Clip in and zip up, some 150ft up in fact, in the jungle canopy on a zip wire experience that lets those with a head for heights explore a web of rope bridges, platforms and wires including the island’s longest zip run. It takes around four hours to complete the course and is a real treetop adventure. Hard hats are provided.
Explore the 140-acre Rabot Estate, jungle HQ of boutique sweets brand, Hotel Chocolat on a Bean to Bar tour led by a botanist guide. Then transform cocoa beans into perfect ingots of chocolate in an al fresco cookery class. The estate is also home to a spa hotel (with sweet treatments), and the feted Boucan restaurant whose menu cleverly employs all manner of chocolate products, including champagne cocktails using the pulp from the cocoa pods.
hotelchocolat.com/uk/rabot-estate/saint-luciaSaint Lucia’s Caribbean coast is lined with reefs, underwater trenches and numerous wreck dives. The central coast has some of the most picturesque including Rosmund's Trench, with fingers of coral surrounding valleys and trenches, home to seahorses, frogfish, turtles and countless tropical fish. Neighbouring Anse Cochon offers dives starting in as little as 5ft of water raking to 60ft, with coral, boulders fields and pinnacles housing turtles, trumpetfish, moray eels, octopus and squid. scubastlucia.com
It’s not for the faint-hearted but summiting Saint Lucia’s pointy twin peaks – Gros and Petit Piton – will give you huge kudos plus cracking views of the island and surrounding Piton bay. Despite being the loftier of the two peaks (2619 ft), Gros Piton offers an easier ascent (guides mandatory), with marked trails and a welcome centre where you can crib up on the flora, fauna and fun facts about the surrounding Morne Trois Pitons National Park – a World Heritage Site. whc.unesco.org/en/list/814
Billed as the Caribbean’s only drive-in volcano, these warm sulphuric pools near the town of Soufriere form part of the story of the Caribbean’s violent creation. Park up outside the smouldering crater then walk through the smoke to smear yourself in mineral rich mud then wash off, soothing body and soul in two deep pools of hot water with temperatures ranging from 88-101F, a dip which is believed to treat everything from rheumatism to skin ailments. soufrierefoundation.org
Check into this recently revamped beachfront resort, set between the iconic Piton Mountains, and five-star services take in everything from snuba diving to exotic cookery classes. Spend the morning with Sugar Beach’s head chef, buying up fresh fish, vegetables and tropical fruit at the market in the coastal town of Choiseul and surrounding cliff-top farms. Then cook up your harvest in Sugar Beach’s kitchens, before dining on the result, toes in the sand. viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/en/sugarbeach
Make pilgrimage to the capital, Castries, a harbour town complete with an impressive 19th century wrought iron and stone cathedral built by the French. Don’t miss leafy Derek Walcott Square, where the island’s home-grown Nobel Laureate is honoured with lines from his epic poem, Ste. Lucie. Then wander around the outdoor food market, especially lively on Friday and Saturday mornings, before heading across the causeway to Pigeon Island and its excellent local history museum.
slunatrust.org- Even those who aren’t fans of architect-owner Nick Troubetzkoy’s fanciful mountaintop pile have to admit that once inside, the views – across the Pitons World Heritage Site and endless Caribbean Sea – are unparalleled. Dinner here is a must (hotel guests only), as much for the food as the panorama. Begin with a cocktail on the stage-like terrace, which juts out on a cliff edge into the blues. Then settle down at the Jade Mountain Club for fusion food created by James Beard award winner, Chef Allen Susser.
jademountain.com If you haven’t got the nerve to scuba dive, get the best out of Saint Lucia’s Technicolor reefs on a Snuba trip. The latest Caribbean craze, this low-risk sub aqua activity only requires a 15-minute tutorial, after which divers are attached to a surface air supply to swim freely among the watery wonders below. Suitable for all ages, Snuba allows divers to reach depths of 20ft… or remain floating just below the surface, bringing Saint Lucia’s exotic sea life into vivid view. coxcoltd.com
Take a mountain bike or 4WD tour across the island’s hilly interior – passing old sugar cane transporting routes – from the tourist-populated Caribbean coast to the deserted north eastern Atlantic shores. Here, around the nature reserve of Grand Anse, you’ll find rare bird species and green and leatherback turtles. All set in a dramatic rocky coastline where giant cactus is more common than palms, and craggy cliffs conceal secret, sandy bays. www.stlucia.org
Step behind one of Saint Lucia’s best-loved beach resorts, Anse Chastanet and you’ll find eight miles of mountain bike trails threading through the jungle-clad hillsides. If you’re not practiced, intermediate level single-track trails undulate with reasonable ease, while Tinker's Trail designed with the help of world champion cyclist Tinker Juarez challenges with steep uphills and tight switchbacks. All of which, is surrounded by the industrial detritus of 18th century French Colonial sugar industry: picturesque old millstones, ruined factory houses and tropical fruit trees.
- Saint Lucia doesn’t lack superlative stretches of silica but if you want to take a dip on a beach that’s not entirely bagged by a posh resort then Anse Cochon is a generous expanse of dark sand backed by lush jungle vegetation. This is a great place to dive (see above), snorkel and kayak… or just flop down and soak up the sun. Open to guests of the hillside Ti Kaye Resort & Spa and day-trippers on boat excursions from other hotels. tikaye.com