St. Lucia is one of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean Sea and popularly characterized by the twin peaks of the Pitons Mountains, the island's most famous landmark and a UNESCO heritage site. The highest peak on St. Lucia is mount Gimie at 950 meters. The island was named St. Lucia by the French after St. Lucia of Syracruse in 1660.
Capital of St. Lucia is Castries with a population of around 9400, and other major towns include Gros Islet, Soufrière and Vieux Fort. St. Lucia is blessed with a tropical climate, which is nicely moderated by northeast trade winds. You can enjoy a vacation all year around though from January to the end of April is considered the peak season as there is very minimal rainfall.
The end of the dry season meets with the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, the biggest festival of the year in May. Carnival is in mid-July, attracting thousands of fun seekers to the colorful event which was moved from April so it did not clash with the Carnival celebrations on other Caribbean Islands.
Soufriere is where you find the sulphur springs and drive-in volcano, a unique feature of St. Lucia. Though the volcano has not erupted in over 200 years, there is still a massive caldera some seven acres in size which still produces sulphur and there are many boiling mud pits. Soufriere is also where you find St. Lucia's oldest Botanical Gardens and Diamond Waterfall of which the water has therapeutic properties.
St. Lucia presents two 18 hole golf courses and one nine-hole course as well as a range of other activities. The island has been described as an angler's dream come true by many sports fishermen and it is easy to rent any type of watercraft from all around the island coast. Fishing charters offer the latest equipment and you will catch such prizes as white marlin, sailfish, huge barracuda and other big game fish that you will talk about for years afterwards!
Snorkelers and scuba divers will be dazzled by the visibility in the clear untroubled waters of St. Lucia, and with the colorful coral gardens around the shore. There are so many dive sites for all levels of ability and certification it leaves divers spoilt for choice! There are submerged wrecks to explore, and you may even encounter "The Thing" which is a serpent-type creature of dubious proportions reportedly resident around one of these wrecks. If you are not yet a certified diver, now is your chance to qualify with one of the St. Lucia Diving Schools.
There are some fantastic resort hotels on St. Lucia but if you are on a tight budget, or travelling solo or if you don't intend to spend your vacation by a pool and would like to explore more of this great little island then why not choose a small guest house instead. Vieux Fort is right on the south tip of St. Lucia and has great little guest houses presented in traditional creole décor for a fraction of the price of a resort hotel, for as little as $18 per night for a twin room. Vieux Fort is the best location for windsurfing, catamaran sailing and kite surfing as it catches the trade winds.
Castries, the capital city, Gros Islet and Soufriere are other great St. Lucia resorts, and also offer budget and self catering accommodations. These accommodations are a great choice for families with young children as they have cooking facilities and are small and friendly. It can be difficult adhering to meal times given at some hotels with toddlers as they tend to enjoy their food when they are ready for it, not when it is convenient for someone else! All inclusive hotels are great for this reason, but very costly especially if you have more than two children and have to pay for extra rooms. Families with young children need space and not the stares of other guests when one child is over-tired and decides to throw an impromptu tantrum!
Most of the young and lively crowd flock to Rodney bay for the nightlife where there are excellent bars and clubs. Gros Islet has a Friday Night Street Party with barbecue grills, music and dancing. Castries' answer to that is a Friday Night Seafood Party in the village of Anse-la-Raye where you will enjoy traditionally Caribbean music and relish the latest catch of delicacies including lobster, octopus, squid, shrimps and of course fish!
St. Lucia has 19,000 acres of rainforest with 29 miles of trails of varying difficulty and the National Parks Trust has qualified guides ready to accompany visitors along these trails pointing out various species of plants and wildlife. There are 30 bird species in the rainforest, and visitors choose their trail according to their ability, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare St. Lucia parrot or Jacquot. These trails and the rainforest are protected and you must have permission to enter from the Forest and Lands Department.
St. Lucia offers something for everyone in one neat little package. Families can snorkel, swim and discover the unique rainforest. Honeymooners can find that perfect memory that will stay with them forever. Adventure seekers will find all the fun they want to on exciting quad bike trails, water sports, walking in the rain forest and of course the lively night life. Sun seekers - well, you cannot go wrong with the glorious St. Lucia climate, and you can go for a day cruise to really catch the rays. St. Lucia is as chilled out and laid back as it gets, add to that the warm hospitality of the local people and the natural beauty of this unique island and you have a vacation that will leave you with treasured memories for years to come.
Having worked in the travel industry for several years, the author is now in the process of creating two travel websites dedicated naturally to travel. The websites presents opportunities that are available now to more people than ever before to see amazing places and experience more diverse cultures and natural and man-made wonders of the world. http://www.egypt-dreams.com/ highlights the historical attractions and wonders of Egypt and other ancient civilizations. http://www.forsureamazing.com/ favors family and budget vacations and adventures, giving practical information, advice, ideas and tips for travel, activities and destinations.
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