Sailing St. Lucia – Safety, Security, Dogs and More
Sailing St. Lucia turned out to be a delightful surprise for us. We almost sailed right past it when sailing from Martinique headed to Grenada, as we had heard some concerns about safety and security here. We also had heard some concerns about bringing a dog into St. Lucia, as they are known to be a rabies-free island, and thought to have stricter rules.
In this article, we will share our experience sailing St. Lucia in regards to safety, security and bringing our dog here. We will also share information about Rodney Bay including the typical questions asked by all of us sailors (groceries, laundry, marine supply stores, etc.) as well as our experience on a mooring ball at the Pitons.
Read on if you are considering visiting or sailing to St. Lucia.
Safety and Security
We debated about whether to make stops in St. Lucia as we sailed down the eastern Caribbean chain. We had heard concerns about theft on this island that made us think twice.
I follow the Caribbean Safety and Security Net – CSSN on Facebook, which collects and disseminates accurate information relating to crimes against yachts in the Caribbean, and I have seen crimes reported in St. Lucia. After consideration, and seeing crime reports for other areas we have visited, we decided to check out St. Lucia.
Keep in mind, everyone has a different experience when sailing and traveling. In this article I am sharing our experience sailing in St. Lucia, which was a very positive one. We found St. Lucians to be very friendly people, and we felt very safe in the marina, as well as walking around the town of Rodney Bay.
With that said, we did still travel smart and took precautions, such as locking up our boat when we weren’t on it, and not leaving tempting valuables such as marine radios or binoculars out in the cockpit.
One thing we did that helped was staying in a slip at Rodney Bay Marina. They have security on site, and being in a slip connected to shore power allowed us to lock up our boat, with our dog inside, when we weren’t on it. Trust me, he didn’t mind at all be left to nap with the air-conditioning running!
Bringing A Dog To St. Lucia
All of the Caribbean islands have their own set of requirements for bringing a dog into their country, and St. Lucia is no different.
After carefully reading their requirements, we followed all of the steps listed below for bringing our dog Mangaux to St. Lucia and found their process to be rather easy.
Steps For Bringing A Dog To St. Lucia
- Approximately 2 weeks prior to arrival to St. Lucia, fill out and submit their Application for Veterinary Import Permit to vlsdsec.agriculture@govt.lc, auriaking@yahoo.com, and sharmsmelv2@hotmail.com.
- Ensure your dog is up to date on all of its vaccinations, and submit their vaccination records along with the completed permit application form. Their requirements are clearly explained on this form.
- Upon review of Mangaux’s application and records, the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer requested a health certificate issued by the Veterinary Authority from the exporting country (we received ours from Clinique Veterinaire du Marin) and our port of arrival and time of arrival into St. Lucia. We sent them our health certificate and notified them of our arrival.
Note:
St. Lucia does require the Rabies Titer Test in addition to the rabies vaccine. This test can take approximately 6 weeks to get the results back, and must not be done at the same time as receiving the rabies vaccine. We got Mangaux’s Titer Test completed well before leaving for the Caribbean.
We received a Thank You email from the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer in St. Lucia letting us know that all of our documents and notice of port/time of arrival was received. They also issued us our pet import permit via e-mail prior to arrival so we had all of our paperwork in hand.
Upon checking in with Customs and Immigration in St. Lucia, be sure to notify the vet of your arrival port and date/time. They will have an Inspecting Officer come check your dog and sign off on entry into St. Lucia.
Rodney Bay
Rodney Bay is located on west side of St. Lucia, at the northern end of the island. It makes for a great stopping point when traveling north to south.
Whether you anchor in Rodney Bay, or take a slip at Rodney Bay Marina, checking in and out of Customs and Immigration is very easy and convenient as they are located right at the marina, who also has a public dinghy dock.
The marina complex has several restaurants on-site, as well as laundry, propane services, a small grocery mart, liquor store, and an Island Water World marine supply store. Directly across the street from the marina is also a nice hardware store.
