Anyone been to Vigie Beach lately?

Hi, has anyone been to Vigie beach lately? Did you like it and did you feel safe?.

We are going in May aboard Freedom.

We have been to Reduitt beach, but it was far too crowded for us.

We have also done an island tour.

I know we are the only ship in port that day, so the beach won't be crowded.

Hi, has anyone been to Vigie beach lately? Did you like it and did you feel safe?.

We are going in May aboard Freedom.

We have been to Reduitt beach, but it was far too crowded for us.

We have also done an island tour.

I know we are the only ship in port that day, so the beach won't be crowded.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2423026&page=10

Lots of recent comments from recent visitors there..

It's a lovely beach, long, long uncrowded beach. Minimal vendors. No watersports. Boardwalk with local food and drinks...

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2423026&page=10

Lots of recent comments from recent visitors there..

It's a lovely beach, long, long uncrowded beach. Minimal vendors. No watersports. Boardwalk with local food and drinks...

Thank you reedprincess

Thank you reedprincess

Did you go to Vigie beach? How much was a taxi there? Chairs?

Did you go to Vigie beach? How much was a taxi there? Chairs?

As in the thread above in many if the comments, Vigie Beach is around a 20-30 minute walk, or $10 one way 5-10 minute cab ride.

Chairs run $5 or so.

I've been many a time, given that I live here, most recently two weeks ago when picking up a friend off Royal Princess. Great lunch, cheap drinks, and good beachfront..

Will be there in May 2018, is this the closest beach to the cruise port? Looking for somewhere close so husband and son can join us after their fishing trip for a drink or two.

Will be there in May 2018, is this the closest beach to the cruise port? Looking for somewhere close so husband and son can join us after their fishing trip for a drink or two.

Yes, this is the absolute closest beach to the port. 20-30 minute walk or 5-10 cab ride..

Hi, has anyone been to Vigie beach lately? Did you like it and did you feel safe?.

We are going in May aboard Freedom.

We have been to Reduitt beach, but it was far too crowded for us.

We have also done an island tour.

I know we are the only ship in port that day, so the beach won't be crowded.

Pamela227, please let us know if you in fact did go to Vigie Beach. We are looking for a beach for our Oct Freedom cruise. We have heard that the Island tours are way too touristy and crowded for us. Just looking for a nice relaxing beach day with a bar, some chairs, restrooms and food.

Pamela227, please let us know if you in fact did go to Vigie Beach. We are looking for a beach for our Oct Freedom cruise. We have heard that the Island tours are way too touristy and crowded for us. Just looking for a nice relaxing beach day with a bar, some chairs, restrooms and food.

Sounds like Vigie is the place to go.

Is the $10 or so each way taxi per person ?

Is the $10 or so each way taxi per person ?

Per taxi . Not per person.

Reedprincess - Could you tell me if this beach has a dropoff making it difficult getting in/out? I am looking for a beach with beach chairs/umbrella, lunch or snacks and wifi for hubby. We will be there in November but I like to plan :). Thank you for your thoughts or suggestions.

Reedprincess - Could you tell me if this beach has a dropoff making it difficult getting in/out? I am looking for a beach with beach chairs/umbrella, lunch or snacks and wifi for hubby. We will be there in November but I like to plan :). Thank you for your thoughts or suggestions.

Do you mean a drop-off / steep entry or exit from the water? If so, nope. It's a pretty gentle slope/entry..

If you mean for the cab drop-off, nope - it's quite easy, flat, short ride and open drop off area.

Enjoy.

I went to Vigie Beach in March. I was solo as my DH was scuba diving. It was a very nice beach and I felt completely safe. Hope to go back one day.

I went to Vigie Beach in March. I was solo as my DH was scuba diving. It was a very nice beach and I felt completely safe. Hope to go back one day.

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We walked to Vigie Beach a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a hard walk but not scenic at all. We never felt unsafe and the beach was much nicer than I expected....I would definitely go back :)

Was there a place to change or do you juggle a towel?

Was there a place to change or do you juggle a towel?

As noted, there's restrooms available, you could use them to change. Most people just wear their bathing suit under a cover up or shorts and t-shirt.

Glad to hear that there are restrooms. was thinking more about wet suits to street clothes for trip to the ship. Thank You!

