Mornings After

We’re staying at a Sandals resort on the North side of St. Lucia. St. Lucia is a fairly sizable island and has a population of 170,000. Like so much of the Carribean it’s a contrast in extreme wealth set against a backdrop of poverty and subsistence living. The drive from the airport, on the southern side, takes about an hour and a half and the island drivers, including the shuttle buses, take pride in driving fast and scaring the *#@$ out of the tourists. Flying around hairpin corners, zooming over hill and dale must be key skills taught in their drivers education classes because everyone’s in an extreme hurry to get somewhere or another. Either that or their simply doing lap after lap of what is, after all, an island.

Sandals prides itself as being a 5 Star luxury resort. It’s also all inclusive which means you’re not continually reaching into your purse or wallet to pay for everything from food and drinks to water sports. The only things that require payment are excursions offered by private vendors that take you off the resort to see the local must see sights and attractions. Being 5 Star luxury of course means that while your not constantly reaching for the credit card you of course have already paid substantially when booking your trip. Sandals isn’t the cheapest vacation which is why I’ve only been twice in thirty years (the last was on my honeymoon when we went to the Sandals in Montego Bay, Jamaica) but for special occasions such as weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries these resorts can’t be beat. Of course, if I had the money, I’d also include birthdays, clean checkups from the dentist, not having to shovel snow or deal with Artic temperatures as equally good excuses to visit. There are three Sandals resorts on St. Lucia and we picked the Sandals Grande primarily for its beach and it’s water sports offerings. From scuba and snorkeling to windsurfing, sailing, and water skiing it’s all available and all included. I love to sail (funny that I ended up In landlocked Colorado) and Rodney Bay, which is where the Grande is located, offers phenomenal steady, moderately strong winds ideal for getting a Hobie off and running. The Bay also has lots of yachts moored just offshore and if you’re into boats it’s a lot of fun to cruise around and ogle all the nautical hardware. Sandals is an adult only resort and has a good cross section of ages and nationalities coming to visit. I could go on and on about how nice the resort is but suffice it to say I’d return in a heartbeat if I got the chance. Here’s a short bird’s-eye view of the resort filmed at the crack of dawn when not many folks were up and about. All the liquor you can drink is also included so most folks seem to sleep in but I find the mornings are almost the best time of day. Here’s wishing you a little St. Lucia sunshine and warmth!