5 day itinerary starting from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

[tripleeph]

We have a 5 day/night trip planned leaving from Rodney Bay. We wish we had more time but we don't. We are really struggling with what our itinerary should be heading south. Right now we are planning on a round trip, but still have not decided where to stop. On the other hand, i am beginning to consider making it a one way trip and flying back to st. lucia after night 5. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated!

[Jerry Woodward]

You really can't go wrong either way. It kind of depends whether you want more "civilization" or off the beaten track anchorages. If you go north to Martinique, you can visit St Anne, a large anchorage just south of Le Marin. You can then hop up the coast of Martinique as far as time allows. You will encounter quaint anchorages that have a more laid back "French fishing village" feel.

Going south, you can hop down the coast of St Lucia to the Pitons, beautiful area. Very different feel, more isolated anchorages, better snorkeling/diving. You will encounter "boat boys", usually Rastas who will help you anchor or pick up a mooring, get you ice, and try to sell you all kinds of stuff, from fruit/veges, to hand made trinkets. Some people don't like this and feel like they are being hustled. My wife and I embraced them, engaged them, and used their services. Yes, there is a bit of hustle, but so what? We're talking about small amounts of money, and this is how they make their living. There is a lot of poverty on St Lucia and St Vincent and some people will not even stop there because of the increase in crime. I personally feel that this .concern is overblown. As long as you use common sense precautions, like hoisting your dinghy and locking it every night, you should be fine. The other advantage of staying on St Lucia is that you won't have to check in/out of other countries. If you want to have good internet, pick up a sim card in Rodney bay and purchase a high speed data plan.

If you like more extended sailing, you can sail down to St Vincent and even to Bequia. If you can do one way, I would head down to Bequia and maybe even visit Tobago Cay. The beauty of this area is that you have so many options, you can have a plan A, but easily change to plan B depending on the weather, sea state, your crew and what you are looking for. We spent two weeks and went from Martinique to Tobago Cay and back. We stopped at different anchorages on the return trip, so we had a lot of variety. Would do it again in a heartbeat!

[Jerry Woodward]

I re-read your post and realized you weren't considering going north. As I said, I think you can have a great 5 day trip staying in St Lucia. One thing we discovered is that there is a beautiful bay called D'orange Bay just south of Rodney Bay. It is big enough for one, maybe two boats. It is a quintessential Caribbean anchorage with a beautiful beach, palm trees and clear water for snorkeling. Sandy bottom and good holding. It is literally 1 mile south of the entrance to Rodney bay. So, if you get a late start after checking in and getting checked out on your boat, you don't have to spend the first night in Rodney bay. You can leave and be anchored in D'orange bay within 15 minutes. Likewise, at the end of your charter, you can spend the last night in D'orange bay and then able to turn the boat in early in the morning in Rodney bay. The other popular stops that we enjoyed are Marigot and Anse De Pitons. These three anchorages would make a great 5 day trip IMO.


Have fun!