My wife and I have been traveling to St. Maarten for the past 18 years. We go for a month. This year we have decided to go to St. Lucia for the first time. We have looked at different Villas to rent in different areas and are reading the reviews for each place to see what beach or area we want to choose. When we are in St. Maarten we usually go to Orient Beach or maybe Karacter Beach where chairs and umbrellas are for rent. The beaches we go to all have different restaurants or bars along the beach to have a cool drink or some lunch. None of the reveiws we are reading about these villas that are within walking distance to the beach have ever mentioned anything about chairs and umbrella rental or a favorite bar or restaurant they liked on the beach. I assume St. Lucia's beaches would be the same but with never been to the Island I don't really know what to expect. Some of the places we have researched are Rodney Bay, Vigie Beach, Castries. Any help from this forum would really be appreciated. Are there better places we should be looking at while there. When we do decide to go it will be for two weeks. Thanks so much for any help.

Rodney bay is about the only area on the island with a lot of bars and restaurant and beach chairs for rent. There are some villas nearby but I'm not familiar with them. I think the Bay Garden Beach Resort may have rooms with a kitchenette if that is why you want a villa. The beaches are not as nice as SXM and certainly no human parking lots like OB, no nudity or topless either on the island. Case Em Bas has a very upscale hotel with luxurious beach chairs but there is not much else there and being on the windward side of the island is susceptable to sea weed. The nightlife in Rodney Bay is very similar to Simpson Bay except the crowd is 50/50 mix local and tourist. Plenty of restaurants from very local, triangle Pub ($6 for lunch or dinner) to my favorite The Fire Grill ($50 for top end meal with drinks).

Thanks so much Sunset Sammy, You said its about a 50/50 mix on tourist and locals. Are the locals generally pretty friendly. We love the Simpson Bay area in St. Maarten. Are there any places that might play a little music for some dancing in the Rodney Bay area. Can you swim in the water at Rodney Bay. Also I'm getting mixed reveiws on renting a car. The overall opinion seems to be take a taxi or local bus.

The locals in St.Lucia are very friendly and mix well with the tourist. Gravity and Delerious are good bars for dancing. Reduit Beach is fine for swimming unless the northenr swells are running, but that's only about 10 - 20% of the time. The beach in front of spinnakers can get crowded when the cruie ships are in and that is the only place to rent chairs, but because of the schedule they come late and leave early. If you are comfortable driving on the left on winding mountain roads and want to travel around the island a lot you could rent a car, but generally you will not find it to be as conveinent or necessary as on SXM. If you have were to take a day trip to the Soufriere area it would be a little cheaper than a taxi and more convienent than the local bus, but I never rent a car on SLU or SXM so I'm not the best authority on that issue. To go to the market in Casteries or the Jump up in Gros Islet from Rodney Bay the local buses are the best option. To do a one day tour of the nature sites around Soufriere from the Rodney Bay area a taxi for the day may be the best option as the roads aren't signed very well and driving yourself you may find stressful trying to figure out which way to go. In Rodney Bay all the bars and restaurants are within easy walking distance of each other, you can go from one end of the strip to the other in about 15 minutes. Unless you planned to go cross island each day you wouldn't need a car for your entire stay.

Thanks again SS, You have been most helpful. It sounds like I picked a pretty good area for our first trip to the Island. You helped me make up my mine on a car rental. My wife is nervous enough about my driving. When you add driving on very hilly terrain and me driving on the wrong side of the road and maybe have had a cocktail. I don't even want to go there. I want my wife to have fun too. I'm doing the taxi. Would you by any chance know anything about the airport. How far it's away from Rodney Bay and do full size jets fly into St. Lucia. Are customs pretty smooth. From your site you look like you're probably an accomplished sailor and maybe haven't flown into the Island. If not thanks for all the other advice. This site has definitely been a bucket full of info. Thanks so much. Bill and Jan

jbt - The international airport is on the south end of the island and Rodney Bay is on the north end. Big jets fly into the international airport. There is a smaller airport in Castries but it is only for regional planes. The trip from the south end to the north end usually takes around 1.5 hours and taxi costs vary a lot but are something like US $75-$90 because it is so far.

As SunsetSammy said, Rodney Bay is a good place to stay and you will find everything you need there with side trips all over the island by guides. A climb up the easier Piton is a fun time too if you are up for that.

St. Lucia can't compare to Sint Maarten in terms of night life or level of activity but it is special in its' own way.

Enjoy your trip!

You're welcome, I think you will find St. Lucia to be a nice change from St. Maarten as said the nightlife isn't as exciting or varied but the natural features of the island are great. A full day in the Soufriere area is a must do, start with an early morning hike up Gros Piton, I did it at 52 and believe me I'm not the athletic type, from there you could go to the mud baths or Jerusalum Falls for a warm soak,lunch at Archies fish or chicken meal and then finish up at the botanical gardens on the outskirts of town.
The jump up in Gros Islet is a huge street party, you can get there by bus or taxi, it cn seem intimadating with all the people and loud music but stay on th emani street and you won't have any problems, if someone bugs you to buy them a drink just say "sorry, no" firmly and that will be it. Fish Friday in Anse La Raye is a chance to try the local seafoods, they have welks there the size of you hand along with traditional dishes like sea turtle and blackfish (pilot whale which they are allowed to hunt using aboriginal methods by international agreement. You can get a spiny lobster, there is a lot of meat on them besides in the tail,the meat in the horn on their head is just as tastey as the claw meat of our northern lobsters and in the kncukles for the legs you will also find a lot of meat, use an empty beer bottle to crack the shell and get the meat out. Since it is a long way from RB to fish friday you could try to find another couple to go with you to split the cost of the taxi.
I usually use Kimbert for transfers and taxi service, my phone stopped working so i dont have his number but you could go to Trip Advisor and search for PHV Tours in the St. Lucia forum he has many fans there.
Not sure if you've decided on a place to stay yet but here are some photos of the Bay Garden Beach Resort, it is at the end of Reduit Beach and theyy have beach chairs and umbrellas along with water sports outlet. The meals in the restaurant are higher than you will pay just down the road, for instance Spinnakers is almost next door and you can get a full English breakfast for half of what you would pay at the hotel.

The pool area


The restaurant


The bar

The last two photos don't do it justice but you get the idea

There is a little bar at the south end of Reduit Beach called "Marie's Fish Shack". Good local food and cold beer. They also rent chairs. Have fun!

Hey great pictures, Hi Tide reminds me of one of our favorite places in St. Maarten, The Hidaway at the La Vista resort. You guys have been great. I'm writing all this stuff down. It's always nice to get some real live suggestions from real people that either visit the Island or even live on the Island for periods of time. My wife and I are fans of the Batchelor and Batchelorette and when they go to St. Lucia we always say we're going there. Well to everyone that has helped us thank you so much and we will be sure to post our trip on here after we get back. Thanks again, Bill and Jan