Hi CJ - I've been to St. Lucia and it is a GORGEOUS island!!! It is LUSH, GREEN & MOUNTAINOUS - The only reason I would not want to stay there over St. John is that the island is a "volcanic" island as opposed to a "coral" island... this translates to the fact that the water is not as nearly as clear for snorkeling as St. John. Their beaches, while beautiful, are not the white sandy beaches of a coral island either. They are known to have "black sand beaches" but that really translates to tan-grey - not as exotic as it sounds!!!

Another thing - you think St. John has mountains to navigate and hairpin turns - HUH! St. Lucia makes those of St. John look like a kiddy-park ride compared to 6-Flag's most newest-cutting edge roller coaster!

If you are not into snorkeling, don't need (or desire) white sandy beaches and don't mind thrill-park-ride roads, but do love magnificent terrain (those Pitons are DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS!!!) - then St. Lucia may a nice alternative to St. John.

ENJOY!

Lisa

Hi There,

Depending upon what you like most about St. John, you may or may not also like St. Lucia.

The island is much larger than St. John and you can spend an entire day driving through the southern part of the island or over to the east coast. The mountains are higher on St. Lucia than St. John and the beaches are not nearly as "picture perfect" as on St. John. Some folks rave about the snorkelling by Anse Chastenet on St. Lucia but IMHO it is no better than an "average" snorkel location you find all over the VI.

The artist community on St. Lucia is no more interesting than Tillet Gardens on STT. "Jump Up" in Gros Islet on St. Lucia is a good time and kind of a weekly version of carnival.

For me, the selection of excellent restaurants is nowhere near as good on St. Lucia as on St. John. Shopping is also less interesting and available on St. Lucia. Also note that when travelling the island, most locals will speak a patois which is a combination of french and other languages. If you are self conscious about folks talking in front of you and acting like you are not even there, this may bother you. There is also a comfort level you get on St. John by virtue of the island being a US territory. You do not have that same feeling on St. Lucia and its "non-American" character can be disconcerting for some visitors from the US.

Both are great places to visit. My preference runs to the USVI.

Schultz

St. John is also a volcanic island, not a coral island, although I don't know why we don't have the black sand beaches...maybe our volcanic activity ended a lot longer ago than St. Lucia's did.

The fer-de-lance (sp?) viper gets me a little nervous on St Lucia.