St. Lucia Dream Escape

Beautiful Saint Lucia is one of the Windward Islands located in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the second largest Island of the Lesser Antilles. Formed by volcanoes, the Island is 238 square miles - 27 miles long and 14 miles wide. There is an abundance of mountains, lush tropical forests, hot sulphur springs, green hills with plenty of flat land. Surrounded by deep water harbours the island's centre and the highest point is Mount Gimie.

On the day the Island was discovered by the French they named her 'Saint Lucia' after Saint Lucy of Syracuse.

The capital of Saint Lucia is Castries. It contains duty free shopping facilities such as Point Seraphine and La Place Carenage. There are many restaurants offering a variety of menus from local to Chinese; supermarkets and many other shopping facilities. The city is well serviced by a bus system and taxi service.

Interestingly, Saint Lucia's main post office is located in Castries. Because most parts of the country do not use standard street addresses, mail is largely sent to Post Office boxes. Any mail sent without a town name ends up in the Castries post office.

Saint Lucia is known for her tropical climate - the wet season is from June to November. December through to January is the coolest months with the hottest months being June through to August. The hot and humid conditions are due to the Island's close proximity to the equator but you can relax, as the mild trade winds bring plenty of cool breezes off the water.

Visitors are warned though, that there is a great deal of variation in weather between the regions on the Island. The beaches around the Castries or Rodney Bay temperatures are high but not unpleasant due to the trade winds. However, if you are trekking through the rain forest in the centre of the island, expect hot and humid conditions without any relief from the winds. And temperatures do drop significantly as the altitude increases so you will wish you had taken a light jacket along.

People mostly dress in light weight cotton to keep them cool in the hot climate.

The official language of Saint Lucia is English but the older people mainly speak French Patoisas they find it difficult to speak English.
The cuisine is influenced by West Indian, Creole and French food. A popular Creole dish is pumpkin soup with garlic and pouile dudon (chicken in coconuts and sugar). Other popular dishes are pepper pot stew, callaloo soup and fried codfish.

There is an abundance of fruits - bananas, coconuts, guavas, mangoes, papayas, passion fruit, pineapples and Sousa and plenty of shellfish and fish caught daily to feast upon. Fresh fruit juices are available and alcoholic drinks, such as beer (Pitons) and rum (Bounty), are brewed locally.

The national currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar. Many tourists can use the local currency or the USA dollar when visiting this island. (Look for the big arrow - down this page - to use the currency converter / exchange rate for your dollar).

Surrounded by water makes it a dream for water sports: water skiing, jet-ski, banana-boating, sailing, wind surfing, scuba diving, and swimming or choose golf, hike, and horseback ride.

"Your dreams can be realities. They are the stuff that leads us through life toward great happiness" Deborah Norville