We went sailing out of Rodney Bay on 2 sailboats. The first was aboard "Fido" owned and operated by Don and Fiona. I wanted to get to know the local waters and local boat knowledge. I had not cleared customs on a sailboat before. All I can say is if you want a very relaxing get away with a little sun, a little snorkeling, and see a lot beautiful sights, with wonderful food, wine and great company then try a sailing trip aboard sv Fido. We were aboard for 4 days. We then went back on land hoping to take the high-speed ferry to Martinique and Guadeloupe we found that it was completely booked. Since we had no specific plans we went back from Castries to Rodney Bay and walked by an office that we recognized from browsing on the Internet. (------) My wife suggested we go in and say hi and see if they had a boat available. Indeed they did. We booked it and started another week of sailing. We sailed north to Martinique up to Ste Anne and Ste Pierre then down to Rodney Bay. We really enjoyed renting the boat from DSL. We hiked to the East Coast when we returned from sailing. We found Secret Beach ( N14 05.971 W60 56.957 ) and Donkey beach (N14 05.734 W60 55.128). Many of the locals on the West Coast had no idea where it was. Our total time was 14 days in St Lucia.

Travel tips:
We used the local banking machine for cash. Limit 1000 $EC per transaction with a daily cap of $2000 EC

Local Mini Van Short distance $1 EC $2 EC Castries to Gros Islet $6 EC from Vieux Fort to Castries must change vans in Castries.

Beer is allowed on the Beaches and is sold by many local venders. Beer ranges from $3-5 EC depending on deal.

Rooms in Gros Islet range from $100-$150 EC.

Many Yachties bathed and shower nude on boats, also seen topless and nude bathing at Secret Beach and Reduit beach. Having seen this I spoke to police officer regarding being topless on public beach and was advised that if done with discretion. She said that it should be OK, I also asked about having a beer on the beach she also said it was ok as long as you where not bothering anyone.

The Jerk Chicken was wonderful and the water was fine to drink. Weather and ocean where very comfortable. Boat boys handling local fruit were expensive, but you can negotiate. We paid the same as we would at home.

Local weather forecasts where inaccurate and only on local radio. Must have is A sailors guide to the windward islands by Chris Doyle 12 ed. We had an amazing holiday.