Sailing in St Lucia? You probably have a good idea what you want to see when calling by St Lucia. The island is marked by the twin volcanic peaks of the Pitons. The Gros Piton (which is the large piton) located to the south is 798 meters high, and the Petit Piton (the small piton) is 750 meters high, and both the Pitons are considered difficult climbs. Castries and its location on Marigot Bay is generally considered the most beautiful in St. Lucia. A main destination for yachts is Rodney Bay just to the North of Castries. Let’s start off by talking food in St Lucia after sailing in St Lucia. The national dish is “green figs and salt fish”. Figs are actually unripe bananas, which are peeled and sauteed with garlic, onion, celery and peppers. This dish also has salt fish, which is well rinsed to remove the salt and then flaked before sauteing with the bananas and vegies. St Lucia grows a lot of bananas for export and they are relatively cheap and plentiful.
Another popular local food is the “bake” which is type of bread which is made from a plain flour dough that is then fried or baked. They are reasonably chewy but when paired with a filling they come into their own. The majority of street stall food in St Lucia is a variety of bake with a meat or fish filling. Popular are the shark and bake as well as the roast pork ones
About Callaloo. The signature dish in the Caribbean. To the uninitiated this is a dark green leaf vegetable that are from the taro plant. It is a substitute for spinach or kale and when it is cooked and added to fish and seafood dishes introduces a smoky flavor. It is also mashed in with dasheen, or taro root to create a quite thick soup base for seafood that includes fish and crabs. Worth sailing in St Lucia for.
Fish Fridays are a Caribbean tradition, and are a combination of street party, food and music. The most popular on St Lucia is Gros Islet’s Jump Up, that also have rum shops, and BBQ’s so get there before sunset as the tourists are arrive in hordes. At Anse La Raye offer grilled and fried food along with local vegetables such as corn, plantain and breadfruit. Dennery has a great wet fish market almost every morning before noon and they hold a Fish Fiesta on Saturdays from 4 pm until late in the evening. You can eat fresh crabs, fish, lobster and conch and try authentic Creole dishes. The Trios Restaurant located in the Bay Gardens Beach Resort uses the parking area for “Callaloo Fridays” and they set up booths with typical street food, Pitons Beer along with live music and Carnival bands. As a note, Pitons is a Pilsner beer brewed on St Lucia by the Windward and Leeward Brewing company and this is owned by Heineken, and is named after the Gros Piton and Petite Piton mountains of St Lucia.
Massy Stores Gourmet. (Rodney Bay). Great range of products both local and imported with everything from quality meat through to bakery. They carry UK Waitrose branded products also. They off free delivery to the marina on orders above $500. Located 15 minutes from IGY Rodney Bay Marina. They have several outlets at Rodney Bay, Rodney Heights, Gablewood Malls. They also have the Massy Stores Mega outlet located north of Castries at the big roundabout. If you are sailing in St Lucia for provisions then this is worth a visit.
The Marketplace. (Rodney Bay). This is an excellent small supermarket and provisioning outlet in Saint Lucia, conveniently located inside the Rodney Bay Marina compound. This supermarket offers a great choice of daily staples together with selected gourmet items, fresh baked French baguettes, artisanale breads and a great choice of quality wines and spirits. They serve the charter yacht market a lot and will deliver direct to the dock at all the marinas. They are open daily 0730 to 2030.
Super J. This is a popular chain and they have several outlets in Rodney Bay Mall, Rodney Heights Mall as well as the Gablewoods Mall. In addition they have what is called a Mega J outlet north of Castries located at the at the Choc & Union roundabout.
Best Fruit & Vegetables. Castries Central Market has 300 plus vendors from produce to artisan items. Open Monday through Saturday from 0700 to 1300, market structure was built in 1891. The produce is local and fresh. Be sure to pick up some local St Lucian coffee, fresh spices and Green Figs which is local lingo for green unripe bananas. If you want to eat there try Sylvia’s Place food booth, with offerings that include Curried Goat (it is worth trying), fried fish, Cow Neck soup and at another booth try the saltfish fritters, really yummy. Sailing in St Lucia has some great attractions.
Best Fresh Fish. Outside the Castries Central Market also try the Fish Co-op and you can also obtain at the Choiseul Fish Market. You can find a fish stall in most villages, some places use a conch shell horn to announce the fish is in. Villages where fish can be found include Anse La Raye, Canaries, Soufriere, Laborie, Micoud and Vieux Fort. Big range of fish as always including Tuna (Yellowfin and Blackfin), Bonito, Skipjack, Snapper, Dorado, Hind (Grouper), Grunt, Jacks, Mullet and the try flying fish if available, cover that in my cookbook. Look for vendors with fish on ice in cool boxes, and see my chapters on buying fish advice. Around Soufriere you can stop by the fish camp where locals catch and sell.
Fish Fridays are a Caribbean tradition, and are a combination
of street party, food and music. The most popular on St Lucia is Gros Islet’s
Jump Up, that also have rum shops, and BBQ’s so get there before sunset as the
tourists arrive in hordes. At Anse La Raye they offer grilled and fried food
along with local vegetables such as corn, plantain and breadfruit. Dennery has a great wet fish market almost
every morning before noon and they hold a Fish Fiesta on Saturdays from 4 pm
until late in the evening. You can eat fresh crabs, fish, lobster and conch and
try authentic Creole dishes. Sailing in St Lucia has some great advantages.
Sailing in St Lucia is to find beautiful sandy beaches, little fishing villages, rainforests and waterfalls, geothermal and so it goes. You can visit Morne Fortune and the Pigeon Island National Park, and learn about the eternal fighting between the French and English over possession of the islands that tower out of the sea. Anse Chastanet coral reef is a great dive attraction with sponges and a variety of corals. Soufrière is located locally about one hour south of Castries. The village was founded in 1745. It has a claim that Josephine, who was the wife of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born there in 1763. A less savoury side of Soufriere's history was the town square which has a guillotine erected in the French Revolution in 1780, and a large number of plantation owners along with their families were executed. Some other local activities include hiking the Tet Paul Nature Trail, the Sulphur Springs Park, and the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens. So if Sailing in St Lucia or sailing somewhere else you can get yacht provisions in St Lucia.