Saint Lucia

Soufrière — the oldest town in Saint Lucia, a fishing village below the twin Pitons (Gros Piton, 798m, and Petit Piton, 743m — UNESCO World Heritage Site, two volcanic plugs rising sheer from the Caribbean Sea, the most recognisable landscape in the Caribbean) — with the Drive-In Volcano (Sulphur Springs — an active volcanic crater you can drive into, with boiling mud pools and sulphurous steam vents).

The Pitons were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 as a “volcanic spire” landscape of outstanding universal value — the twin peaks are among the most recognisable natural landmarks in the world, appearing on the Saint Lucia flag and on the XCD banknote. The Piton Management Area includes the volcanic complex, coral reefs and tropical forest.

The Gros Piton Trail (3–4h return, with a guide required by law — steep, forested, with views from the summit over Petit Piton, the Caribbean and Saint Vincent on clear days) and the Diamond Botanical Gardens and Mineral Baths (spring-fed mineral baths at 37°C, the original baths built for French troops by Louis XVI in 1784, with botanical gardens of tropical plants).

The Diamond Mineral Baths were built in 1784 by order of Louis XVI for the use of French troops who were suffering from tropical ailments — the mineral water (rich in sulphur, iron and other compounds from volcanic springs) was believed to have curative properties. The baths were destroyed during the Fedon Rebellion of 1795 and restored in the 20th century.

Snorkelling beneath the Pitons — the Marine Management Area (the most protected reef in Saint Lucia, directly below the Piton cliffs, with large corals, seahorses and French angelfish) by boat from Soufrière, and the 7km Piton Marine Reserve (the only section of the Saint Lucian coast where fishing and anchoring are completely restricted, producing the finest reef condition on the island).

The Piton Marine Reserve was created in 1986 when the coral directly beneath the Pitons was found to be among the most intact in the Eastern Caribbean — protected by the difficulty of anchoring in the deep water and the remoteness from the main tourist areas. The reef contains approximately 168 species of coral and 165 species of fish.

30 min from Soufrière. Marigot Bay — a deep, sheltered natural harbour ringed by palm-covered hills, used by Admiral Rodney to hide his entire fleet from the French by covering the masts with palm fronds — is consistently listed as the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean. The ferry across the bay (a 2-minute dugout canoe ride) and the beach bar beneath the palms.

Marigot Bay was the location of Dr Doolittle (1967) and various James Bond scenes — its visual quality has made it the most filmed location in the Eastern Caribbean. Admiral Rodney’s fleet concealment story (1778 — covering masts with palm fronds so that the bay appeared to contain only coconut palms from the sea) may be apocryphal but is fondly repeated.

Rodney Bay — the main resort area of Saint Lucia, with the finest marina in the Eastern Caribbean (home base of the annual Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, the world’s largest offshore sailing race, which arrives from Las Palmas every December with 200+ yachts) and Reduit Beach (the most accessible beach on Saint Lucia, 1km of safe swimming with calm trade-wind swells).

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) departs Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, every late November and arrives in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, approximately 3 weeks later — crossing 2,700 nautical miles of open Atlantic. It is the world’s largest offshore sailing event, with 250+ boats and 1,500+ sailors making the same crossing the Columbus fleet made in 1492.

The Rainforest Adventures Saint Lucia aerial tram (a 45-min gondola ride through the forest canopy of the central rainforest, at 300m altitude, above a river gorge) and the Tet Paul Nature Trail (a 45-min walk on the southwest coast above Soufrière with views of both Pitons and the Diamond Falls, one of the finest short walks in the Caribbean).

Saint Lucia’s central rainforest contains the endemic Saint Lucia parrot (Amazona versicolor — the national bird, reduced to 150 individuals in 1978, now 1,000+ after one of the most successful Caribbean parrot recovery programmes, driven by the Saint Lucia Forestry Department and a public education campaign that made the jackquot a symbol of national pride).

The Castries Market (the finest produce market in the Eastern Caribbean, Friday market in full colour — dasheen, christophine, breadfruit, cocoa pods, spices, bay leaves and the Saint Lucian woman in traditional madras dress) and the Gros Islet Friday Night Street Party (the most famous beach party in the Caribbean — the entire fishing village becomes an open-air nightclub every Friday from 10pm). Fly from Hewanorra (UVF) or George F.L. Charles (SLU).

Saint Lucia’s madras dress (the traditional national costume of the Caribbean, worn by women at festivals — a plaid cotton fabric originally imported from Madras, India, in the 18th century for the enslaved women of the French Caribbean, now a symbol of Creole identity across Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia) is made in specific colour combinations that traditionally signified the wearer’s relationship status.