Anthony’s Saint Lucia report

Anthony · Since 07 Oct 2008 362 Posts Salem Obsessed **CGKA Member**

Saint Lucia is an island in the Eastern Caribbean about 30 miles long and 13 miles wide. Is it a volcanic island with plenty of rain. It gained independence for Great Britain in 1979. That is when time stopped there. The people are friendly. You should use common sense when traveling. The youth unemployment is 30-40%. There should be no hungry people on St. Lucia; the forest has so many fruits and vegetables free for the picking. It is a grower’s paradise. English is the official language but French Patois (French African Creole) is widely spoken. When speaking to a St. Lucian, you should not expect them to understand what you are saying even if they speak good English. Only about 20% of the time did they understand the question or request.

Arrived St. Lucia at 15:20 with Delta. You can see the kiters from airplane at
Sandy Beach. Excited! At Sandy Beach the kiting is done just south of the runway. Surprisingly you really do not hear the airplanes. From what I saw the planes tend to land and take off from the West side of the airport(UVF).

Flying
I checked out several airlines. The travel there is to be dominated by American, Delta and Jet Blue(USA) and West Jet (Canada).

Kiteboard Bag Cost for this round trip $200 with 69 lbs. via Delta. At PDX was charged $140. At UVF was charged $40. Then lastly because of the layover in Atlanta, I paid the Skycap $20. Score!

Jet Blue

Kite Surfing Equipment
Kite Surfing and Windsurfing boards, when properly packed to prevent damage to the board, sail, boom, related equipment and to other baggage, are accepted upon payment of applicable fee. Items weighing more than one hundred pounds (100 pounds) will not be accepted as checked baggage. They are excluded from the size limitations, but will count as a checked bag.
Domestic Flights: Kite Surfing equipment is accepted on domestic flights for a fee of $50 each way and will count as a checked bag.
International Flights: Kite Surfing equipment is accepted for a fee of $50 each way and will count as a checked bag. Kite Surfing equipment is accepted to all destinations EXCEPT to/from Bermuda, Haiti, Peru, Port of Spain, Santo Domingo and Santiago, Dominican Republic.
American
Allowance and requirements
You can travel with:
• 1 surfboard
• A kiteboard
• A wakeboard or wave ski
Cost
You’ll be charged $150. If the following items are less than 62 inches and 50lbs., you’ll be charged the applicable checked bag fee based on the number of bags you check:
• Kiteboard
• Wakeboard
• Wave skis
If you pack more than 1 surfboard in a bag that weighs under 70 lbs., you’ll only be charged for 1 surfboard.
When you’re traveling to, through or from Brazil, you’ll be charged:
• $42.50 (1st surfboard)
• $85 (2+ surfboards)
Maximum weight and size
70 lbs. and 126 inches based on airplane size and load factors.
If you’re traveling to, through or from Brazil, your surfboard can measure up to 108 inches but cannot be included in your checked baggage allowance.
Delta
Kiteboards
• 150 USD/CAD for travel to all regions (excluding Brazil, Europe, and North Africa)
• 150 USD, 175 CAD*, or 125 EUR* for travel to/from Europe or North Africa
• 100 USD for travel to/from Brazil
• Boards over 115 linear inches will not be accepted
• Kiteboards will not be accepted as part of the passenger's baggage allowance
• All kiteboard equipment is accepted up to 70 pounds at a flat rate
• Kiteboards are allowed up to two (2) boards per bag
• Kiteboards are not accepted on flights operated by Express Jet
Driving
WTF was I thinking getting a vehicle. They drive the left side of the road. My wife only needs to know three words while I was driving: left, Left, LEFT!!!!!! Remember when I said that time stopped. So did the roadway system. Signing is poor to non-existent. The roads are very narrow, steep and many hair pin turns. The vehicles go through brakes in 3 months and new tires in 6 months to a year. Most vehicles are dead at after 50 thousand miles. If you every wonder were the old tires go when you replace them. They are using them! Google map is next to worthless. They only started to naming streets a few years ago. I not can tell you how many times I thought I was going to get in a wreck. After 45-60 minutes I got stress headache, never before I got a headache driving. Pot holes everywhere. Cows, horses and people are on the roadway. The roadways are also used for parking. There are no shoulders to pull off, in place of shoulder they have 3 feet deep concrete waterway with. I would drive for several kilometers before I could find a safe place to turn around. With the narrow roads do not drive off a cliff, it happens and they will not find you.
When a street narrowed up from 11 to 8 feet, I blew a tire on a curb. Four friendly Lucians were more than happy to help change the tire. They told me it happens all the time there. I was glad they did change it; I burnt my finger tips on the hot rim. The spare tire had a plug sticking out the sidewall the size of the pinky finger. When I pointed it out to the people changing the tire I was told the tire is good. Best 40 dollars I ever spent on a tire change later and with my wife buying $30 of so-so bead necklaces, it was over. I change my own tires at home. Spreading a little money around is good thing.
Suggestion: Have a taxi or shuttle take you where you are staying. Rent a car from there. Get your International License at AAA. See AAA web site. With filled out paper work, it took 10 minutes to get the license. Vehicles are not cheap to rent. In the end I am glad I got the vehicle, a Daihatsu Terios, 4WD, with back seat folded down I was able get my 155 CM Mystic Kiteboard bag in the back. We have one kiteboard bag, one large suit case for scuba gear and one other large suit case. The vehicle was full. You want a shorter vehicle like the Terios, because it has great turning radius. I am very happy with the St Lucia map I bought for my Garmin. It kept me at least on the right track. I will never complain about driving around Baja.

