Basic Information About Saint Lucia:

• The language – The official language in Saint Lucia is English which is spoken and written in schools, governmental institutions, businesses, and the most formal settings. However, the overwhelming majority of Saint Lucians are bilingual, especially the younger generations. In rural and village areas, you will most likely hear a mixture of African and French languages being spoken. This language is called Kwéyo`l, a Creole.
• The names of the places across Saint Lucia are often French. Nevertheless, you will find out that pronouncing them will challenge your French-speaking skills as they are often pronounced differently than what the French would!
• Despite Saint Lucia being a French colony, you will notice that British English is spoken and written. This could be due to the fact that the British were the island’s most recent colonial rulers.

Electricity

The electricity current in Saint Lucia is 220 volts at a standard frequency of 50 Hz, although a handful of facilities and venues are 100 volts 60Hz. As for the electrical sockets in Saint Lucia, they please those coming from the UK as the electricity outlets usually take three-pin square plugs. In other words, travellers coming from parts of the world outside the United Kingdom will need to bring their own adapters or transformers. In some instances, the hotels provide their guests with the needed transformers and adapters, so kindly check with yours. Of course, a few hotels use the two-pin round plugs or flat American plugs, but, again, it is quite uncommon.

Dress Etiquette

The island follows a casual, laid-back lifestyle, which means that you can wear almost anything without anyone frowning upon your attire. This is not the case with camouflage clothing, though, as it is considered illegal to wear these. Technically, this rule applies to all colours and patterns of camouflage clothing. Practically, purple, pink, or anything not green is usually not a problem, especially if you will be spending most of your time at the resort. Nevertheless, it is best to bring alternative clothing options, just in case.

That being said, you might also want to pack some more formal pieces to dress up because many of the upscale restaurants have a dress code requiring closed-toed shoes and long pants for the gentlemen and dresses for the ladies.

Driving on Saint Lucia

Renting a car to pick you up the moment you exit the airport and using it to explore your vacation destination is usually the norm. If you go with that option, be prepared for a rather poor road infrastructure. The roads here are mostly paved, but have lots of potholes, while the majority of them are simple two-lane roads. So, don’t expect highways in the sense most people know highways in Europe and other parts of the world.

Featuring a mountainous terrain, it is safe to assume that the roads are quite twisty outside the towns, going up, around, and down a lot. This might somewhat prevent you from enjoying the pristine views in their entirety as you will need to keep an eye on the road at all times, given its challenging construction. 

Tips About Using a GPS:

• Don’t rely too much on the time the GPS tells you that you will need to drive from Point A to Point B in Saint Lucia. The winding roads and poor road conditions add around 20% more time to the estimated total.
• Always check the map before you follow the directions provided to you by your GPS blindly. This is because a suggested (shorter) route might be quite steep and take you through a residential area (which will slow down your driving) only to bring you to the exact same road you would take if you had selected the “longer” route.

If you have time, though, you can get an excellent taste of the islander’s everyday life if you drive through a residential neighbourhood, so think about it!

Some Driving-Related Rules/Tips to Remember in Saint Lucia:

• Driving is on the left-hand side of the road in Saint Lucia.
• Renting a small car will help you navigate the narrow roads more easily. Even better, though, consider renting a higher or bigger car.
• Poor road infrastructure may cause damage to the undercarriage of your vehicle. To avoid having to pay for that cost, which can be quite high, it is best to pay for the full insurance so such type of damage is covered.
• The ones already in the circle of a roundabout have the right of way. So, move onto the circle when nobody is coming your way on the circle, and always drive clockwise.
• If you decide to opt for the public transportation means available, you will find the minibuses coming quite handy. They run frequently, but their schedules are not as typically set as in other parts of the world. So, you may have to do some waiting.
• The majority of rental cars are not automatic. So, check it with the rental car agency, and only rent one if you can handle a stick shift.
• Many hotels and resorts in Saint Lucia run shuttle buses to take their guests to various attractions and beaches.
• It is extremely difficult to get lost in Saint Lucia because there is only one main road on the island.
• If you rent a car, please remember that rental cars are easily identifiable by their licence plates. For that reason, it would be wise to remove any valuables from inside the car when you park it, especially if you will be parking the car in a quiet place, away from the crowds.

Look Out for the Hurricane Season

Saint Lucia is sitting in the Caribbean hurricane belt. Travelling to the island during the hurricane season (from June through November), therefore, means elevated chances of bumping into a tropical storm during the rainy or wet season. Although the prices are lower and the weather is still warm, kindly consider the probability of strong winds and downpours.