Currently planning our honeymoon for next august.

We have looked at a number of islands and resorts. We want something that has not only great beaches/diving/etc but also something outdoorsy to offer. Hiking or climbing or etc. A few islands meet the criteria and of those, the one with the resorts that most stand out was St. Lucia.

Does anyone have any experience in St. Lucia?

Any recommendations?

It appears that due to the mountainous nature of the island, leaving the resort and "heading into town for the evening" is less of an option in St. Lucia than other islands.


Specifically we have found a few resorts in which we are VERY interested. Ti Kaye Resort and Spa, Cap Maison Resort and Spa, and Sugar Beach (a Viceroy resort). Does anyone have any experience with any of these? If not, do you have any experiences with other resorts on the island?

Thanks in advance!

Wife and I went there last year. We rented a villa in Cap Estates. We gad a rent car so we were able to drive to and from Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, and generally around the northside of the island. If you choose Cap Maison, they have a great little restaurant on the beach, The Naked Fisherman. There is a lot to do around there, Fort Rodney on Pigeon Island, Reduit Beach, Gros Islet has a Friday night jump-up.

We honeymooned in St Lucia this past August. We split our trip between Ladera and Cap Maison (3 nights each) with the Peak to Beach package. Ladera is an "open wall" resort in the mountains which gives you a picturesque view of the Pitons. Ladera is up the mountain from Sugar Beach and they can take you by van down the mountain to use their beach.

Ladera was a very unique hotel, but we enjoyed Cap Maison more. We got upgraded at CM to a villa suite with a rooftop pool. There is also a small private beach, with a bar & grill. Food was great at both resorts.

Something to think about is which airport you fly into. The south/north road is 2 lanes with multiple hair-pin turns. On our return from Cap Maison to UVF airport, we opted for a quick 20 minute helicopter ride.

Let me know if you have any questions. We actually have some friends doing to Peak to Beach later this month, and they added a few days at Sugar Beach to their stay.

Do something less basic for a Caribbean honeymoon.

Too expensive for what you get vs going to the DR or Belize or dare I say it Mexico.

I'm talking half the price or more. Save the difference and go on another one next year.

granted, this is coming from the guy who's going on a 3 week honeymoon throughout Europe with a week of sailing Croatia.

Our trip may cost as much as a week in St. Lucia.

Dude

AggieFanatic09 said:

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Do something less basic for a Caribbean honeymoon.

Too expensive for what you get vs going to the DR or Belize or dare I say it Mexico.

I'm talking half the price or more. Save the difference and go on another one next year.

granted, this is coming from the guy who's going on a 3 week honeymoon throughout Europe with a week of sailing Croatia.

Our trip may cost as much as a week in St. Lucia.

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lol.

Having planned/been to every place you mentioned:

1) For the experience/amenities we are looking for, Mexico/Belize are AT BEST marginally cheaper.

2) No way you are spending less than 3 times what we will spend in St. Lucia on that European honeymoon

3) Out of the MANY islands I looked at, St. Lucia was actually very reasonably priced. Certainly not the cheapest. But not even close to the most expensive.

Edit: It does help that we are going during the cheapest time of the year, although that was just by sheer luck of timing.

If you like West Indian hot sauces, St. Lucia has some good ones.

$30 for a burger in St. Lucia, > $500 per night for a non-AC room.

Expensive flights, etc.

But you're right, Mr. World traveler, going in the downseason is cheaper.

and FYI, our week of sailing in Croatia is <$2,000, breakfast and lunch included.

You did it wrong. Real wrong.

Having been on several big trips to Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, I agree that money spent at a resort in the Caribbean could go a long way towards another vacation. We normally use VRBO/AirBNB on vacation and never stay in resorts, much less all-inclusives. However, we decided to splurge and spend the week relaxing and treating ourselves after the wedding. We chose the Caribbean because of the ease of travel instead of taking long flights with multiple legs.

Some people like being "basic" for their honeymoon. But let me know when you want to compare passports.

AggieFanatic09 said:

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$30 for a burger in St. Lucia, > $500 per night for a non-AC room.

Expensive flights, etc.

But you're right, Mr. World traveler, going in the downseason is cheaper.

and FYI, our week of sailing in Croatia is <$2,000, breakfast and lunch included.

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Flights to st. lucia < flight to Europe. Flights to Europe (anywhere in europe, used google flights to check the entire continent) on the dates of our travel are right at $400 more per person (unless I want to spend an extra 12 hours traveling and connect through Istanbul, in which case it is only $150 more per person).