Money

The currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar. You can use US dollars in the island but it is challenging. Counterfeiting is width spread over seas. If my bill was not in perfect condition they would not take it. The smallest rip would make it worthless. Even the bums would not take a ripped $20 bill. It is just best to use the credit card as much as possible or get cash from a bank / ATM.

Kiteboarding

There are 3 locations I saw to kiteboard on the island, Sandy Beach near Airport, Coconut Bay Resort and Cas en Bas (Cotton Bay, North End). All of which have bars to relax in. I am sure there is probably a few others if you are willing to explore. Weather is trade winds with frequency rain shower going through or at least that is what is was when I was there.

The shops/learning/ rentals are
Aquaholics http://www.aquaholicsstlucia.com/on Cas en Bas, Simon and Sandy were very helpful. Cas en Bas is an awesome place to learn and kite. It has to be the softest sand I have even been on. I kited there twice. If you are interested in going to Cas en Bas , I can make you a map. I took us an hour and half of exploring to find the place.

The next one on the Cas en Bas is Kitesurfing St Lucia http://www.kitesurfingstlucia.com/ ran by Beth.

There are theses white townhouses near the beach that my wife was going to rent, but because the price was reasonable she thought it was a rip-off. We found out that it was probably one of the best deals on the island. You really need to stay there to catch the wind. It just takes a long time to get around the island. Cas en Bas seems to blow better in the morning that afternoon. The inner bay is smooth water for learning, up wind of the bay is the ocean.

Coconut Bay Resort, http://cbayresort.com/kite-surfing Southern end of island just north of airport.

Reef Kite and Surf http://www.slucia.com/kitesurf/ Sandy Beach is next airport. I kited here once. Nice beach, quite a bit of seaweed. Chop-hop.

One of the keys to kiting here an accessible beach on the windward side(east) of the island. There are not a lot of locals that kite, you can probably count then on two hands. I think the prime season for kiting is January / February. I was told it is year round.

