Off the Beach

The beach at Sandals Grande in St. Lucia is one on which you could spend your whole vacation and never leave. The sand is immaculately maintained, there are all sorts of comfortable nooks and crannies for you and your significant other to spend some quality time by yourselves, there is ocean side service for any libations you might need to quench your thirst, and several of the great restaurants that Sandals offers are literally right on the beach or over the water. Still, staring out at Rodney Bay and seeing the breeze dancing across the waves is every bit as enticing as the allure of staying beachbound. When the urge to get out on the water strikes you Sandals offers more than enough options. Everything from waterskiing and wake boarding to snorkel excursions to standup paddle boarding, kayaking, and sailing are available and included. My wife and I can only sit staring into each other’s beautiful eyes for so long so before the chill had left our cold drink glasses we were trying to decide which water activity to try first.

Rodney Bay is a big half moon of water that is sheltered enough you don’t have to worry about drifting out to sea but still blessed with strong and steady winds that get any latent sailor in you itchy to leave the shore behind. We sailed almost every day we were in St. Lucia and there were several times they had to come out to tell us to come in before it got dark we were having so much fun. We also availed ourselves of Sandals fleet of kayaks, both single and tandem, and enjoyed cruising along the shore and exploring Rodney Bay Marina which is home to some incredible boats, yachts, and sailing ships of every description.

Sandals also has dive and snorkel boats that regularly head out to some great sites and we went out to visit the fish numerous times. Quite candidly some of the best snorkeling and fish viewing is right off the Sandals beach around the center pavilion but any chance to take a boat ride was too good to pass up. We also took a paid excursion on JJ’s Jetboat tour and it was well worth the price. It lasted about 4 hours and took us to lunch at Beautiful Marigot Bay (which is where the recent Dr. Doolittle movie was filmed) as well as several snorkeling spots along St. Lucia’s incredible coast. And boy, can JJ’s boat get up and run powered by two 350hp motors that are raring to go.

I couldn’t get all the on-water activities in one short video so you’ve got two to choose from. The first  is focused on kayaking and sailing while the second takes you along on JJ’s, and other boats as we visit Marigot Bay and various snorkeling spots. As nice as the Sandals resort was, and as much as they pampered us, it was the on-water activities that would take us back to Saint Lucia in a heartbeat. And since it’s a whopping 22 degrees in Denver as I write this, that 80 degree water would feel pretty darn good right about now!