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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
XP: Turks & Caicos vs St Lucia
We have finally narrowed it down to two places that we'd like to go on vacation, either Turks & Caicos or St Lucia. Has anyone been to both & liked one more than the other? Or just if you have been to either place, what town and/or hotel did you stay in & any other suggestions about the island? Thank you.
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Re: XP: Turks & Caicos vs St Lucia
We've been to T&C. We stayed in Provo, on Grace Bay at a place called Royal West Indies. It is condos, right on the beach, not a hotel so you have a kitchenette. T&C is pretty laid back, not a whole lot going on there. Good beaches and good snorkeling/diving. It's very expensive there compared to other islands.
I've been to St Lucia on a cruise, so it was just a day stop. I think we went to a volcano or something. Seems like there is a lot more to do there compared to T&C.
This website is helpful for T&C info:
http://www.wherewhenhow.com/
I've been to both and loved them both. But they are definitely different islands:
St. Lucia's big appeal is the land. It is mountainous and lush. The landscape is striking. And there are lots of land-based activities (ziplining, hiking, historical sights, etc.). However, the beaches don't compare to T&C. They are fine and perfectly alright for swimming, but they don't offer soft white sand and crystal clear water. There is snorkeling and SNUBA there, but it is not remotely of the same caliber as T&C.
T&C is all about the water and the beach. The island itself is scrubby and not particularly scenic. The beaches are amazing, though. Every time I caught a glimpse of that turquoise water, I was stunned. The activities in T&C are going to be mostly water-based.
Some other differences between the two:
Weather - in December when we went (to both destinations), St. Lucia was several degrees warmer (both air and water). St. Lucia is also wetter - but when we went there was barely any rain.
Bugs: I was eaten alive in St. Lucia (it comes with the rainforest), but never put on bug spray once in T&C. I know that there are some times that it gets a little buggy in T&C, though.
Culture: St. Lucia had a more Caribbean/exotic feel to me. T&C is a little more Americanized (not in the sense that there's a TGIFridays and chain restaurants, though). It's not something that bothers me, personally, but there is also more visible poverty in St. Lucia than T&C.
Cost: although not cheap, St. Lucia is a cheaper destination than T&C in almost all categories (food, drink, lodging). And you can spend a ton in St. Lucia if you want to, though.
Mobility: it is much easier to get around T&C by car because it is a smaller, flatter island. St. Lucia's mountains definitely make driving more adventurous and it takes longer in St. Lucia than it does to drive the same distance in T&C.
I've only been to St. Lucia, like PP said I wanted to see the dramatic landscape and rainforest. We stayed near the town of Soufriere. Sadly, you will see poverty in Soufriere. But it's very low key, not touristy. It felt more "authentic" than the bigger towns by the airport.
We stayed in two small hotels Stonefield and Ladera. Honestly I would have been happy to stay at Stonefield the whole time and just go to Ladera for a meal (daytime for the view). The rooms are missing one wall so the bugs got kind of annoying at night. Everyone likes the Frangipani Villa at Stonefield (biggest pool or something like that). There was another place (called Crystals?) that looked neat too. There was some great snorkeling in the area. I think there are big sandy beaches down by the Sandals resorts. But that wasn't really our scene, so we didn't go to that part of the island.
Could you go both places? During our trip we did a little island hopping.
After St Lucia we went down to Petit St. Vincent Resort (a place I HIGHLY suggest). Snorkeling in the Tobago Cays was awesome. Plus we had a fun time hanging out on the little island where Jack Sparrow was marooned in the 1st Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which is nearby
Given the choice I'd go back to Petit St Vincent, DH would rather go back to St. Lucia...