walk to the beach?

Is there a beach within walking distance of the pier? Can you snorkel there? chairs, drinks, food, etc?

If not, how far is the closest one by taxi? How much does it cost?

Thanks

Rendevous resort offers a day pass. It is about a 30 minute walk from the port or a 5 minute taxi ride. I believe the price is $60 pp. You do need to make reservations ahead of time.

If you do a search on this board, you will find a lot of info about Rendevous.

the nearest beach is Vigie Beach, which is the same beach above where Rendezvous is also located. It is a a very long stretch of beach with lots of shade, however, no chairs/umbrellas to rent and no snorkeling. Long stretch of beach with calm waters for swimming though and several local food huts for eats and drinks - these are further down the beach past the resort, nearer to the entrance to the airport.

There is little snorkeling in the north of the island. The nearest would be at Pigeon Island, about 25-30 minutes away by cab and costing about $35US for up to 4 persons one way. There is also a $5US pp entrance fee as it is a national heritage site - there are 2 restaurants on site, lovely beach with chairs for rent, some ruins, a small hill hike for some great views across Rodney Bay and across the straight to Martinique.

Another beach would be Smuggler's Cove beach (not to be confused with Smugger's Cove resort, which is next door to the beach known as Smuggler's Cove) a small bit of snorkeling there - a bit further than Pigeon Island, about a $35-$40US one way cab ride.

The best snorkeling is in the southern area of the island, around the Pitons. About 45 minutes-1 hour from the pier.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info.

While on Dominica and some of the other islands, as you leave the port area there are guys with a van and a sign; for $25 pp 4 hour tour, etc.

Is is like that at St. Lucia, or just pre-arranged tours?

there are plenty of tour operators working in the port exit area that offer area and island wide tours - keep in mind that while we are a small island, it takes a while to get anywhere as we are a mountainous island and 1 mile forward is accompanied by at least one mile up and one mile down! Also, narrow, windy roads!

The licensed operators are right near the exits to the port areas and around the information desks, usually have placards/posters with pics and options and prices and usually all in the same color/type of shirt. Once out of the port you can pick up a licensed taxi - they also should be in their uniform shirts - prices will be about the same as the tour guys - some work in conjunction with a favorite cab driver or such.

No problem picking up a tour or cab from the ports.

I would take a taxi to the beach that is located 30 minutes via a walk.

My wife and I love to walk but we found walking in the area near the cruise ship terminal to be very challenging between lack of side walks and lots of cars.

Keith