Rental Car Info Needed

[iamheretowinp]

Hello,

We will be visiting St. Lucia via cruise ship in March and are curious about what car rental places are available close by the port in St. Lucia. Wondered if anyone has used any of these companies for the day and what the prices were? Are there any license fees or insurance fees? Is there a fee if you are not over 25? Is the island easy to navigate as well?

 

We would appreciate any insight anyone may have.

 

Thanks so much!

[Pepperwood]

Hello,

We will be visiting St. Lucia via cruise ship in March and are curious about what car rental places are available close by the port in St. Lucia. Wondered if anyone has used any of these companies for the day and what the prices were? Are there any license fees or insurance fees? Is there a fee if you are not over 25? Is the island easy to navigate as well?

 

We would appreciate any insight anyone may have.

 

Thanks so much!

 

We took the famous Cosol tour two weeks ago, and these were our observations about St. Lucia:

 

- they drive on the left, and most (but not all) vehicles are right-hand drive (i.e. the driver sits on the right).

- the roads are poorly maintained and narrow, with just enough room for two mini-buses to pass each other.

- There is generally a square concrete "ditch" right beside the road that is about a foot deep, with no shoulder between it and the asphalt. If you drop a wheel into this, your drive is done for the day.

- Due to the mountainous terrain, roads have steep grades, rising or falling a thousand feet in the space of a few miles. There are many hairpin turns, and a lot of them are blind (your car comes to the top of a steep hill and you can't see which way the road goes until the nose of your car comes down)

- there are few road barriers or fences. Often there is nothing but air between you and a thousand-foot drop.

- the roads in villages are extremely narrow--often only wide enough for one car at a time.

- due to all of the above, car accidents are numerous (we drove past two in our short time on the island.)

- although the sun shines most of the time, there are numerous rain showers that for a few minutes reduce visibility and of course make the steep roads slippery.

- due to the winding twisty nature of the roads, journeys that look like a quick trip on the map involve several hours of driving. Twenty miles as the crow flies is several times longer than that on the roads.

 

Due to all of the above, St. Lucia was the one island (out of five) that we visited where we would not feel comfortable renting a car. It was the lushest and most "tropical" of the islands we visited, however, and we saw many beautiful sights on our tour. Our suggestion would be to leave the driving to the professionals and have your camera ready.