Saint Lucia is a gorgeous anglophone island located south of the francophone island Martinique and north of Saint Vincent & Grenadines. I decided to make Saint Lucia my birthday trip and I had so much fun. I did not think too much about it and I just booked the flight and went. The great thing about Saint Lucia is that it is Anglophone. I don’t really like going places where they speak English, but in this case, it was really wonderful and made the island easier to navigate and enjoyable. Saint Lucia has many beautiful beaches, the people are open and friendly, the music and culture is amazing and vibrant, and there’s many forms on transportation to get onto and throughout the island easily. I’d easily visit Saint Lucia again in a heartbeat, I’d just do a few things a little differently.
Sometimes, when you see people in Saint Lucia, they’re living the bourgeois experience, and understandably so. They stay at the best hotels on the beach and have access to some of the best food and experiences on the island. I decided to live the local experience in Saint Lucia and doing so saved me a ton of money and allowed me to have access to the locals. However, there are some things that I would do differently if I went to Saint Lucia.
Tap in with the locals
I booked my AirBnb with a Saint Lucian and just from chatting with her, I got the local hookup with a lot of different things. She arranged my transportation from the airport. I was also able to get food delivered from a local woman that she knew, she told me about local transportation, I knew where I could visit and where it was best to stay away from because of her. I also met a lot of locals just walking around the streets, at the corner store, at the beach. Everyone was friendly and nice and helped me to navigate the island, easily. The local way is thee way. Of course, make sure to use discernment always, but overwhelmingly, I wouldn’t have gotten around well without everyone’s help.
Take local transportation
Saint Lucians have a kind of off the books transportation system with their minivans that run all throughout the island. I stayed in the capital, Castries. All I had to do was walk about 10 minutes down to the main road and the minivans passed easily once every 10 minutes or so, if that. However, you do have to be quick. Time is money for the drivers so they don’t have a lot of time to chat with you. These minivans are super cheap and better in my opinion that take private arranged transportation. If you have a question, try to ask a local that is waiting at the bus stop. Get in the van and head to your destination. You pay once you are in the van. If you are going to a completely different place on the island, you’ll either catch another minivan or just walk to your destination. The great thing about these minivans is that they speed through the island. Saint Lucia is kind of big but these minivan drivers book it, and I love it.
Be aware of your surroundings
There is a lot of gun violence in Saint Lucia at the moment. Every night in Castries, I heard gunshots. During the daytime, everything was just fine, but at night if you’re walking around, be aware. I even had someone come up to me when I was about twenty minutes outside of Castries trying to find the minivan back. She straight up told me that she would escort me to the minivans because it’s not safe and someone might try to rob me and she did.
Tour the island, near and far
The minivans go all over the island so even if you’re staying in the north, don’t be afraid to venture south, and vice versa. Just be aware that some of the minivan routes end kind of early so plan accordingly.
Make sure not to go during hurricane season
My birthday is in September, so I made the mistake of going then. I still had a great time and the weather was fine, but there were rainy moments. There would be times where the sun was nice and shining and then suddenly it would start raining for 20 or 30 minutes and then the sun would come out again. Although it’s picturesque, there are better times to travel. I had just missed Carnival and came about a month before hurricane season was supposed to end. Pick your times to travel wisely.