Sonny and I were married on the beach in Jamaica. 6 months later, we honeymooned in St. Lucia. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime! We tossed around the idea of different places and different resorts and settled on St. Lucia, staying at Sandals Grande St. Lucian. St. Lucia is a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles, just north of South America. We liked that 1) we’d never been there before, 2) it’s in the Caribbean, and 3) it looked like an exotic place to visit. Why Sandals? We had never stayed at a Sandals and we were curious if it could live up to the reputation. Sandals also includes scuba diving in its “all inclusiveness”, and we decided we would dive, A LOT. These decisions led to a very memorable trip.
Disclaimer: this is not an advertisement, it’s my personal opinion. If you’re a fan of all-inclusive resorts, and have never been to a Sandals, all I can say is GO! If all-inclusive resorts aren’t your thing, GO ANYWAY! It is worth the higher cost. They run an incredible operation of making you the happiest person on vacay–whatever your heart desires. Their rooms were excellently decorated, beds were the comfiest, and you could even get 24/7 butler service if you wanted. The food was of a higher standard, you never had to make a reservation, and if you wanted to have a lobster dinner at the steakhouse and then a little sushi later, you could. Late night chocolate bar or mimosas with breakfast? You got it!
Beyond the basics, we had a romantic candlelight dinner on the beach. One evening we were treated to a performance by Teddyson John, who is a very talented soca singer. You tube his videos, he’s incredible.
We went scuba diving nearly every day. Thanks to the patience and diligence of our dive instructor, Marcus Joseph, Sonny completed his advanced open-water certification and I acquired my digital underwater photographer specialty.
And we toured the island. The island of St. Lucia was indeed exotic, lush, and beautiful. It’s a volcanic island, so think lots of hills, that can get nerve-wracking when driving in small vehicle. We took a catamaran ride to see the Pitons (our guide called them “big boob and little boob”) which was followed by a grilled chicken and rice lunch.
We also went shopping in St. Vincent and took a mud bath at the sulphur springs of La Soufriere, which is a live volcano. The mud bath left our skin feeling silky soft, but due to the rotten egg “scent” of the springs, I do not recommend going after drinking an entire bottle of champagne at the Sandals beach party the night before. Lesson learned.
Sandals and St. Lucia were certainly the honeymoon of a lifetime. If you ever get the chance, take the trip to St. Lucia. And if you don’t go to St. Lucia, at least check out a Sandals resort, you won’t regret it!
Travel tidbits from my life
