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It is about time that I write about my favorite stop during our Southern Caribbean cruise. While Allan had been here before, this was my first time visiting Saint Lucia. And I was not disappointed! Saint Lucia is well known for the beautiful beaches and the two mountains, the Pitons, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Unlike the other tours during this trip which were booked through Viator, I booked our island tour directly through Cosol Tours. Their great reviews on cruisecritic.com and other sites, led me to trust that they were THE tour group to use – and I was right!
This was the most expensive tour we took all week – it cost us US $75 each. But it included food and drinks and the most memorable day of our week. How can you go wrong with that?
Our group from the cruise ship was rather large – I would say easily over 100 of us had hired this particular tour company. We may have been even bigger than any of the cruise ship’s own tours! We were divided up into vans of about 14 each. One van contained the families with children in strollers. A separate truck driven by the owner met us a various stops – he had the coolers with the unlimited drinks!
Our tour left at 9:30am from the cruise ship dock. The tour operators were easy to spot with their Cosol Tours signs and shirts. They even helped us find sunscreen – which we felt we would need that day. One of the things I loved about this tour was the fact that there were frequent stops (almost every 10 minutes) for quick photo ops.
Banana Plantation
Our first real stop was at a banana plantation. We learned about the banana growth cycle and tasted banana products. Everyone has heard of banana chips, but banana BBQ sauce and ketchup? I certainly had to try them! You can buy the products at these local stands.
As we kept driving up, we stopped at a spot where we could try locally made spice rum. This was also our first beverage stop and opportunity to use the restrooms.
We drove on through the fishing villages of Anse La Raye, Canaries, and Marigot Bay, best known as the location where Dr. Doolittle was filmed.
We stopped for a late breakfast. We sampled local delicacies – local fish cakes, johnny cakes, coconut cakes, mangoes, passion fruit and sugar cane. The truck with the drinks pulled up so that we could enjoy rum punch, water, local beer and sodas.
Sugar Beach
We headed to Soufriere where we boarded boats to Sugar Beach. What an amazing place! Located between the two Pitons, this white sand beach houses a fancy resort. One of the beach areas is marked off from swimming and another area for snorkeling. The water was so clear that it was deceptive because you thought that it wasn’t that deep while it really was. I did not go snorkeling here but Allan said that there were plenty of fish to see. I relaxed on the beach enjoying several cool dips in the refreshing water. Bring your towel because there are not a lot of chairs to rent out!
The Volcano
Coming back to Soufriere we went to THE place that Allan wanted to see – the world’s only drive-in volcano. What this means is simply that you drive up to where you can be explained about the volcano – you’re not driving into the volcano. I dipped in the mineral mud bath – mostly because I’d been told I would look 10 years younger! It was a bit strange but you walk through a large bath of hot mineral water, then apply the mud to your skin, then go back through the bath of hot mineral water. The water is so dirty, that you won’t be able to get it all off.
From the mud baths, our tour took us to Toraille Waterfall. This was where you could really clean off all of the mud! We stood under the cascading water. It was so cold!
On our drive back, we stopped at the same location as where we ate before to enjoy some local hot bread and cheese. So good!
Finally, we had a quick stop at Morne Fortune and the Governor General House for photo ops.
Pro Tips for Saint Lucia
- Bring your camera
- Wear your swimsuit under your clothes
- Bring your towel
- If you’ve got snorkeling gear, bring it (you can rent for US$10 otherwise)
- Wear a darker swimsuit or one that you won’t be sad to lose (the mud can stain)
- Try the local beer – Piton is refreshing!
Saint Lucia turned out to be my favorite stop on our cruise. I can’t wait to go back and spend a week or so on this lovely island. Check out posts on other great port days spent in St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, Barbados, and San Juan. Curious about our itinerary and budget? Read all the details here.
What are your recommendations for a can’t miss spot in Saint Lucia or what are you looking forward to seeing?
Happy travels!
Annick, The Common Traveler
Raised as a third culture kid living in South America and Europe, Annick caught the travel bug early. As an empty-nester, Annick enjoys sharing her tips for traveling for those with champagne taste and beer budgets.
St Lucia looks beautiful and I’d love to take a road trip too, with such beautiful coastal views! Also, visiting the volcano will be an amazing experience. Not sure if the mineral mud bath is something I want to try haha. Does it even help? Sugar beach looks like it could be a place in Hawaii!