What to bring / know:
Deet! The Mosquitoes and Sand Fleas are tenacious.
Sunscreen!
Clothes washing facilities are hard to find. Bring a little trip soap.
Kites : the big stuff, I weight 200 lbs. and brought 11m, 13m. 15m Revs. I should have brought the 11m, 14m , 17m T3’s, You might check send an email to the one of the Lucian kiteboard shops. With a 70 pound limit on the kite bag, you can fit all kite items in the one bag. I found no need for a wetsuit. I was told my Slingshot Ignition 150 was a little on the small size for their winds, I should have a wider board.
Eat wisely, the fish or salad could cause is a few intestinal issues.

Other things to do: Hiking and Scuba.

pauls · Since 20 Jun 2005 562 Posts white salmon Addicted

Thanks for writing this. Someone is going to be really happy when they are searching and all this good info shows up.

earthsurfer526 · Since 11 Jan 2009 54 Posts Hood River, OR

We just returned from a trip to St Lucia in December 2015. It was amazing!! St Lucia is a mountainous and jungle island in the Caribbean with some great culture and people. There is a ton to do on no wind days, from hiking to snorkeling to hot springs.

We stayed at the coconut beach resort which is located on the south end of the island near the airport. We normally would not stay at a resort but this resort has the beach access to the best kiteboarding spot on the island.

We had wind everyday, with easy access to both flat water and waves. The kite spot is a short walk down the beach from the resort, which was great because it allowed us to escape the beach goers and hang out with only other kiters at the Kite Shack. The crew at the kite shack are amazing! They offer quality lessons for my wife (she says that this was her best experience learning to kite so far). They rent 2016 Naish gear for $50 per day or will store your gear for you. They also have an air compressor and will launch and land your kite. The wind was great the whole time.I flew either a 9m or 12m on both surfboard and a twin tip.

We flew from Portland to NY to St Lucia on Jet Blue, (which I believe is the best way to fly from Oregon to the Caribbean). This was really easy low key trip that cost us half of what we spent on our last Baja trip and had better wind and kiting then Barbados. I highly recommend St. Lucia if you are looking for an easy island adventure.

Anthony · Since 07 Oct 2008 362 Posts Salem Obsessed **CGKA Member**

What did you think of the Coconut Bay Resort? We thought about going there but the cost was on the high side. Can I ask what your cost was? And was it all inclusive? I think the southern area of the island is the windiest place. I am glad you liked the Jet Blue Flight. I was a little cautious about the 2 hour layover in JFK being enough time coming back to make it through immigration. I have to say my Atlanta time for immigration and customs was 30 minutes. Global Entry helps a lot; it was more of a wait for luggage. Did you bring your own gear? Down there I do think the rental gear idea make sense with the reasonable prices. The lack of crowd’s is awesome for kiting. With the 2 beach accesses on the south end and the one on the north end provide plenty of space. It is the mini - La Ventana of the Caribbean. If I was on the East Coast, I would be going there yearly. You gotta love no wetsuit!

Justsmile · Since 20 Jul 2009 1523 Posts Not Portland XTreme Poster

earthsurfer526 · Since 11 Jan 2009 54 Posts Hood River, OR

We paid a little less than 1500 for everything (except for my wifes kite lessons, which cost extra ($70 per hour)). December is their down time so they where offering a deal including airfare, room, transport, food and drink. I took my kite gear but I would rent their gear next time so that I did not have to drag it around. they have all new Naish gear which was nice. I was very surprised but I liked Coconut Bay Resort. I normally do not like resorts but it was really nice to have everything taken care of and just kite.

Typically I find Caribbean plane tickets around $600. (we are going to the DR in march for $632.) There is no real secret other than you don't need to rent a car to get to the kiting areas on many of the caribbean islands this typically saves you hundreds of dollars. so you pay more for the plan ticket but you dont need a car rental. We also did not have to pay luggage charges on the kiting gear, which saves you $200.

I am kind of over the baja thing. I lived there for a season about 15 years ago and then have been visiting pretty regularly since starting kiting. I have not found cheap tickets and transport to la Ventana in years. last year we paid almost $500 per plane ticket and then another $350 for transport (car rental) and another couple hundred more for gas.