Experience of our holiday in Saint Lucia

Our Holiday

Saint Lucia is one of my favourite holidays. There is loads of amazing things to explore, everyone is friendly. It was the holiday of a lifetime, I got to witness my dad and step mum getting married and had the opportunity to spend quality time with my family and making new memories.

We went on a small private boat, visited neighbourhoods, went to St Vincent where part of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed, went on the Catamaran, which was amazing, we had a try at things such as scuba diving and jet skiing, some of the entertainment was not as good but overall we enjoyed our visit. Our hotel had two restaurants, a steak house as well as a special dinner section where you had to book in advance. 

We love to explore, there were many amazing things to explore, went to the top of a live Volcano, visited surrounding towns and markets, went exploring and hiking. We delved into the rainforests and covered the whole island within our ten days there. We went to Pigeon Island where you can swim, kayak, snorkel or just relax and enjoy the journey and soak up the sun.

"It's one of the best things to do in St Lucia for active travellers.”

There’s an authentic restaurant where you can enjoy the views that look onto the Pitons. There is an opportunity to visit the two volcanoes at The Pitons which rise above the Caribbean Sea, the views just speak for themselves. It will take approximately four hours to climb up Gros Piton and come back down again. A guide will assist you; you don't need to book in advance. You should aim to go as early as you can. The Nature Trail will take around 30 minutes and will give an excellent opportunity to take some spectacular photos and see some of the most amazing views you'll ever see. Swim in the Toraille Waterfall, easy to reach and a two-minute walk from the road.

Things you won't want to miss are:

1.   Land and Sea Tours

2.   St Lucia Rainforest Adventures Aerial Tram and Zipline Tour 

3.   Speed Boat and Sightseeing Tour to the Capital Soufriere

4.   A Private Island Tour

5.   Cruise Ship Island Excursions

6.   Visit their Beach and Reef

7.   Visit the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens

8.   Marigot Bay

9.   Champagne Sunset Cruise

and Many and many more.

Experience of booking flights and transportation

Map on the plane - last stop to St Lucia

Our Travel Experience

We travelled over to Saint Lucia by two planes, the flights and accommodation were booked and paid for by my dad and step mum however some of us paid for our own flights and accommodation, back then it cost me around £1000 not including spending money for the 10 days we were there for. Everything was plain sailing. 

We left from our house in Lanark and drove to Glasgow Airport where the car was booked into the car park, we then flew from Glasgow to London and stayed overnight in a hotel at the airport and got a direct flight to St Lucia in the morning. The journey to this point was great with everyone being excited and no issues. When we got off the plane we went through the usual processes, got our luggage and got the minibus to our accommodation, this took around 30 minutes, everyone was tired but excited and even the kids were well behaved. When we got to our hotel and finally checked in to our rooms my step mum realised that one of the bags were missing, unfortunately it happened to be the bag that had all of the wedding clothes in it, thankfully we managed to get it back before the wedding however my dad and step mum had to pay a travel fee to get it delivered.

Coming home we had a minibus back to the airport however my little brother and stepbrother both paid for a helicopter ride back which took them around 15 minutes. We came home from St Lucia on a double decker Virgin plane where we sat upstairs. We flew directly to London the flight over was amazing, everything was a little rushed to get us on the plane safely and away as a Hurricane was coming in. When we got to London, we had to get a smaller plane to Glasgow. As a result, we got charged for the extra baggage, thankfully this was also refunded.

We then came from Glasgow Airport and drove back to Lanark, where everyone was very tired by this point, but I think that two issues throughout our entire journey was good, especially as we had three young kids as well was pretty good.

https://www.virginatlantic.com/

One of my nieces watching a film on the plane

Experience of staying in our accomodation

A night shot of one of the family swimming pools from one of the restaurants

Our Accommodation.

We stayed in the Almond Hotel, Morgan Bay in Saint Lucia for ten days, which was an All-Inclusive holiday. This hotel is issued with a Certificate of Excellence according to TripAdvisor. It is suitable for romantic getaways, families, weddings, relaxing as well as a wide range of fun activities available within the hotel. They also had a babysitting service and excursions that the girls went on giving mum and dad a chance to relax.

In our hotel there was something for everyone from young kids to adults, ranging from four swimming pools, six restaurants and bars and an awesome selection of All-Inclusive activities. From chilling at the beach to touring the island, there is something for everyone providing you with an authentic experience that you most probably wouldn't find anywhere else. There was a large group of us travelling over as a result, we all stayed in our own accommodation. There was ten of us in total, my dad and step mum had the marital room, my brother and step brother shared a room, me and my step sister shared another, my sister and brother in law had a family room as they also had three young kids too. We had great accommodation and were not far from the front building where we were able to get access to Wi-Fi, however we had to go up to the main entrance if we wanted to use it.

My dad and step mum had moved room three times. They had a blocked toilet so were upgraded, they were issued a second room with a beach view, the night before the wedding they had an issue with their air conditioner and although they were happy to stay in the room, management insisted that they were upgraded again, this time they were offered a better room beside the beach, which had an en-suite bathroom and spa built in.

Our room had two twin beds, a bathroom, a television where we could watch UK films, a Warner Brother's station where we could watch most classic films, and most were in English.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g14006433-d589407-i27600781-St_James_s_Club_Morgan_Bay-Choc_Gros_Islet_Quarter_St_Lucia.html

One of the restaurants

Why we chose to go to St Lucia.

Why St Lucia?

"St Lucia is incredible"

We chose to go to Saint Lucia back in October 2010. Saint Lucia is a stunning island situated in the Caribbean Sea, in the West Indies. St Lucia is connected to the Atlantic Ocean and is part of Lesser Antilles, north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent and northwest of Barbados and the south of Martinique. St Lucia is also known by the name of "Helen of the West Indies". 

Fun Fact - Although they have thousands of visitors every year, very few actually know much about this beautiful Island. 

This particular holiday was a special one though as my dad and step mum had decided to use it for their wedding destination. They chose this location because of the stunning warm sandy beaches and the nice weather along with the thought that it would be nice to get married next to the beach. They were provided a buggy to take her and the bridesmaid to the venue where her son gave her away, on a stunning part of the island, with a beautiful view behind us, they then got photos taken standing down on the beach. We had never been to Saint Lucia before so after doing some research they thought this would be the perfect place and a new experience. St Lucia has two tapered mountains, the Pitons and also volcanic beaches, reef-diving sites, luxury resorts, fishing villages, waterfalls, rainforests and a cliff garden looking over their Capital, Castries which is a well-known cruise port which is a popular tourist attraction. 

It is how I would describe heaven and I am not surprised that my dad and step mum chose this amazing destination as the perfect place to get married, none of us wanted to leave.

https://www.thefactsite.com/saint-lucia-facts/