcano. In Soufrière we visited the Diamond Botanical Gardens. The river and waterfall were nice, but you need to appreciate plants and gardening to truly enjoy the stop. It cost $5 to enter the gardens. Afterward the group opted not to drive two miles to the volcanic cone base. The consensus was that it wasn’t worth $8 each to smell a bubbling sulfur pot.

Marigot Bay

St Lucia Island Tour – Marigot Bay

On the way back to Castries, we stopped above Marigot Bay and enjoyed the fabulous view. It was hard to beat the quality and price of this tour, but the hours of up, down, twisting and turning does wear on you. Those who don’t get sea sick on small boats might enjoy the coastal cruise version of this expedition better.