First, where is St Lucia? It is found near "world's end" as Jack Sparrow announced, an approximate 2 hour flight from the coast of South America and 4 hours from New York. It's the next to last island getaway in the Caribbean --St Vincent and the Grenadines being roughly an hour by ship southward, then Trinidad and Tobego. St Lucia really is composed of 2 islands. The primary island of St Lucia and Maria Island which a natural wildlife preservation and home to the biggest iguana population on earth, in one place. Over half of St Lucia is protected, so no resorts are built. This is almost all of the east-facing side of the island and where many neighbors live, farms and pony ranches are found. A little history lesson. The island is actually nick-named Helene and is claimed to have been first inhabited by the local Indians of North America & Western Indians of present day Brazil. The island has been attacked by the Spanish, Dutch, French and Brit . It was strongly influenced by spice and merchant trade ships from Europe, Jamaica and India. After a fourteen episode battle that lasting four years, the English took command of St Lucia from the French, officially, in 1814 and are still under HRH ruling to this day, although they have their own form of regime.

The local folk talk a countrywide tongue called patois ( creole ) but are educated also in English and some French. The island is little, about 620 km2 ( 238 sq mi ) and a total population of less than two hundred thousand people. 90 % of them are local Lucian -the rest English and worldwide mix.

The island itself is pear formed and has literally some of the most amazing shore I've seen, from bright powder sand to craggy seaweed and palm tree lined beaches. The primary stay of St Lucia is tourism followed by the production of rum, cocoa and sugar. The island boasts the worlds only "drive thru volcano", has a variety of botanical gardens, a rainforest, a large number of waterfalls, fjords and hamlets to keep any visitor busy for months. There are 2 techniques to get to this attractive Island, by plane or ship. Traveling from the US, most airlines don't offer direct flights. I suggest Jet Blue Airways that does. It's a total airtime of four hours and 15 mins from JRK world airfield to St Lucia. The 2 main airports are : Hewanorra in Vieux Fort ( UVF ) and George Charles ( SLU ) near Castries, the capital. From what I saw and was told, Hewanorra is the best airfield. If you're staying in the south end of the island, it is 10 mins from the resort we stayed at. UK Airways also flies in to Hewanorra. Getting out of the airfield takes a complete of fifteen mins, as the customs checkpoints are numerous and ( if you have youngsters ) fast! There's a special line only for families, since the airfield arrival area isn't air conditioned. You may get to St Lucia by ship, from the other Caribbean islands and obviously the mainland States of Texas, Florida and Louisiana. If you follow the Caribbean "curve" from Puerto Rico downward, you might stop at islands on your way, making you nautical journey more "naughty". Cruise ships like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian stop on a consistent basis.

Special note : cruise ships only port in the northwest part of the island and don't run the length close to the Pitons or any of the eatern side of the island . We chose to visit St Lucia in the spring, because all of the reviews we read commended it. But you may visit the island practically all year. St. Lucia weather is around 85F much of the time with a 60-75% humidity.

It does have a stormy season split between winter and summer. Hurricanes aren't common here, I suspect the last one was Dean, which hardly touched the island in any way. Be certain to bring suntan lotion as the robust breeze is deceiving and you can burn if you're not very careful.

http://allinclusiveresortsstlucia.com