what to pack for trip to St. Lucia?

[beckms]

DH and I are getting ready for our honeymoon to St. Lucia, and I'm trying to make sure we don't overpack but also don't forget anything. We've never done a tropical island vacation...anything we must bring that we might not have thought of?

essentials we've already covered:
bathing suits/clothes
passports
traveler's checks?

[aggie94]

Don't forget the sunglasses, sunscreen, and aloe. Even though I constantly slathered on sunscreen when we were in Belize, the sun was so intense, I still got burned and paid a small fortune for aloe at the resort gift shop. I would make sure to bring both.

Have a great trip!

[LakeMartinGal]

Take some sort of motion sickness pills... the roads in St. Lucia are very hilly, and not at all well-paved... at least when we were there! Will you be in the north or south, and which airport are you flying into?

[beckms]

Take some sort of motion sickness pills... the roads in St. Lucia are very hilly, and not at all well-paved... at least when we were there! Will you be in the north or south, and which airport are you flying into?

We're flying into the northern airport, and we're about 40 minutes from the resort. They provide transfer service.

[RD chef]

Hi Rebecca,

DH and I just returned from our honeymoon in St. John. Really, we overpacked. All you really need is multiple bathing suits, maybe a pair or 2 of shorts, and a sundress for going somewhere nice for dinner. I found that it was much more casual than I expected.

Oh, the things I wished I had packed more of were sunscreen and mosquito spray!

Have fun!

[Mpenny1001]

If you are going to do any of the excursions, you'll want a good sturdy pair of water shoes or sandals. We took a hike through the rainforest and wore tennis shoes, but half the walk was through a very rocky river and none of us had the right footwear. Those who wore just regular sandals were at a disadvantage in the forest part of it and those of us with tennies were at a disadvantage in the river part.

The weather did get kind of cool in the evenings (it tended to rain in the evenings), so you may want a light jacket or sweater. Otherwise, beach gear and something kind of casual for dinner are all you need!

[beckms]

thanks for all the replies...

one more question: will we be OK using mainly credit cards? We don't want to carry a lot of cash, and I always find traveler's cheques to be a big pain. I'd like to have some EC$ on hand to tip people, but I don't know if we'll have time to buy it before we leave...will we get screwed on the exchange down there?

[LakeMartinGal]

thanks for all the replies...

one more question: will we be OK using mainly credit cards? We don't want to carry a lot of cash, and I always find traveler's cheques to be a big pain. I'd like to have some EC$ on hand to tip people, but I don't know if we'll have time to buy it before we leave...will we get screwed on the exchange down there?We had no problem using crecit cards for off-resort stuff (we were at an all-inclusive. Using cc's, the bank sets the exchange, and it'll be better than trying to get local exchange. If necessary, you can always exchange a few bucks at the resort or a local bank...

Glad you are flying into the northern airport... when we were there, it was a quonset-type building, and the landing strip has water on both sides! The trip from the southern airport up north was horrendous, according to others at our resort. We had a car, and drove down to the Pitons, and the road was more of a path... hence the car-sick pill recommendation!;)

[Jezebelly]

OMG! I'm excellent at this, really, because I only ever vacation in the Caribbean.

First, a cheap plastic cooler on wheels and some rope to lock it down with so you can check it as luggage. Next, get a couple of inflatible pool rafts and a cheap toy hand pump to put in there. Now you've got your own sea-faring vessels for when you just feel like floating instead of swimming, boating, paragliding etc... (Most hotels frown upon taking their pool rafts into the sea.)

The cooler will also allow you to buy beer/wine/overproof/juice/soda and keep it for the middle of the night when room service and the bar is closed. You can leave the rafts and the cooler with the neighborhood kids - they dig it.

As far as clothes, if you're coming from a dry climate, I would recommend taking junky clothes + that one special outfit because the tropical climate might mildew any clothes that are just haphazardly cast onto the floor during the honeymoon. (YAY!)

Also, be careful with electronics. Jamaica has systematically KILLED every walkman, camcorder, i-pod I've ever taken there. (Coming from dry CO, it's quite a shock to the electronic system, I guess.)

Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS! Have a great time! St. Lucia is beautiful!

[Kristilyn1]

Me. I'm all you need.

7 school days and counting.................................:D

Kristi

[beckms]

Me. I'm all you need.

7 school days and counting.................................:D

Kristi

Do you fit into to 3-oz bottle which in turn fits into a quart-sized ziplock bag? :p

I bought out all of the 2-oz tubes of sunscreen at CVS today in an effort to thwart the airline restrictions.:rolleyes: Why can't anyone make 3-oz tubes of all the travel products we need? I mean, it's not like it hasn't been on the news or anything! 4 oz is a very popular size for things like sunscreen, toothpaste, aloe gel...blargh.:mad:

[mcgeiger]

my first thought.....nothing--you're not really going to leave the room, right:p :eek: :p :D
belated congrats on the wedding!

[Peweh]

pack your bathing suits in your travel bag in case you get there too early to check in, you can hang by the pool.

and make sure you have your blackberry handy in case any of us CLBBers have a dog with an emergency case of halitosis... LOL

[beckms]

pack your bathing suits in your travel bag in case you get there too early to check in, you can hang by the pool.

We're attempting to carry everything on so we don't lose anything. but the bathingsuit is definitely going to arrive with me...I plan to spend much of my time in it. :cool:

and make sure you have your blackberry handy in case any of us CLBBers have a dog with an emergency case of halitosis... LOL
Ha! we are not bringing any of our electronic devices except for an iPod for the plane. We want to enjoy the island and not get sucked into the vortex of the internet...I have full confidence in mcgeiger's ability to fend off emergency halitosis!:p

[leightx]

I've never been to St. Lucia, but on our last trip to Cozumel in June, I really wished I had brought bug spray!! We paid a small fortune at the resort in order to save our exposed skin from the monster mosquitoes they had down there (and that was with them fumigating twice a day... :eek:)!

Have fun!

[ChristyMarie]

You can buy small fluid containers at places like the container store that are 1 and 2 ounce- that's how I manage to do carry on.

Most resorts will cash traveller's checks - you can call and see. That is something I often do.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!