St Lucia

[Saganatt44]

Hi All - or Hi-ya-al,

Any gossip about cruising in the St. Lucia/Martinque areas. Anyone had any problems with the locals?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Saganatt44.

[Hud3]

The locals on Martinique don't tend to fraternize with yachties. On St Lucia, there are a few "boat boys" at Soufriere. Treat them with friendly respect and you can expect the same in return. As in most areas, secure your dinghy/motor and lock up at night.

In Rodney Bay, be sure to buy some bananas and mangoes from de Fruit Man.
.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Hud3

The locals on Martinique don't tend to fraternize with yachties. On St Lucia, there are a few "boat boys" at Soufriere. Treat them with friendly respect and you can expect the same in return. As in most areas, secure your dinghy/motor and lock up at night.

In Rodney Bay, be sure to buy some bananas and mangoes from de Fruit Man.
.

Hud-

Some pals of ours, Steve and Joy, on our sistership, Ocean Angel, have just pulled into Rodney Bay after a week+ stay in Le Marin and have been raving about Rodney Bay. Evidently the IGY marina there is very inexpensive and the resort quite impressive. They have also commented on the friendly locals so, all in all, it must be a pretty good place to visit. They are considering leaving the yacht there verses taking her down to Trini for the summar/hurrican season. Any throughts?

/s/ S

[Hud3]

We used the "old" Rodney Bay marina a few times for provisioning and picking up guests. It's a good spot. The IGY ownership is relatively recent.

We had our boat hauled there for a month over the Christmas holidays one year so we could fly home. The yard was OK, about average. I don't know if they offer yard anchors for summer storage, but I'd want them. To leave the boat there we had to do a "temporary importation". It didn't cost much; just some paperwork and an inspection by a customs agent. All in all, I preferred laying up the boat at Jolly Harbour on Antigua.

[seanie20]

Rodney Bay has a cruiser net on channel 68 at 08.30 run by 'stick' Adam, great service

[jr_spyder]

My wife and I are on our way home right now from a week in St Lucia at a resort. We rented a car one day and drove all around the island and had to visit the marinas of course. Rodney Bay looks great. New docks are very impressive and great facilities shoreside. On our list as a must sail into. Marigot Bay also beautiful, new, and very protected. We stayed on the water between the Pitons and was out on dive boats from there several days. Lots of moorings in the area and a must stop. Town of Soufriere not really worth a stop itself as it seems to be one of the smaller and less developed towns on St Lucia and was hit hard by hurricane 2 yrs ago. Although botanical gardens there really fantastic Friendly people everywhere we went. Also some of the best food we've had anywhere in the Caribbean. Diving/snorkeling in marine park at Pitons exceptional.

Weird to be in the Caribbean and not to be on a boat, but we needed a getaway and this was perfect.

Enjoy

JR

[Lake-Effect]

We also were just in St Lucia for a week, end of March. We stayed at a very small resort on the south side of Marigot Bay. My sailing activities were limited to a captained day sail to Soufriere, and bombing around Marigot Bay on a Hobie Wave

We took the local buses from Marigot to Rodney Bay and hung around there for a day.

My take:
- island was friendly, and most locals were either friendly or indifferent.
- good restaurants were relatively expensive, but usually worth it.
Standouts: Hurricane Hole in Marigot Bay - deluxe pub food, usually very good. Eat, drink, look at mega-yachts. Jacques' in Rodney Bay. Just... excellent
- anchorage or mooring available in Marigot. Moorings has a base there. Small chandlery. There's a decent, but pricy food-store right on the bay.
- Rodney Bay looked fairly modern and well-equipped to handle any boating need. Lots of room to anchor, several restaurants, alot of shopping.

When we finally get cruising, I wouldn't hesitate to visit there again.

[billyehh]

I spent most of this wnter season Cruising St. Lucia and Martinique. St. Lucia's Marine Park south of Marigot Bay is an excellent value. The fee is moderate and the manditory moorings in good shape as well as being quite reasonable in price.

Rodney Bay is the centre for yachting and is full service. The marina is the only one in the eastern Caribbean I have been in 5 years. This year it ws only a dollar a foot for my catamaran. With a reasonable price it is almost full. The pool is great and thew washrooms clean and roomy. Out side in the bay Pigeon Island anchorage is almost always free from swell and quiet.

Grand Anse D'Arlet in Martinique is now a port of entry. It is a charming fishing/tourist village set in a National Park. This means you no longer have to beat to windward to get to Marin or go to Fort de France to clear in. The south shore of Fort de France Bay has a number of small anchorage my favourite being Anse Noir. From Anse Mitan you can take a ferry to Fort de France for shopping. THere is a Leader Price near the ferry dock that is well stocked.

I plan on going back to both islands.