Pointe Seraphine Cruise Port — Attraction in Castries

I love the Caribbean! This Port was much more strict with COVID measures when I visited April 2022. To get off this ship at this port you must have booked an excursion. My thought is, you should really book an excursion anyway! You are stopping to see the island anyway. You should support the local businesses and economy as well.

This island was cool as it has distinct French and distinct Dutch sides with different laws. The Dutch side is definitely more relaxed and party atmosphere.

We took a jeep safari excursion that took us around the island and to a beautiful beach on the other side near the Sandles resort. The beach was beautiful! I would suggest water shoes as there was some glass from bottles along the beach chairs.

The locals will try to charge you +/-$10/ chair. I would recommend trying to get a deal if you need more than 1 chair, but remember these people rely on tourism to survive. The exchange rate is $2.8 US dollars to $1 St. Lucia (EC)dollar. So be generous with the locals and they will take great care of you.

If you see Ricky (photos below) at the beach be sure to tip him well!! He has the best shade spots and friendliest personality on that beach. If you take care of him he will take great...

Beautiful port of call to visit. The vendors are very aggressive as are the taxi drivers that are there offering tours of the island. There is a water taxi available right outside the cruise ship. This is a cheap way $5USD return to get to the other side of the port. Directly outside the cruise terminal there is a huge market that sells local crafts and souvenirs. It is wise to negotiate the price in advance of taking and taxis or tours. In advance, have a clear understanding of where you will be taken and how long your tour will last. There are many places in St. Lucia that are safe and beautiful to see, but there are also areas that are not so safe. If your driver takes you to a beach, keep in mind that all the beaches in St. Lucia are public. Be prepared to pay to use the change room/bathroom (typically about $1USD). You will also be charged to use a beach chair. The beach vendors are extremely aggressive and will insist that you pay to use a chair, even if you don’t want one. The prices should always be negotiated as the initial price...

I am giving 4 stars to highlight the heart, determination and effort of the locals that provide tours.

Removing them, I would give a 2.5. Because there is entirely too much money coming into that port to not have better road conditions, traffic control and equipment provided to tour facilities/facilitators. More time is spent in wild traffic, in uncomfortable and less safe transportation to the tour stops.

Some funds to buildings and structures (outside port-proper) would lead to attract more tourists to more local/owner operated establishments.

Redirection of traffic by means of select streets becoming one way temporarily or dedicated roads during tour departure and return times would be great.

The excursion cost to us/tourists is not cheap, so to spend hundreds of dollars to sit in 1.5+ hours of traffic on a 3hr tour.... IJS 🤷🏾‍♀️

Next time, I will hire a taxi so I know my spending is directly...