St Lucia

[Ontheflipside_]

Hello! My husband and I are thinking of going to the Carribbean next year. Our baby will be about 19 months by then, and we are thinking St Lucia. Is this a good place for families? Or is there anywhere else you'd recommend for a baby this age.

Any hotel recommendations welcome x

[Iwonder08]

St Lucia will be good with the baby, staff will be very nice to a child. Given the age I would recommend going All Inclusive. Public transport in St Lucia is not amazi g from my experience so you would have to rely on very expensive taxis if you want to dine in different places.
However I would recommend Barbados over St Lucia. Better medical facilities (just in case), good supermarkets if you need any supplies (they even sell Waitrose own brand). Again, very family friendly. Very good public transport and overall very safe.

[friendlycat]

I agree. I would opt for Barbados over St Lucia.

But do bear in mind the length of the flight to any of the Caribbean islands, plus airport check in, plus time difference. How relaxing is all of that with 19 month old, would you perhaps be better with a much shorter flight?

[Ontheflipside_]

Thanks for commenting! We've always been a bit 'off the beaten track', and my husband really isn't keen on Barbados. It will be babies 4th holiday, so I'm not too fussed about the flight (although she's not been long distance before). I'm keen to do a long haul trip before we have to pay through the nose for her flight at 2!

What do you recommend about Barbados over St Lucia? Maybe I can convince hubby. I'm easy to be honest...

[Spidey66]

We went in 2009, so quite some time ago. It wasn't really our choice...it was my husbands best mate's wedding. Hated it tbh, but I think that was because I hated the resort. It wasn't an all inclusive resort, miles from anywhere. There was 4 hotels on site, only 1 was fully enclosed from the weather. We had torrential rain several days.😟Plus the drainage on the site wasn't good, so huge puddles/flooding all over the site. You had to book into which restaurant you wanted that evening. The food was supposed to be different in each, but ir was pretty samey tbh. The same band played each night. In between having dinner and the remoteness of the site we only went out once in the evening outside the resort and only a couple of times in the day.

A couple of our party had money stolen from their room. The cleaners were suspected but obviously there was no evidence. There were similar experiences on TripAdvisor.

I can't remember the name of the resort, but was near Gros Islets.

When we did get out, the island was nice but there was a LOT of poverty.

Now obviously my complaints were against the resort itself not St Lucia. Our choice of holiday is normally self catering as you get more room accommodation wise, and you get to eat where and when you want. Hopefully others will have better experiences!

[Spidey66]

4 hotels? I mean 4 restaurants

[Spidey66]

Smugglers Cove!

I think it may have been demolished and the one now there is completely different.

[friendlycat]

For me I just prefer the vibe of Barbados. Nothing wrong with St Lucia and it has some stunning scenery.

Every Island is a bit different with different characteristics, the nature of the people, the scenery etc. Some have French, Dutch, Hispanic influences, others more British. The Caribbean as a whole is also very popular with Americans as it's very accessible for them. It all adds up to a slightly different feel across the varying islands.

[reluctantbrit]

St Lucia is a beautiful island but I found it difficult to go around. Public transport is not good and I found I felt uncomfortable about being outside the resort and going out for a different restaurant.

We liked our hotel, lots of families and things to do. Food was good.

Barbados was so much easier being out and about. Lots more choice going to dinner. But hotels are more expensive.

[Spidey66]

Ps I don't know why I said it wasn't all inclusive. It was.

[Iwonder08]

I have a feeling people like Barbados for exactly the same reasons your husband doesn't : it feels more western and safe vs other carribean islands. You can get either beautiful grilled fish on the beach for very little money or go to a very high end restaurant for £££. Western side of the island has better hotels and more mature public, other side is more down to earth. I love that you can just pop on a bus, pay 2 dollars and go everywhere. It is safe. Locals look happy. There are things to see on the island, Atlantic side has a stunni g scenery. The whole island just has a nice very specific to Barbados vibe.
St Lucia is beautiful, nature is stunning, great outdoor activities. but outside of hotels it is so very poor, people are clearly struggling. It looks less clean than Barbados. I have seen people taking drugs(injections, not weed) in a public place.
If you do go to St Lucia (it is beautiful, I would consider), I would recommend picking a good all inclusive hotel and go to town with either taxis or on official excursions.

[Ontheflipside_]

This is all good food for thought! Thank you.

I'm very much open to a more trodden route, I just want the easiest and best thing for baby. Barbados sounds lovely to me, but doesn't appeal to my husband. What about Costa Rica? I know it's not the Carribbean, but has anyone been there? Or Dominican Republic?

[Iwonder08]

Easiest and best thing for the baby would be most 'western' islands: Barbados, Antigua, Bahamas. Dominican Republic is just hotels, you stay in the hotel and don't leave at all. It is like Turkey with Caribbean sea. Costa Rica (I haven't been yet, but did a lot of research) should be fantastic but I am personally waiting for my child to be older to enjoy it

[backinthebox]

I go to St Lucia a lot with work, and went on holiday during lockdown. Having been going there for many years and knowing the place, it was not on my list of places to go on holiday. However, it was about the only place we could get to for a holiday (the combination of Covid testing and staff travel made for a very limited list of possible destinations) and we were very pleasantly surprised.

