ARC Arrives - Caribbean Compass

JANUARY 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 26
ALL ASHORE…
Relaxing in St. Lucia
by Shirley Hall
A return to St. Lucia had
been on our agenda for
months after almost a decade
of cruising south of 12
degrees north. After anchorage
in bustling Chaguaramas,
Trinidad, my husband and I
decided that St. Lucia would
be a great place to relax and
be a tourist again. Early
November was chosen as a
good time as the Atlantic
crossers and other cruisers had
yet to appear in great numbers.
Most of the storms should have
passed, but the island would be
green from rains.
St. Lucia is a somewhat odd
island. It has some nice
beaches, yet a couple of steep
peaks are its Caribbean identity.
The Pitons are supremely
photogenic but virtually
unclimbable for the average
person. St. Lucia does, however,
brag about a “drive
through” volcano. Been there,
done that. Not overly
impressed. I had expected to
drive my rental car close
along the rim of a crater of
glowing lava. Instead I got
some mud and the smell of
sulfur. Good thing someone
mentioned it was the volcano!
Rodney Bay now has a fullscale
hotel on Pigeon Point
where a decade ago Lucian
drivers came to chill, listening
to country and western
music. On the water were
fewer than 20 other yachts, very spread out. The haulout
at Gros Islet looked busy from our dink (I desperately
try to stay away from boatyards). The docks at
the Rodney Bay Marina were sparingly occupied and
had visibly changed little since our last visit. The
Bread Basket Restaurant/Bakery is larger, and their
coffee and pastries are still excellent. The parking and
pick-up area was as hectic as ever, as everyone
seemed in training for the start of the season when the
ARC arrives.
The downside was that four cruise ships were in
Castries the day we went to the city, and an average of
two were due every day. Castries, like so many tourist-
A one-day auto tour was within our cruising budget
and captured all the highlights
oriented Caribbean towns, has traffic that doesn’t flow
due to congested streets, twists and turns. I had forgotten
that the impact of taxi vans and cruise ship passengers
can take some of the thrill out of the Caribbean.
The great upside is that almost every road throughout
St. Lucia has been very recently paved. Those roads are
the real key to revealing the beauty of St. Lucia.
Always on a budget, our last one-day tour of St.
Lucia had been almost eight years ago. This time the
rental car was better, bringing us to the beautiful-asever,
barely changed Dennery scenic overlook on the
windward coast. (What happened to the banana
ketchup?) Farther along a sparsely populated southeast
coast, a massive hotel and golf course are being
constructed. The impressive view from the top of the
town of Vieux Fort affords a 360-degree look at some
of the most beautiful undeveloped Caribbean. Since
we were last there, a Kentucky Fried had appeared.
The isolated international airport near Vieux Fort hasn’t
caused any big development explosions, except
now the town has a good-looking, functioning, wellprotected
port. We had a great lunch of tasty grilled
mahi mahi at a family-owned hotel nearby.
The goal of our visit to St. Lucia was to relax, and my
first desire was to settle into a hot natural bath at the
Soufriere Botanical Garden, worth ten times the price.
Fantastic, nothing had changed. We dodged the eager
crowd of cruise-shippers and splurged for the private
bath. The entire botanical garden is absolutely stunning,
the waterfalls are exquisite, and the private bath
has an antique character. You get the key from Miss
Bess and fill it to your chosen temperature — the sulfurous
water is hot, really hot. The story is that the
king of France paid to develop this volcano-heated
mineral spring as a spa for his soldiers. He did right.
We oohhed and aahhed while soothing old boat bites.
The time limit must be relative to how many people
desire the private bath: we had time to casually enjoy
some libations and fruit.
Totally refreshed and revitalized, we headed on to
enjoy more spectacular views and the beginning of the
afternoon effect of desiring a cocktail in a scenic location
like Anse Chastenet, just north of Soufriere. (Of
all the wonders of St. Lucia, why not fix that horrible
road?) The restaurant and beach bar hadn’t changed,
except for the better. The rum punches and aromas
rising from the grill are true art forms. Another “must
see” above the parking lot is one of the wonders of
modern architecture; a huge, out of place, six-level
monstrosity seemingly ready for alien flying saucers.
On to the coup de grace, enjoying a sundowner at
the Dasheen Restaurant. I remembered the glistening
swimming pool beside the intricately carved bar. All
aspects of the Dasheen are now slightly bigger and
better. Dasheen has “the” island view of the Pitons.
This vista is best in the morning before the sun gets
high, or as it sets, hoping for the green flash; in the
afternoon the Pitons are obscured by a silver glare.
At lovely Marigot Bay, Caribbean-style (or something
closely resembling it) palatial condos with personal
hot tubs and stunning swimming pools now line the
bay’s southern hillside. I never thought I’d see a megayacht
tied up stern-to at the gorgeous stone Hurricane
Hole Bar. The Moorings weren’t bad enough; now
cruisers are discouraged from entering the “keyhole”
or inner bay. The memorably accommodating
Customs and Immigration office is no longer “quaint”.
Tourism has many edges: scenic St. Lucia still has the
true, friendly Caribbean product but investment,
development and much-needed jobs is what it is all
about. We found the changes shocking and drastic at
Marigot Bay, but it could be worse.
Relaxed after our day ashore, we went back to the
boat in breezy Rodney Bay.