We did venture off the marina complex and walked to Rodney Bay, approximately 1 mile down the road. There we found three Massy grocery stores, a couple of pet supply stores, a shopping mall, and more restaurants. We felt very safe walking around Rodney Bay, St. Lucia and all of the locals were very friendly.
As I mentioned earlier, we stayed in a slip at Rodney Bay Marina. Some of the several things we love about Rodney Bay marina is the fact that there is a lot of space between the docks and slips, and they have floating docks with full-length finger piers. This makes getting on and off the boat a breeze.
Note:
Several marinas in the Caribbean have a Mediterranean-mooring style docking system in which there are no piles or piers between boats that tie up stern to along a dock or seawall.
Another benefit for our American boat is that Rodney Bay Marina offers slips with 110 V / 60 Hz power. This makes for easy connections to shore power.
While at the marina, we launched our dinghy and took it outside of the marina area to Rodney Bay. There we spent a couple of relaxing afternoons on the beautiful beach.
Rodney Bay Marina
- Latitude: 14° 04’ 33.48”N, Longitude: 60° 56’ 58.28”W
- Cost: $0.90/foot/day
- Slips: Concrete floating docks
- Power: $0.70/kwh
- Water: $.15/gal
- Laundry: Yes – $40.70 for two loads of laundry washed, dried, and folded. They have a laundry service here; you cannot do it yourself. There is a self-serve laundry mat outside the marina, but after checking the prices they appeared to be equitable to the service offered in the marina.
- Bathrooms/Showers: Yes – bathroom stalls in one area and shower stalls in another area. I found them to be clean with good water pressure and hot water. Bathroom/shower facility is not air conditioned
- Pet Friendly: Yes
- Groceries: Yes – There is a small minimart at the marina. We walked approximately 1 mile to three different Massy Supermarkets.
- Restaurants: Yes – On-site and several more within a 5-minute walk
The Pitons
After spending a relaxing week at Rodney Bay Marina, it was time to keep moving. We sailed along the leeward side of the island approximately 19 nautical miles south from Rodney Bay to the Pitons.
There are a couple of mooring fields here, one just north of the Pitons at Soufriere, where Customs and Immigration is located, good to know for when traveling south to north, and another mooring field between the Pitons. We stayed a night at The Pitons mooring field.
About 0.5 nautical miles from the Pitons, we started getting approached by the boat boys. They are super friendly and here to help you attach to a ball, and help you with whatever else you need. The balls are very heavy, and the help was much appreciated!
Note:
It is helpful to get the name of the first boat boy who helps you out. After that, you can let the other boat boys know who is helping you. They will leave you alone after that. There are other boats that will come around selling you produce, necklaces, help you with trash, etc.
After getting settled on our ball, and paying the Park Service 54 EC ($20 USD) for a ball for the night, we relaxed, went paddleboarding, and took in the amazing beauty of the Pitons. I can say we have never anchored/moored in a place so beautiful. It is well worth the visit to Saint Lucia to see the Pitons!
The Pitons Mooring Field
- Latitude: 13° 49’ 37.15”N, Longitude: 61° 03’ 48.70”W
- Mooring Balls: $20 USD per night
- Wind Protection: Protected from the north to the southeast
- Depth: ~25 feet, then a steep drop-off
- Pet Friendly: Yes, Sugar Beach is located here and a nice resort. We walked Mangaux at the end of the beach around sunset
- Groceries: No, produce for sale from boat boys
- Restaurants: There is a restaurant at the resort, we did not try to eat there, so I’m not sure if it’s open to the public. We cooked on the boat while we were here.
Is Sailing St. Lucia Worth The Risk?
In our experience, absolutely! St. Lucians that we met and talked to were among the friendliest people we have met. And then there are the Pitons with there amazing beauty.
As with anywhere you are sailing and traveling, apply street smarts and common sense:
- Lock up your dinghy when going to shore and at night to your sailboat
- Stow away all valuables and lock up your boat when going ashore
- Be aware of your surroundings
I hope you have as pleasant experience as we had when Sailing St. Lucia. Let us know how your trip to St. Lucia was. We would love to hear from you!