The island is, as many people have stated here, very much poorer than other Caribbean holiday islands, however many people there work in the holiday industry and are delighted tourists are back again, we found ourselves well looked after because of this. The airport is to the south of the island, and the main towns and most of the resorts to the far north. The drive is stunning and scenic, but can be a problem if you or your baby suffer car sickness at all. The northern towns are not attractive, and although there is a lot to do on the island much of it is nature-based, and probably not very baby-friendly.

if I were going on a Caribbean holiday with a baby (and having been on one with an 8 month old who struggled with the heat and humidity, we did not go anywhere jungly again for a few years, young children and babies in particular cannot thermoregulate in such climates as easily as adults can) I would be looking for somewhere that offered rest and relaxation in a stunning setting, rather than going for the local attractions. I cannot imagine that your baby will be much bothered about climbing a Piton, zipwiring across the forest canopy, hiking through the jungle to a waterfall, or visiting the volcanic crater you can bathe in. Nor will they be bothered about sunset boat trips, snorkelling or scuba diving. These are the things that make St Lucia different to other islands.

There are some truly spectacular resorts though if you have the budget. You will obviously be able to get away with just one room, so that will keep price lower than if you had older children. Top of my list would be Sugar Beach or Anse Chastenet. BBC Beyond the Lobby did an episode on Jade Mountain, which is owned by Anse Chastenet. The only thing with this resort is there is no air conditioning in most of the rooms as they are open to the sea air. If you want St Lucia but without driving to the north, Coconut bay is the only hotel on the south of the island. I used to stay there a lot, and it is pleasant but not much different to Barbados hotels. It has been refurbished recently. Of the hotels and resorts to the north of the island, I don’t know much. I stayed there for 2 nights in a budget all inclusive and could not wait to get out of the place. We’d stayed before then in a bungalow on a chocolate plantation up in the mountains, and drank rum cocktails whilst watching fireflies and listening to the bleepy frogs and thunder rolling in the distance. It had been awesome (but beach-less) and we regretted our decision to leave our mountain bungalow in search of a bit of beach.

I had a friend rave about the Body Holiday resort right up in the north, and there is a strip of resorts just to the north of Castries that are decent names but I haven’t stayed in any of them on this island (St James, East Winds, etc.) I would not go back to Rodney Bay or Gros Islets if you paid me (and that’s not as far from possible as you might think!)

[Ontheflipside_]

Hmm thank you for replying, and in so much detail! We've just got back from Greece (she turned 9 months whilst there) and I must admit it's not been as easy as I'd thought. She's a very relaxed baby so I assumed she would just slot into the things we wanted to do (🤦🏽‍♀️) but in fact it's been a lot of navigating shade and nap times. Personally, I think the best thing for her is to visit somewhere all inclusive with lots of convenience in terms of pools, entertainment, food choices, air con etc. I was keen to go long haul before she turned 2, but now starting to think Europe might be better for her at such a young age.

Climbing mountains, boat trips, snorkelling etc all sound perfect for us, but I agree (apart from boat trips which she has absolutely loved twice in Greece) it's not practical for her. Especially as she will be much more strong willed by 19 months I'm sure.

My husband is dead against resort type places, despite never having been, so I think between us we have a lot to think about 😅

[backinthebox]

I hear you, OP! 😂😂 I work in long haul aviation and have unlimited access to cheap flights, and was convinced we would carry on adventuring just as we had before once we had children. What actually happened was we switched tack for a few years and adventurous holidays were out. Even a resort holiday (I am not a fan of resorts at all!) in Barbados was problematic because babies just can’t tolerate the heat. Our holidays became camping or private villas somewhere in Europe with my family so we could explore during the day and sit together and chat in the evenings while our kids entertained each other, and skiing in a family-based chalet in the winter. Europe is very much underrated by Europeans, funnily enough, and yet it is right on our doorstep. The Mediterranean countries are about the most baby-friendly countries you will find, and Germany and Austria are extremely welcoming for families. However, we have also had very warm welcomes with children in the Far East (Singapore, Thailand, etc) and in parts of the Middle East (with Jordan standing out by a mile in this respect.) The Caribbean did not feature up there on my list of most baby friendly holidays - not to say don’t go there, but if you are looking for somewhere non-resort-y that is good for young families, it wouldn’t even cross my mind until after all the places I’ve already mentioned have been done to death.

Key thing to bear in mind is temperature and humidity. Babies just can’t do hot and jungly. They also can’t take malaria tablets, and it’s not great to spray them with deet. My travels were very much dictated by this. Long flights, long drives, much less of a problem than people imagine.

Once mine turned about 7, we took a tentative step back into adventure holidays (we hadn’t been completely long haul-free, I had taken them on 4-5 day long trips at work, but staying in crew hotels.) My kids were hooked straight away, and we’ve been to lots of exotic places now. My DS prefers jungles and tropical beaches, my DD prefers mountains and history. We can’t pack enough holidays in, and are worried we are going to run out of childhood years before we get to the end of the family bucket list. But I would not and they would not have enjoyed these places nearly as much as toddlers as we all are now.

[friendlycat]

I hate resort type holidays as well. What about a villa? You then have the choice of selecting the non resort type of location, all the freedom and space and lots of options of splitting the day up as you wish. Ideal for relaxing evenings cooking nice food on a bbq, local produce or even getting take out from local restaurants. All in a nice environment. Or obviously eating out as a family where you wish.

[reluctantbrit]

I think it may come down to what you want from a holiday.

We did a lot of sc when DD was small, she was a great baby/toddler but didn't cope well with being out in the evenings. So it was better for us being in our villa for dinner and bedtime. We also had lots of space and also mornings were easier with her being up very early, too early for restaurant breakfast buffets.

On the other hand, a resort means you don't have to lift a finger. You don't need to do AI, you could do B&B and do your things during the day but have the options of restaurants and air con hotel room for naps. We weren't big resort fans and still don't but appreciate the convenience. We always do day trips or visit museums and have lazy days at the beach/pool as well.

DD loved being in the back carrier and we did several hikes in Majorca which is an amazing island with lots of stuff to do, DD was 22 months the first time we went.