Sensational St Lucia
We flew from Gatwick with Virgin Atlantic and took a short helicopter transfer to Castries which afforded a great view of the island. Our hotel, the 5* Capella Marigot Bay (formerly Discovery), was a short drive from the airport on the Caribbean side of the island. Marigot Bay is a steep sided bay with a marina that offers great facilities for sailors and land visitors alike and was the setting for the film Dr Doolittle featuring Rex Harrison. There is a small shopping mall, chandlers, port office, a number of waterfront restaurants, dive centre and two hotels including ours. There is also a small beach area, with wooden shacks selling cold drinks, snacks and souvenirs, which is reached by water taxis.
The Capella Marigot is fronted by the marina and the restaurants, bars, spa, pools and rooms are built up the hillside with great views of the bay. We had a one bedroom bay view suite which had great facilities including a full kitchen which was under-used as we were on all-inclusive. Even though the hotel was undergoing refurbishment during our stay it did not detract from our enjoyment and the staff could not have been more helpful or friendly - it would be great to go back when everything is finished later in the summer as we would then be able to make use of a new restaurant and spa garden.
Despite being on all-inclusive, we sampled a couple of restaurants in the bay including the Rainforest Hideaway rated one of the top restaurants in the Caribbean and Doolittle’s both of which we enjoyed enormously.
Venturing away from the bay was not difficult as we hired a local water taxi, Shashamane, and went south to Soufriere one day calling in at Anse Couchon and Anse Chastenet on the way and had great views of the Pitons from the sea. Another day we went north to Rodney Bay and Pidgeon Point where we climbed up to the ruined garrison and had lunch in Gros Islet.
Other excursions included scuba diving - we dived on a wreck just off Anse Couchon which was spectacular, if a little scary when my husband suddenly gave me the out of air sign. We went to Des Cartiers for a walk through the rainforest and on another excursion bird watching at Millet where we caught sight of the St Lucia Parrot. On Friday evening we went to "jump up" in Anse La Raye - this is not as famous as the street party in Gros Islet as it is more low key.
On our way back to the airport at the end of our stay we called in at the stunning botanical gardens in Soufriere, had lunch at Ladera (fabulous food and stunning views) and also had a quick tour of the Boutique Boucan Hotel Chocolat & Spa which is set in a cocoa plantation.
There was so much more we could have done including the sulphur springs, a drive through the volcano, zip lines or a cable car ride through the rainforest canopy, or a climb up Gros Piton but I guess this means we will have to go back...