St Lucia: sailing along the coast

Everyone I knew who had visited St Lucia loved it. My expectations were high (always dangerous).

The ship's entry into Castries, the main port, was not overwhelmingly beautiful because, as with other islands, the port is mainly industrial with just a small space for cruise ships (and there were THREE in port). No worries though - I had booked a very exciting excursion.

The day's plan was to take a small speedboat along the coast, view the Pitons, dock in Soufriere, drive up to the famous mud baths, and then return by boat to a lovely beach. The weather was brilliant sunshine.

There were over 100 people on the excursion, so we were divided into groups of approximately 15 to take small, motor boats along the coast. In typical NCL fashion, the start was a disorganized mess - it took well over an hour to get us on the boats. Once we were on the way, however, everyone's morning frustration faded. Our very small open-air motorboat skimmed along the surface of the water taking in the lovely coastline of the island. It felt glorious and, with some wave action thrown in, a little exciting.

Our first stop was Marigot Harbor (to pick up some food). Our guide explained it is an exclusive place where many of the rich and famous owned homes. Just wow.

We continued along the coast - it seemed to get more dramatic around every headland. Finally, we arrived at the Pitons, St Lucia's signature geologic feature. They are astonishingly beautiful - having just visited Hawaii, I think the scenery is just as good on St Lucia.

We pulled into Soufriere and boarded small buses that would take us to the "world's only drive in volcano". (Of course overlooking Mt Aso in Japan that has whole towns inside its volcanic caldera, the Campi Flegri Volcano of Italy in which sits a part of Naples, or almost the entirety of Yellowstone National Park in the US).

The scenery (and sulfur smell) reminded me of similar places in Japan (of which there are many). A stream passes through the area and picks up volcanic sediment and creates some pools laden with mud. People enter the water and slather the mud (supposedly great for skin) on their bodies. The unfortunate thing was - there were hundreds of people there. I had a mud bath in the past - I was not going stand cheek to cheek to do it again. Not to mention that mud bathing needs a very good shower after to remove and it was just the start of the day. "People watching" was probably better than bathing anyway. I loved how tentatively bathers enjoyed the experience - some fully got into it and others appeared "what am I doing?"

I felt happy to see it, but it was not the high point of the day. The drive through the rain forest was lovely - that was a bonus.

Our group (with difficulty) reassembled and got back on the bus to Soufriere where we returned to the boat. We took a short ride to the beach at Anse Chastanet below the exclusive Jade Mountain resort. The little bay that holds the hotel is gorgeous, but most of the area is reserved for hotel guests, so we were limited to one small corner. I didn't mind - the setting was lovely and we only stayed an hour. I enjoyed the breeze and view.

Some people went snorkeling at one side of the bay and reported seeing a lot of fish. Most unfortunately, the coral across the Caribbean is in a steep decline. I felt happy I snorkeled in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands decades earlier when there was much more alive to see.

snorkeling area

The boat ride back was festive. We all drank rum punch and our "crazy" tour leader, Showtime, danced with a lot of the passengers as the boat skimmed the surface. There was no option but to feel happy - who wouldn't in such a lovely place after a great day?

For the first time in a long time I visited a place that amazed me. Yes, St Lucia has some grinding poverty - but so did many countries I visited. I found the people extremely friendly and the scenery the best I had encountered in the entire Caribbean. I could understand why my friend APH vacationed there frequently (and always invited me - I should have gone earlier).

In a way, the stop in St Lucia made the whole cruise worth it. Even more than Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua I felt I had discovered a special place. Considering I was on a cruise ship excursion for half a day with many other people and I still loved St Lucia, that is very high praise.

I would definitely like to return!