St Lucia on our own?

[Texanniew]

We are going on a Viking cruise early November. Is it possible to walk off the ship and explore on our own? 

[reedprincess]

3 hours ago, Texanniew said:

We are going on a Viking cruise early November. Is it possible to walk off the ship and explore on our own? 

Of course. Why wouldn't it be? 

 

I'd suggest having an idea of what you want to do, and approx costs, as there's not a whole lot in walking distance of the port...

Enjoy 

Edited Wednesday at 04:26 AM by reedprincess

[Texanniew]

Perhaps I should have worded this better…what are things you can do on your own? How easy is it to find transportation from the port? Is there a city center to explore? Time better spent doing what? Thank you.

[reedprincess]

16 hours ago, Texanniew said:

Perhaps I should have worded this better…what are things you can do on your own? How easy is it to find transportation from the port? Is there a city center to explore? Time better spent doing what? Thank you.

Ahh, yeah, that's an entirely different question.

Have you done any looking at things to do in St Lucia - whether via the cruise Excursions or TripAdvisor or Whatsinport or anything? Any idea of what things may interest you?

What's your mobility like, budget, interests?

 

First timers - highlights include Pitons, volcano and mud baths, botanical gardens, and waterfalls.  There's lots of tour operators that can do it either via land or swa, whether private or shared . 

 

Another popular place is Pigeon Island - ruins, hikes, beach, etc. 

 

Reduit beach is popular for a typical beach day, as is Vigie.

 

While a small island, it takes a long time to travel place to place due to the mountainous terrain and narrow winding roads 

 

Castries isn't a very pretty town, it's gritty and working.. it is home to the largest cathedral in the Caribbean, which is beautiful. Derek Walcott Square, Castries Market (rates #3 good market in the world by Nat Geo a few years back).  Be careful walking around - uneven narrow pavement, etc.  

 

There's chocolate experiences, horseback riding, ATV, zip line, Segway, food tours, aerial Tram, various boat rides, splash park and so forth...

How easy or hard to DIY entirely depends on what you're wanting to do .

[Texanniew]

Reedprincess, thank you! I have been doing so much research. 🙂 some people make it sound so easy to just walk off the ship and explore the various islands. Your post was very helpful. We are having a little anxiety about getting the excursions we want through Viking and are trying to figure out alternatives. Plus, if the alternative options are less expensive, that a bonus too!

 

It sounds like the Pitons is a sight to not miss. Is it better to see them by boat or is just seeing them afar good?

 

Is there a local tour company you recommend?

[reedprincess]

4 hours ago, Texanniew said:

Reedprincess, thank you! I have been doing so much research. 🙂 some people make it sound so easy to just walk off the ship and explore the various islands. Your post was very helpful. We are having a little anxiety about getting the excursions we want through Viking and are trying to figure out alternatives. Plus, if the alternative options are less expensive, that a bonus too!

 

It sounds like the Pitons is a sight to not miss. Is it better to see them by boat or is just seeing them afar good?

 

Is there a local tour company you recommend?

The Pitons are iconic.  Google any images of them, and you'll see why. They're volcanic plugs, rising directly out of the ocean.. stunning.

And the drive-in volcano is unique also..

 

By land or by sea, they're stunning..  

A common day trip is a land/sea tour - by land down boat back and you check a few spots on the route down like a look at Marigot Bay, Morne Fortune, banana plantation, things like that then volcano, quick waterfalls dip, some beach time and lunch and then back to the ship aboard a boat.

Obviously - you're not going to be walking off the ship and picking up this tour.. this one takes some advance planning.

Serenity Vacations 

Spencer Ambrose 

Explore St Lucia 

Nio Rose 

Adventure Tours 

And so forth 

 

Or hire a water taxi like Shashamane or Israel King water taxi to take you there and back bus water. 

 

Or Joys Ocean Angel or Captain Dells for shared boat tour. 

Serenity Vacations, Carnival Sailing, Bateau Mygo, Nio Rose, SeaSpray Cruises all have cat trips..

 

Or a very popular cruise land tour with Cosol. This is shared but he does a fab job and lots of fights, food tastings and wicked rum punch, lol..

 

Or you can hire a driver right at port for a private land trip to the same sights, etc. usually around $75-100 pp for full day.

 

Keep in mind travel times and roads. It's approximately 60-75 minutes to get south to the Pitons, even though it's only around 15-18 miles as the crow flies..  boat trips take around 40-60 minutes...

 

Many islands, it's super easy to walk off and grab a cab to the beach or a driver for an island drive around.   It's easy to do that here - just have an idea of what you want to see and costs.  Bargaining the cost isn't common here either, but you can probably negotiate a little bit....

[Texanniew]

19 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

The Pitons are iconic.  Google any images of them, and you'll see why. They're volcanic plugs, rising directly out of the ocean.. stunning.

And the drive-in volcano is unique also..

 

By land or by sea, they're stunning..  

A common day trip is a land/sea tour - by land down boat back and you check a few spots on the route down like a look at Marigot Bay, Morne Fortune, banana plantation, things like that then volcano, quick waterfalls dip, some beach time and lunch and then back to the ship aboard a boat.

Obviously - you're not going to be walking off the ship and picking up this tour.. this one takes some advance planning.

Serenity Vacations 

Spencer Ambrose 

Explore St Lucia 

Nio Rose 

Adventure Tours 

And so forth 

 

Or hire a water taxi like Shashamane or Israel King water taxi to take you there and back bus water. 

 

Or Joys Ocean Angel or Captain Dells for shared boat tour. 

Serenity Vacations, Carnival Sailing, Bateau Mygo, Nio Rose, SeaSpray Cruises all have cat trips..

 

Or a very popular cruise land tour with Cosol. This is shared but he does a fab job and lots of fights, food tastings and wicked rum punch, lol..

 

Or you can hire a driver right at port for a private land trip to the same sights, etc. usually around $75-100 pp for full day.

 

Keep in mind travel times and roads. It's approximately 60-75 minutes to get south to the Pitons, even though it's only around 15-18 miles as the crow flies..  boat trips take around 40-60 minutes...

 

Many islands, it's super easy to walk off and grab a cab to the beach or a driver for an island drive around.   It's easy to do that here - just have an idea of what you want to see and costs.  Bargaining the cost isn't common here either, but you can probably negotiate a little bit....

Thank you!!!!