Wow You had a perfectly awesome day with just 75 usd. The mud bath sounds so much fun. I love the small videos capturing your journey, makes me feel i’m taking this journey with you
Learning about St. Lucia for the first time and did not know about the Pitons, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They look amazing. Seeing US $75 per person would sound expensive but with food, drinks and memories for life, think it would be worth it once a while 🙂 Ah! That banana flower. I have seen it up-close for the first time here as we are slow traveling Himalayas and the fresh bananas taste yummy! Banana BBQ sauce and ketchup is new to me too. Very creative. Seems like a perfect Port Day in St. Lucia to enjoy and soak it all in! Would love to bring back Piton beer bottle as a souvenir.
I haven’t been to St. Lucia. It looks like a very cool place to visit. I’m surprise that they have a banana plantation. Hope to see it soon.
Looks like you had a fun day out. 75 USD with food and drinks is not bad at all, and the fact that you had a good time makes it worth it. Will definitely check it out when I happen to go that side.
St. Lucia looks like an amazing place to visit. The Pitons look absolutely stunning, no doubt they are a UNESCO heritage site. The Banana sauce and ketchup sound kind of disgusting but I would still try it. Really interesting! Thank you for sharing your experience
Reading your travel blog about St Lucia is like travelling with your guys! Oh such a gorgeous place, and wow you had your volcanic mud facial. That is good for the skin! Hope you enjoyed it 😀
Looks like you guys had a lot of fun in St. Lucia. This was an interesting read because my family has been looking into a cruise with some of these destinations on our list. Can’t wait! What is the best time of the year to go? We might be planning it to a year 2019. Thanks.
You seem to have an amazing experience in this trip to St. Lucia. Banana sauce and Banana ketchup sound really interesting! I would love to try both of them.The mineral mud bath sounds fun too! Thank you for sharing your experience.
You caught me at the UNESCO point itself. That automatically makes the place, must visit for me.
Cruise sounds very very impressive. Glad you chose the perfect one for you after reading all reviews.
The banana plantation sounds interesting. Banana barbeque sauce? I want to try that.
The Pitons seem just like we used to draw in our drawing books while in school. Volcano mud bath to look 10 years younger is hilarious! Seems that you had a great time in St. Lucia. I would love to visit this some day.
St Lucia is such a beautiful island. I never realised you could have mineral mud bath at the volcano. That sound slike a lot of fun and I would love to look 10 years younger. Maybe I will go there twice lol
It’s so hot where I am right now that a bottle of that Piton beer would go down well! I’d love to see the Pitons one day; they look gorgeous! I know nothing about St Lucia and the volcanoes so it was interesting to read this.
I wanted to get to St. Lucia when I was in the Caribbean last, but didn’t end up having time. I need to book this tour! What a deal for $75 with food included! I had no idea that banana BBQ sauce or ketchup was even a thing! I have to try them!
Haha this looks like so much fun! Thanks for the tip to wear a dark suit- I would definitely want to do the mud. St Lucia looks gorgeous!!
Looks like a great day tour to make sure you were able to see as much as possible of St Lucia during your mooring there. We had planned to go for our honeymoon but found out it was hurricane season so we went elsewhere, I’d still love to go, partly for the beautiful natural landscapes but also for the cocoa farming!
I would love to tour around this beautiful port day in St. Lucia. I loved those Pitons and two mountains for which St. Lucia is famous for. You have taken beautiful pictures of this place. I would also love to take mineral mud bath as it must be nourishing for skin. Thanks for all useful tips!
St Lucia has so much more to do than just the gorgeous beaches, I had no idea! A drive-in volcano sounds pretty cool, though I’d be a little apprehensive about trying the volcanic mud on my face. Also, Sugar Beach looks nice and the idea of trying locally made spice rum really appeals to me!
Sounds like a busy, but great day trip of Lucia. I’ve never been to St. Lucia, but I’d definitely love to check out Sugar Beach and explore that volcano. Thanks for the tip about wearing a dark bathing suit too. It seems like this isn’t the place to bring an expensive swimsuit.
I remember our recent trip to St. Lucia. We had so much fun and had tremendously enjoyed our stay. It is a great place to recharge and take from the early hustles of life.
You seem to have had a great time at S. Lucia. I found the pictures of the Pitons really intriguing. I can see your trip was really great value for money and very well organized. The fact that you could stop every 10 minutes for photo ops is really wonderful as this is what makes these kind of trips so memorable. The mud bath and then cooling off under the waterfall must have been a fascinating experience too.
I enjoy visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I am glad to see that you found the right tour group. Banana barbecue sauce and banana ketchup look tempting. You shared some really useful tips. Piton sounds good. I would prefer to rent the snorkeling gears, as it helps me make my bag lighter.