St. Lucia is part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238 square miles), and its capital and largest city is Castries. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state, while remaining as a Commonwealth realm.

St. Lucia is home to 3 Sandals resorts: Sandals Regency La Toc, Sandals Halcyon, and Sandals Grande St. Lucian.  Although these 3 resorts are relatively close to each other, they are each unique and some knowledge of each is needed to decide which would be best for you. Since we’ve stayed at all 3 resorts, we’d be happy to give you some insights and help you decide.

As a volcanic island, Saint Lucia is very mountainous, with its highest point being Mount Gimie, at 950 metres (3,120 feet) above sea level. The Pitons, two mountainous volcanic plugs, form the island’s most famous landmark and the St. Lucian flag, pictured above, depicts these twin mountains on its west coast.

Unless you take a helicopter, boat, or plane from the main airport (the Hewanorra International Airport- UVF) on the south end of the island to the north end where the 3 Sandals resorts are, you’ll get to ride up through the rain forest in the center of the island.  This ride is about 90 minutes to 2 hours long, depending on which of the 3 resorts you’re going to. Along the way you’ll see a lot of bananas being grown, which are the main agricultural product grown there.