St.Lucia and Barbados first trip

[brentw52]

Yahoo! Finally booked our first trip to Caribbean. Being a Westcoaster we usually go to Hawaii but trying something different this year. We have a week at Windjammer Landing,a week at Divi Southwind and then a week at a little apartment in Speightstown. Just looking for best things to do and see, best tours and good little restaurants to try?
Thanks,
Brent

 

[dioxide45]

Just going to follow along as we are going to Barbados in May. From what I have found, there isn't a lot of Barbados or St Lucia info reported on TUG. I found so far my best resource is their respective TripAdvisor forums. What time of year are you going?

 

[brentw52]

We arrive December 30,so New Years in St.Lucia.

 

[jlp879]

We had a port stop on both islands on Southern Caribbean cruises a couple of years ago. I thought the scenery of St. Lucia was breathtaking. We hired a private car and driver for an all day tour of St. Lucia. Highlights for us were the craft market in Castries, a visit to the Soufriere volcano sulpher springs and mud baths and a local lunch plate at Fedos in Soufriere. One thing that I would have liked to do was hike the Pitons, but we just didn’t have time for it. There are many opportunities to experience nature from land and sea there.

Barbados is much easier to get around and completely flat in comparison to St. Lucia. It had many good restaurants and lots of excellent beaches. We wanted to try Ostins Fish Fry but it's only available on Fridays. Barbados struck me as more similar to other Caribbean islands. St. Lucia was very unique, and I would love to make a return trip there.

You might find a lot more information on Tripadvisor forums:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g147342-i247-St_Lucia.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g147262-i230-Barbados.html

 

[classiclincoln]

We were in St. Lucia in February. Check out our review of Bay Gardens Beach Resort in the Marketplace and I also posted reviews of all the restaurants we went to on Tripadvisor. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Haven't been to Barbados in a long time, so can't help there.

Have fun!!

 

[Chrisky]

Depending on where your apt. in Speightstown is located, you might be able to walk into the town. There are excellent restaurants along their boardwalk such as Fisherman’s Pub, Orange Street Grocer. There is also Island Plates and a new one just opening called Hugo’s. Also about 10 min. away by bus or taxi is The Fish Pot restaurant in an old fort, right on the water - excellent food and you can also use their beach and sunbeds. There is an excellent interactive museum in Speightstown, called Arlington House, depicting the history of Speightstown and Barbados.

Contrary to what was mentioned above, The Fish Fry in Oistins takes place every day of the week. If you like alot of people and activity, go on the Friday, otherwise any other day of the week is fine. There is usually some local entertainment happening there all the time. Oistins is a fair distance from Speightstown, you could take the big blue government bus to Oistins and then a taxi home. There is also an excellent fish fry that takes place in Moontown, which is closer to Speightstown.
From Speightstown, a short local bus ride away, is Holetown, which has an upscale shopping mall, ‘Limegrove Mall’, with some good restauraunts such as Lemongrass or Relish, and the rooftop Fusion Restaurant & Bar. Also right on the beach in Holetown is Surfside Restaurant for great local food, as well as Zaccios.
You do not mention your interests, but there are many things to see in Barbados. Orchid world, Hunte’s Gardens built by Anthony Hunte in a huge sinkhole where you can wander around, and even bring a picnic lunch or just a snack and something to drink and spend time in this beautiful place. If you are lucky Anthony may be around and he is always willing to speak with visitors to his huge garden. There is the newly renovated Harrison’s Cave, with spectacular views and a nice restaurant for a quick lunch.
Visit the East Coast and Bathsheba, and walk along the long beach and see the huge crashing waves. There is also a restaurant there at Barclay’s Park, lovely to have lunch on their deck.

 

[RNCollins]

You do not mention your interests, but there are many things to see in Barbados. Orchid world, Hunte’s Gardens built by Anthony Hunte in a huge sinkhole where you can wander around, and even bring a picnic lunch or just a snack and something to drink and spend time in this beautiful place. If you are lucky Anthony may be around and he is always willing to speak with visitors to his huge garden. There is the newly renovated Harrison’s Cave, with spectacular views and a nice restaurant for a quick lunch.
Visit the East Coast and Bathsheba, and walk along the long beach and see the huge crashing waves. There is also a restaurant there at Barclay’s Park, lovely to have lunch on their deck.

For Barbados:

I also suggest Hunte’s Garden. You’ll feel like you stepped into a exotic floral jungle.
http://huntesgardensbarbados.com/

I stayed at the Bougainvillea Resort last December on an RCI exchange. That’s not too far from The Divi Southwinds. You will be near The Gap, a street with shops, restaurants, etc. The waves on the beaches of the west coast of Barbados can get a little rough some days.

I would highly recommend taking a catamaran cruise for snorkeling. I went with Calabaza. They limit the number on the sailboat to 12. We had drinks, lunch, snacks, snorkeled and even saw turtles.
http://sailcalabaza.com/

You could also visit the restored plantation house from the 1600’s called St Nicolas Abbey.
http://www.stnicholasabbey.com/

Check out Viator.com to see what types of activities you can do while on the island.

If you are interested in birdwatching PM me and I will give you contact info.

 

[brentw52]

Thanks All for the info, that was exactly what I was looking for. Are there any beaches near Divi that have calmer waters? My wife is not a great swimmer but does love to be able to get into the water.

 

[Chrisky]

For calmer water you would have to leave the St. Lawrence Gap area and go to Worthing Beach. Worthing Beach has a large reef, close to the surface, which protects the beach. At this beach is also a great restaurant called Crystal Waters run by 2 local ladies that serve great food. You can rent sunbeds there as well, and on a good day you will see some turtles in the water. Depending on what days you are in that area, Crystal Waters has an excellent Sunday Bar-B-Que on the beach with some local entertainment. Or, you can further afield, on the main road to Bridgetown, is Carlisle Bay a large beach area that is quite popular as well.

 

[RNCollins]

Thanks All for the info, that was exactly what I was looking for. Are there any beaches near Divi that have calmer waters? My wife is not a great swimmer but does love to be able to get into the water.

Here's a picture of the waves in front of the Bougainvillea Resort in Barbados, which I believe is south of the Divi:
320E5635-5820-413B-811F-2EE80A090333 by cponsolle, on Flickr

858FDC3E-8A60-4095-8476-E94AC3E03386 by cponsolle, on Flickr


Also, some pics from snorkeling with Calabaza:

8A888054-3943-4A38-AE28-0A5EDDEDD7EF by
cponsolle, on Flickr
01AB68CE-2C1D-440D-ADAF-28C0860B94BA by cponsolle, on Flickr
9471D9E8-E442-413A-A3DA-C04E582AA7FF by cponsolle, on Flickr

 

[brentw52]

Thanks for the pics.She should be happy there.