Not sure where you are seeing a $30 burger, the only place I have ever seen prices like that was in Switzerland, in EUROPE, where you are going for your honeymoon. Food isn't terribly cheap in St. Lucia, but if we bring our own booze, high end dining for lunch and dinner every day at the resort works out to about $25 more per person than a day of all inclusive at your precious mexico resorts. Also, I don't plan on eating tons of greasy American burgers on my honeymoon so not too worried about the price of them.

Taxes and fees included I can a room at a 4.5 star resort in St. Lucia (Breakfast and airport transfer included) for exactly $1974.00. Although, we splurged and spent a little extra (still less than 500 a night) to upgrade to a private cottage with private pool. Oh yeah the rooms are also air-conditioned.

But please continue.

Never did I say you should go to Europe, it was merely a a gesture to DISCOUNT my opinion. I guess that notion of self-deprecation flew right over your aero head.

My suggestion was that, if you're going to do the Caribbean, do something a little more cost effective. If you want comfort, fly somewhere where you can go non-stop.

The point of bringing up Europe wasn't to brag about my kick-ass itinerary because, trust me, it is. It was to put across that other opinions don't really matter and people in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks; so take my advice on not going to St. Lucia with a grain of salt.

And if you've compared prices among my said alternatives and they are, in fact, comparable or even lower, kudos to you and you'll have a blast.

Enjoy.

Oh, your oh-so-humble bit of self-deprecation wasn't lost on me. It didn't, however, take away from the fact that from your very first post you have came across as a presumptive and somewhat hypocritical ass.

I started the thread to ask for opinions on the island and some resorts in particular, not to have OUR entire concept of a good honeymoon s**t all over by somebody who has LITERALLY zero knowledge of what constitutes a good trip to the two of us, what our budget may be or any research we may have already done.

If you had a bad time on the island (I assume you have been with everything you said, although you haven't ever explicitly said you've been), that's fine, say that you thought it was over priced and you would have preferred x, y or z.

Don't condescendingly take shots at me when I correct your misguided assumptions about every detail you posted.

And while your point of bringing up your trip to Europe may not have been to brag, it certainly came across that way. Judging by other responses in this thread it seems as though I may not be the only one who felt that way.

oh buddy. I believe you're the one that came back with the hot fire.

OP - "any thoughts?"

Mine were pretty simple, although you disagree. My preference is to travel on the thrift, even if it's high-end thriftiness.

My experiences with that part of the caribbean (BVI, DR, Aruba, DVI) is that they're mostly overpriced as compared to mainland central america. Next beach/island vacation that I'd spend considerable dough on would be something like ****et or the maldives.

To each his own. Sounds like you found a screaming deal - go for it. Take bug spray and make sure the open room has a net.

Quote:

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OP - "any thoughts?"

Mine were pretty simple, although you disagree. My preference is to travel on the thrift, even if it's high-end thriftiness.

My experiences with that part of the caribbean (BVI, DR, Aruba, DVI) is that they're mostly overpriced as compared to mainland central america. Next beach/island vacation that I'd spend considerable dough on would be something like ****et or the maldives.

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I too enjoy thrifty traveling, its usually the way I go. However, this is a bit of a exception as it is a once a lifetime trip.

In any case, had you simply said what is quoted above, that would have been fine. To each their own. You are less of a fan of said islands because of cost effectiveness, I get it and appreciate the insight. But that isn't what you said in your first post. Perhaps it was to the same end, but the way you got their was quite different than what is quoted above.

These beauties were on my bucket list. We chartered a sailboat from Rodney Bay marina down to Pitons and back to Marigot Bay where we got a taxi back to the marina.


Another Piton


A rum punch looking toward Martinique

jake2011 said:

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This might have been true in a time long ago before facebook. Now the brides are spending half their honeymoon uploading photos in the business center for immediate posting.

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I took your advice (from this board) when I booked my hotel for our honeymoon. My friends all have you to blame for my Facebook pictures!

honeymooned in st. lucia at sandals regency. Got a little butler suite. Zero regrets. Great time.

Stonefield estate. This is where we did our honeymoon. Piton views, private villas, private plunge pool. It was awesome. Not sure how much it costs now, it was a great deal when we went, then the bachelor went to st. Lucia and ruined it for the rest of us.