Making St. Lucia a Caribbean Hot Spot

Can a slew of ultra-luxe hotels, more weekly direct flights, and government incentives “make” a high-end destination? On St. Lucia, ambitious investors are banking on it.

By Guy Saddy, Travel+Leisure

As we wander a densely thicketed path, sheltered from the sun by rows of bamboo with trunks as stout as baseball bats, one thought recurs: St. Lucia smells. It reeks, actually, like a carton of rotten eggs. This isn’t exactly unexpected, though, considering that our destination today is, well, a noxious pit. We cross a footbridge spanning a small stream and make our way up a hill until we reach a point directly overlooking a virtual moonscape. Qualibou, billed as the “world’s only drive-in volcano,” is an awesome sight. Steam rises from craters; pools of black liquid like vats of squid ink roil. Once, you could walk across the caldera, but not any longer. About 20 years ago, we’re told, a guide decided to demonstrate the integrity of the ground by jumping up and down on it. He fell through a hole of his own making, and when he was pulled out-alive, amazingly-he was horribly burned. “Some people,” says our guide, gesturing at the hissing earth, “believe there is a god sleeping in there.” Presumably, one who doesn’t suffer fools. Continue Reading

A blissful break in the new St Lucia

:: From The Times Online ::

A blissful all-inclusive break in the new St Lucia

Jacqui MacDermott revisits the Caribbean island on an all-inclusive break and finds it almost as she left it 12 years ago

Mention St Lucia and, after the soft white beaches and bath-warm Caribbean, most visitors will name the Pitons, the two lushly forested peaks that are the island’s most famous landmark.

Lounging on a catamaran during a recent trip, 12 years since I last visited, I was happy to admire them again - still beautiful, still guarding the quaint jumble of brightly painted wooden buildings that make up the pretty town of Soufriere. Much has stayed the same on St Lucia. There is the signature laid-back friendliness, the sea is still as clear as glass, and fruit-sellers and rum shops dot the roadsides as they always have. Continue Reading