On 9/29/2018 at 5:55 PM, jhsocal said:

Was there a place to change or do you juggle a towel?

you have to pay $1 every time you use the bathroom.  It's worth it because they are very clean and well kept. We were there last week and although it is a small beach close to the airport the scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed a great lunch from one of the boardwalk restaurants.  Ask for Sean or Jack. They were very helpful in getting us our chairs and umbrellas and arranging our authentic St. Lucian lunch which was delicious.  $25 for a large plate enough to share.  

Just at Vigie beach last week from Celebrity. After reading so many posts I thought I would take this 20-30 minute walk and have a great day. Nope, just the opposite. First let me say that my wife and I are accustomed to doing things on our own when we cruise. We typically do not do excursions and prefer hitting the streets or taking local buses or cabs to our destination is too far to walk. We are both in our mid 40's and athletic. After reading posts here and checking google maps for actual distance, I was positive this would be an easy trip.

I'll start with the the cabbies inside the port. Scale of 1-5 on aggressiveness, 3.5. Rudeness, 5. I have one guy ask me 3 times if i wanted a ride. Each time I told him no thank you, and the last time I said I was just going to walk. He then mocked me, laughing and saying something like "go on and walk, Mr. walk walk. Go and do your walk, ha ha ha."

Then outside the port the roads are very narrow with little to no actual sidewalk. And what sidewalk there was, was broken up and sometimes tricky. The cabbies there were friendly and after my wife had enough with the way the "easy, safe" walk was turning out, we arranged for a ride. $20 total round trip to vigie. Once we got in the cab and were driving the route to the beach, I was even more convinced the Cruisecritic info was wrong. This is easily an hour walk. And forget the sidewalks, as there aren't any until you get to the airport area.

Cabbie took us all the way to the end of the beach where he kept saying was safe, and his friend would take care of us. The beach section he took us to is all the way at the end, where the boardwalk restaurant and bar is located. It is also the part of the beach that the trash from the ocean collects. Not much to see there. They do try and rake everything up, but if you just look to the left its a mess. He took us to a guy named Jack who set us up with chairs about 20ft from the water and 20ft from the road for $20 for two. Our Jack told us he would watch our stuff and we would be safe right there with his team.

This is the second time I'm hearing the word safe, so I'm already getting the scare tactic feel. After being hassled by vendors selling "homemade" items for 30 minutes we were ready to go, but waited for a little longer until a train full of tourists from the ship showed up. There must have been close to 80 of them. Jack was quick to gather them around and get $5 for chairs. They then proceeded to lay the chairs directly in front of ours and blocked what little view we had. It was then that I decided to take a walk up the beach to see what options we had. 

At first glance, nothing but beauty, second glance, no people! I went back, collected the wife and our belongings and told Jack we are moving on. We found a nice place up the beach, totally safe and enjoyed the view. We were about 40' from the water this time and had 100ft of beach still behind us before the road. As you walk up the beach it opens up and there is plenty of great places to settle. If I ever go back, I'll skip the boardwalk completely and just land somewhere in the middle. 

Couple side notes, there are taxi's all along the beach stretch, so no trouble getting back. No snorkeling here at all, very wavy with sandy type water. 

14 hours ago, digitalknoll said:

Couple side notes, there are taxi's all along the beach stretch, so no trouble getting back. No snorkeling here at all, very wavy with sandy type water. 

Thanks for that review. I will just go to Reduit Beach, I have been before and loved it. Was thinking of try Vigie, but never mind.

On 11/20/2018 at 7:49 AM, digitalknoll said:

 

At first glance, nothing but beauty, second glance, no people! I went back, collected the wife and our belongings and told Jack we are moving on. We found a nice place up the beach, totally safe and enjoyed the view. We were about 40' from the water this time and had 100ft of beach still behind us before the road. As you walk up the beach it opens up and there is plenty of great places to settle. If I ever go back, I'll skip the boardwalk completely and just land somewhere in the middle. 

 

Couple side notes, there are taxi's all along the beach stretch, so no trouble getting back. No snorkeling here at all, very wavy with sandy type water. 

Thank you so very much for your very detailed review! We are the same type of cruiser but a lil older, lol, with same kinds of previous St Lucia experiences (much snorkeling). Had been exploring various beaches & most either more commercial than in past, $$$ for resort day passes, or rocky...that is, great for snorkeling but not comfy. So this sounds perfect; will forgo bringing our snorkel gear, plan to bring lunch and lounge on our towels. Cheers!