CASTRIES | ST. LUCIA

St. Lucia is iconic with the Pitons standing tall above the ocean.  It was also one of the islands that I was most excited to see.  Like Dominica, it is lush and green, however, it also has some amazing beaches.  This is why when we were choosing an excursion, we knew that we had to see the best of both parts of the island.

ARRVING IN ST. LUCIA

Arriving in St. Lucia reminded me a lot of arriving in St. Thomas.  The boat docks in a protected bay that is surrounded by green mountains.  This time, though, there was an airport on a small strip of flat land right next to the ship.  I got to catch a plane arriving and departing before it was time for us to disembark.

EXCURSION IN ST. LUCIA

We chose the Land and Sea Combo to Soufriere that was offered through Carnival for $93 per person.  As I said before, one of the reasons for choosing this one was that we wanted to see both the inland part of the island and the beaches.  The excursion takes you on a bus ride through some of the banana plantations, stops at a couple of the small fishing villages along the coast and then arrives in Soufriere, at the foot of the mighty Pitons.  In Soufriere you visit the botanical gardens and a waterfall before boarding the catamaran for a sail back down the coast.  There is a stop for a swim at one of the private beaches along the way.

INNER ST. LUCIA EXCURSION

The land portion of our tour started when we were picked up from the ship by a mini bus.  We were driven through the city of Castries and told about the history and culture while the guide pointed out interesting places.  We made our way into the outskirts of town, through some banana plantations and eventually headed along the coast toward our next stop - Anse La Raye.  Anse La Raye is a quaint fishing village along the western coast of the island.  Here, we were able to get out and stretch our legs while there were plenty of vendors out to sell us whatever we were looking for.  I was able to pick up a souvenir magnet and take a few photos before it was time to move on.

We passed through a couple more fishing villages and a bit of the rainforest before reaching an overlook that provided incredible views of Soufriere, the Pitons and the smoldering volcano.  After a few minutes here, it was time to head into Soufriere.

DIAMOND BOTANICAL GARDEN | SOUFRIERE, ST. LUCIA

The guide took us to the Diamond Botanical Garden in Soufriere and while I am not a fan of gardens or taking photos of plants and flowers, this garden was spectacular.  I took quite a few photos as we walked along the path and the guide explained what each of the plants were to us.  At the end of the path we came to a beautiful waterfall that was set in a little cove.  It was a perfect little stroll before we boarded the catamaran.

CATAMARAN ST. LUCIA EXCURSION

Once onboard the catamaran, we set sail back towards Castries and you could see how massive the majestic Pitons actually were from the water.  The coastline of St. Lucia is beautiful and rugged.  We were able to see the fishing villages that we had just driven through from the water.  After a bit, we arrived at a little secluded beach where the boat dropped anchor and allowed us to swim and enjoy the water for a little bit.  Again, as if they have homing devices, the locals were there, ready to offer us whatever we were looking for.

As we continued on down the coast, lunch was served and before long we pulled into Marigot Bay.  It is a beautiful inlet that houses resorts and looks like it is right out of a movie.  That was our last stop before we arrived back at the cruise ship.  The catamaran dropped everyone off right at the dock but we inquired about crossing the bay to the market and they offered to take us and drop us off.

At the straw market, we walked around and looked at all of the items that were for sale.  We eventually found a little restaurant that had wifi and stopped to rest for a bit before getting a taxi back to the ship.  It was 4:30pm and time to make our way to our favorite spot on the ship, the rear deck.  We watched as the ship slowly sailed away from St. Lucia and towards our next destination - St. Kitts & Nevis.

OUR CARNIVAL CRUISE

We were on the 7-day Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Fascination (September 2, 2018 - September 9, 2018) out of San Juan visiting St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Maarten and finally returning back to San Juan.  Click on any of the links above to find out more about what we did in each of our ports of call or visit my Instagram.