HAUTE WITH HILLARY

I know, I know.... I'm about two years late on this post but this is STILL one of my most asked questions. We traveled to Saint Lucia for our honeymoon in July of 2017, and if you ask me... it was the absolute PERFECT place to honeymoon. My husband and I had the time of our lives and cannot wait to return one day!

WHERE TO STAY:

We stayed at Sandals Grande St Lucian and I can't say enough good things about it! We stayed in the Caribbean Honeymoon Beachview penthouse Club Level - PC. I know the rooms are kind of confusing, but if you want to have a view of the beach make sure you choose a beach view room and not an ocean view room! There is a difference. The Oceanview rooms face the back of the resort- and while it is an ocean view room (the resort sits on a peninsula) it is not what you're imaging. Sandals does have a few other resorts on the island that you can go to, free of charge! The drive to Sandals Grande from the airport is quite long, so we opted to take a helicopter transfer to and from the resort and it was hands down, the coolest thing I have ever experienced. Highly recommend! Plus, you arrive at the resort almost 2 hours before everyone else! We booked through St. Lucia Helicopters.

WHAT TO DO:

Our favorite thing about Saint Lucia was all of the excursions you can do! We love exploring on vacations and trying new, fun things. We booked all of our excursions through Island Routes, and there are SO many to choose from!

Horseback Riding: My favorite!! We got to ride horses through the island and ended in the sea!!!! It was truly incredible and something I will never forget. Our tour guide was very helpful in making us feel comfortable and safe on the horses. My husband was actually TERRIFIED of the horses LOL so the tour guide held onto his horse the whole time.

Snorkeling between the Pitons: If you've seen a photo of Saint Lucia it was most likely of the famous Piton mountains. They are truly breathtaking! We stopped in three different locations where you just jumped off the catamaran and snorkeled. While the water in Saint Lucia is a darker blue (deep waters), it was SO CLEAR. As we were crusing along, we stumbled upon a huge school of dolphins!!! Hundreds of them. I was in complete awe- if you know me, you know much I love dolphins! After we stopped to snorkel, we went to a private beach where you could paddle board, hang out on the beach and eat lunch (provided). There were some locals swimming at the beach and I'll never forget this little boy who clung to my husband and I. He gave us a turtle he made out of shells and we still have it to this day!

Volcanic Mud Bath + Waterfall: An absolute must if you travel to Saint Lucia. Truly incredible! We did the JJ's Speed Boat Tour. First, you head to the Twin Pitons, and visit the west coast villages. Then, you are on your way to the World's only drive-in Volcano (The Sulphur Springs) where you can take a natural mud bath! The mud is SO HOT, though. I struggled getting in at first but I'm so glad I did. After you are completely covered in mud, you go over the water falls and wash off! The waterfall was so beautiful and refreshing after that hot mud bath! Once you're all clean, you will hop back on the boat and head to the famous Jade Mountain to swim and/or snorkel. We chose to just swim at the beach. The tour ends with a local lunch in Marigot Bay! Such an fun excursion with lots of rum punch involved hehe 😉

Sunset Cruise: We loved this excursion! So relaxing after a long day in the sun! We cruised around the island for a few hours and watched the sunset into the sea. One of our favorite memories!

Jet Ski's: We rented these at our resort and cruised around the bay (Rodney Bay) and stopped at a little private beach. Logan was a little scared of the Jet Ski.. so we didn't go very fast. He wouldn't let me drive because he said I would throw him into the water with sharks LOL. Still an awesome experience and amazing views of Pigeon Point.

WHAT TO EAT:

Since Sandals is all-inclusive you don't have to worry about food or drinks which is one of the many reasons why we love Sandals resorts. Our favorite restaurants at the resort were SOY (sushi), Toscanis (Italian) and Barefoot by the Sea! Oh, and we took FULL advantage of the room service... whoops. As for drinks, make sure you find Peter the swim up bar, bartender and ask for the Peter Special. It's delicious!

HOW TO GET THERE:

We took a Delta flight from Charleston (where we were married) to Atlanta, then connected into Saint Lucia! Once we landed in Saint Lucia, we opted to take the helicopter transfer to our resort. Definitely a once in a lifetime type of thing and one I will never, ever forget! We booked though St. Lucia Helicopters.