January 16, 2022

Another day, another gorgeous, tropical Caribbean island. Our ship was docked in the capital city of Castries. The above image shows some of the colorful buildings in Castries as seen from the ship.

There is so much to see in St. Lucia it would be impossible to see it all in one short shore excursion. The 237 square mile volcanic island is very mountainous with lush green tropical foliage, most of the island is covered in rain forest, and the waters surrounding the island provide many opportunities for boating, scuba diving and snorkeling.

We had been to St. Lucia twice before on dive trips. Both times we stayed in Soufriere on the western side of the island. When we weren’t scuba diving we were exploring around Soufriere, taking in the spectacular scenery, and enjoying the delicious local cuisine.

On our previous trips we didn’t get an opportunity to visit the northern part of the island so we chose to take a bus tour to see it. As our bus climbed the hills on steep, narrow roads with hairpin turns we were treated to jaw dropping scenic views and learned about the island from our guide Amelia. Tourism is the number one economy on St. Lucia.

Our destination was a private home called Stony Hill with magnificent views and beautiful gardens. We enjoyed listening to a steel drum as we relaxed with a cold fruit juice and delicious snack of banana bread and coconut cake.

I love lighthouses so I had to capture the Vigie Lighthouse as we cruised out to sea at the end of the day.

Fun things to know about St. Lucia:

• St. Lucia is the first country to be named after a woman
• St. Lucia has the world’s only drive-in volcano
• St. Lucia is the home of the Pitons Mountain Range, a UNESCO World Heritage site 
• Some scenes from the movie “Superman II” with Christopher Reeve were filmed in St. Lucia. In one scene he is seen flying by Petit Piton. One of the dive sites at the base of Petit Piton is nicknamed “Superman’s Flight” (yes, we dove it many years ago)

Where do you think we’ll be next? Stay tuned…