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St Lucia Pigeon Island


jayman31

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  • 2 weeks later...

We did this last year through HAL. It was called Pigeon Island Hike and Beach Break. There were lounges to rent. I can't remember how much they cost. Maybe $5. There was shade so no need for umbrellas. The hike was neat. Wide trail up the hill to a beautiful view. Oh, and there was some fun snorkeling at the rock piles off the beach. Nice angel fish. I was the only one with snorkel gear though because there was no place to rent any. I had brought my own. Enjoy!

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We did this last year through HAL. It was called Pigeon Island Hike and Beach Break. There were lounges to rent. I can't remember how much they cost. Maybe $5. There was shade so no need for umbrellas. The hike was neat. Wide trail up the hill to a beautiful view. Oh, and there was some fun snorkeling at the rock piles off the beach. Nice angel fish. I was the only one with snorkel gear though because there was no place to rent any. I had brought my own. Enjoy!

 

good to know, I am planning on doing this excursion in February with Carnival...I will definitely bring my snorkel gear!!

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On the way to Pigeon Island can you see the Pitons? I know on this excursion you don't stop for them but I am curious if you could get a distant pic of them. Was the drive to Pigeion Island scenic?

 

No you don't see the Pitons with that tour. They are to the south and Pigeon Island is to the north. The drive there was not particularly scenic, as I recall. But once you get there and hike the Fort Rodney trail, you can see all the way to Martinique. It is a trade-off in St. Lucia: you stay north for the easy beach day, take a boat south to the Pitons, or take a cab/van/ bus south across narrow, winding roads....a long trip. The advantage to the easy beach day in the north with HAL was that the ship then cruises south in the afternoon to pick up cruise passengers who did excursions in the south. The cruise is lovely, the ship comes right up to the Pitons so you can get some great photos, and while you are waiting for the tenders, the locals arrive in boats. They jump and dive for money and fruit people toss overboard. This activity is very memorable and entertaining! You might miss it if you were on a southern excursion because you'd be coming aboard the ship on a tender. That being said, we plan to go back on this year's cruise and do the catamaran cruise to snorkel around the Pitons.

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take note - not necessarily any need to take the ships tour- a cab will cost you $35US one way for up to 4 people, entrance fee for the park is $5US pp. the cab will wait for your return if you ask. 2 restaurants on site and chairs for rent, same as if you were on the "tour" and you could stay longer. Just a thought.

And no - you will not see the Pitons if you go to Pigeon island. They are about an hour south of the cruise port - although you can see them from the water when you sail out. ( a little bit, unless your ship heads south after sailaway)

Either way, enjoy your visit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

:)

take note - not necessarily any need to take the ships tour- a cab will cost you $35US one way for up to 4 people, entrance fee for the park is $5US pp. the cab will wait for your return if you ask. 2 restaurants on site and chairs for rent, same as if you were on the "tour" and you could stay longer. Just a thought.

And no - you will not see the Pitons if you go to Pigeon island. They are about an hour south of the cruise port - although you can see them from the water when you sail out. ( a little bit, unless your ship heads south after sailaway)

Either way, enjoy your visit.

 

Thanks a lot for this info. That would be a savings for my family of 4.

I wanted to pin you down and ask you about you opinion to do Pigeon island or just taking a cab to Renduit Beach for the day?? The kids just want to hang out at the beach (2 kids 11 and 9) - which would you suggest we do for the day? The P. Island sounds like maybe a better option?

Are the cabs lined up right outside the cruise port to take to these places? Accept US cash?

 

Thanks again!

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yes, cabs are readily available at both docks, and they all know where both Pigeon Island and Reduit Beach are.

Personally, I would go with PI, Carolina Shore - it is a bit quieter and there is a large area to run around and some ruins your kids can play hide and seek in or what not when the beach gets boring. There is a small area for snorkeling and the beach is generally less crowded than Reduit.

On the other hand, Reduit has water sports for hire, including banana and inner tubing (where they pull you behind the speedboat), hobie cats for rental, jet skis, etc. They may find that more enjoyable. You know your kids best!

It would be a tough call and would have to be based on what would work best for your family. If swimming and sunbathing is the ticket, the PI would be better. If watersports is a necessity, then Reduit would be the choice.

You wouldn't go wrong at either one, enjoy your visit!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Has anyone been on an excursion here? Thinking of booking the Scenic North and Beach Break tour through Carnival. Curious to know if there are beach chairs and umbrellas to rent?

 

 

I went to Pigeon Island on my own. I took a cab to Reduit Beach and then a water taxi for $15 pp to the island. The entrance fee is $5 and chairs are reasonably priced as well. The island never really got crowded and the snorkeling was decent. There are hiking trails and the view at the top is amazing! I plan to do this again in April.

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We just got off the Victory sunday. We stopped in St. lucia and decided to do Pigeon point. The point is really neat, the view from Rodney fort at the top was cool, its about a 20 minute hike up, pretty steep in places. However, the beach in the park was pretty disappointing. Compared to the beaches we saw on St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Barbados & St. Thomas, the pigeon point beach was by far the worst. I snorkeled around a bit and there were a few things to see, but I've been to much better snorkel spots.

 

That said, it was a beach, there were chairs and shade there, and the kids had a great time anyway. The beach in the park was clearly manmade as the water was very murky near the beach. The Sandals beach resort was just down the way, if you wanted to try to walk down there, supposedly all the beaches in St. Lucia are public, but we didn't try that.

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