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R O U G H G U ID E S Rough Guide DIRECTIONS St Lucia St Lucia DIRECTIONS WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Natalie Folster and Karl Luntta NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI www.roughguides.com Tips for reading this e-book Your e-book Reader has many options for viewing and navigating through an e-book. Explore the dropdown menus and toolbar at the top and the status bar at the bottom of the display window to familiarize yourself with these. The following guidelines are provided to assist users who are not familiar with PDF files. For a complete user guide, see the Help menu of your Reader. • You can read the pages in this e-book one at a time, or as two pages facing each other, as in a regular book. To select how you’d like to view the pages, click on the View menu on the top panel and choose the Single Page, Continuous, Facing or Continuous – Facing option. • You can scroll through the pages or use the arrows at the top or bottom of the display window to turn pages. 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Contents C O N T Introduction 4 Soufrière and the Pitons ................100 EN The south coast ..............................116 T S The east coast ................................127 The central interior .........................134 Ideas 9 The big six ........................................10 Essentials 143 Beaches ..........................................12 Hikes ................................................14 Arrival .............................................145 Watersports ......................................16 Information and maps .....................145 Plantations........................................18 Getting around ................................146 Local markets ...................................20 Tours ..............................................148 Gourmet eating .................................22 Media .............................................149 Casual bites ......................................24 Telephones .....................................150 Nightlife ............................................26 Costs and money ............................151 Scenic retreats .................................28 Accommodation ..............................151 St Lucian arts and culture .................30 Food and drink ...............................152 Historical attractions .........................32 Sport and outdoor activities ............153 Waterfalls and gardens .....................34 Festivals and events .......................157 Great views ......................................36 Directory .........................................159 Excursions ........................................38 Local cuisine ....................................40 Flora and fauna ................................42 small print & Index 161 St Lucian calendar ............................44 St Lucian pastimes ...........................46 Colour maps Places 49 Chapter locator map St Lucia Castries ...........................................51 Castries and around Rodney Bay and Gros Islet ...............67 The northern tip and the northeast coast ..............................82 Useful stuff The west coast ................................90 4 Introduction to St Lucia N O St Lucia lives up to the ideal I T C of a Caribbean paradise, not U D least for its glorious array of O honey-coloured and black R T volcanic sand beaches, trans- N I lucent turquoise waters and sheltering reefs swarming G Selling bananas at sea with vibrant tropical fish. Despite development that has taken place over the past decade – which has resulted in some top-notch facilities – the island’s feel remains decidedly laid-back, with little of the jaded hustle that can mar more established Caribbean destinations. It all makes for a relaxed, friendly and incredibly beautiful place to visit. Archetypal beaches are in greatest number in the north, but to get the most out of the island, you’re well advised to venture beyond built-up Rodney Bay and into the rugged wilderness of the east coast – defined by its crashing Atlantic surf, teeming nature reserves and lush botanical gardens – or the slow-paced fishing villages of the G Plantation south, where brightly painted wooden boats line the bays. As a complement to any water- based activities you might indulge in – snorkelling, swimming, When to visit St Lucia’s tropical climate is classically Caribbean. During high season (Dec–April), the island is pleasantly hot, with little rain and constant northeasterly trade winds that keep the nights cool. Temperatures rise even further during the summer months, which can also be wet: the rainy season lasts from June to October, with the hurricane season at the tail end, roughly from late August to October. Contents Introduction I N T R O D U C T I O N G Anse La Raye deep-sea fishing – the pristine central interior region boasts all manner of hiking trails, found within protected forest reserves only populated by wildlife; the dramatic mountainous peaks of the Pitons lie to the southwest. Even with these natural assets, St Lucia has only recently begun to attract visitors in any real number: as banana exports – long the mainstay of St Lucia’s economy – plummeted in the late 1990s, the  Cas-en-Bas Beach government intensified efforts to develop tourism. A clutch of luxury resorts opened on the southwest coast, but the island caters to all tastes: choose between upscale hotels or intimate guesthouses, dine in world-class restaurants or at roadside kiosks and shop in duty-free malls or at open-air village markets. In the face of modernization, contemporary St Lucian culture has remained relatively unchanged, an amalgamation of the various customs, languages and traditions that have taken root here over the centuries. The warlike Caribs, who succeeded the Arawaks and Ciboney before them, ruled the island until being driven away by slave-owning Europeans in the seventeenth century, and Contents Introduction 6 N O I T C U D O R T N I G Marjorie’s Restaurant and Bar, Cas-en-Bas evidence of St Lucia’s layered past can be found in everything from Amerindian petroglyphs near Vieux Fort to the military ruins of Fort Charlotte in the north. African traditions involving magic and spiritualism survive in celebrations like summertime Carnival, and many islanders speak St Lucian Creole (a French patois), which evolved out of a common language used between French planters and their slaves. A similar blend is fortuitously found in Creole cuisine, which mixes spicy, tomato-based sauces and starchy carbohydrates of African and West Indian cooking with inventive garnishes more typical of French fare. G Fishing boat on the west coast Contents Introduction St Lucia AT A GLANCE I N T R O D U C T I O N Castries and around fishing village of Gros Islet hosts The bustling capital city of Castries the wildly popular Friday night – the island’s centre of commerce Jump Up street party. and government – is home to half The northern tip and the of St Lucia’s population. Its few attractions include a lively central northeast coast market and duty-free shopping St Lucia’s hilly northern tip is malls, plus long strands of beach home to the residential community that lie north of town. of Cap Estate, known for its luxu- rious hilltop villas, golf course and  Castries small resorts. It’s a vivid contrast to the remote beaches that dot the wild Atlantic coast, which stretches from Pointe Hardy down to the long, lonesome sand at Grand Anse.  Cap Estate Rodney Bay and Gros Islet Rodney Bay is the hub of St Lucia’s tourist activities, and a strip of restaurants, hotels and bars backs the thick swath of golden sand at the area’s popular Reduit Beach. Nearby, the quiet  Rodney Bay Marina The central interior Mountains, rainforest, cloud forest and elphin woodland cover St Lucia’s central interior region. Its vast, uninhabited forest reserves offer numerous hiking trails boasting arresting scenery accented by exotic flora and fauna. Contents Introduction N O I T C U D O R T N I G Anse La Raye The west coast diving and snorkelling spots make The winding west coast road up the area’s numerous natural running south from Castries is attractions. spectacularly scenic, passing by pretty Marigot Bay with its palm- The south coast fringed beach and through acres Best appreciated for its scenery, of banana plantations. A few the rural south coast between secluded resorts are tucked along Soufrière and Vieux Fort is veined the way, good for quiet retreats. with rivers, waterfalls and velvety green ridges. The east coast A smattering of coastal fishing villages lines the largely undevel- oped east coast; they may lack noteworthy hotels but that’s sort of the point. Meanwhile, a string of stunning nature reserves protects St Lucia’s teeming birdlife and delicate coastal ecology.  Dennery G Soufrière Soufrière and the Pitons The twin peaks of the Pitons dominate St Lucia’s southwest coast and loom over the old town of Soufrière, filled with narrow streets and balconied wooden houses. Waterfalls, botanical gardens, hiking trails and good Contents Introduction