"Beautiful Island - Just be careful" Saint Lucia by johnkebab

Undoubtedly St Lucia is a very beautiful island, deep green valleys, steep mountains, clear blue water and a clear blue sky, the caribbeans only drive-in volcano? Sulphur springs, the Pitons, excellent diving and Martinique a quick boat ride away - all you can ask for in a caribbean island, if you were to stay at a resort and come out for day trips, and guided sightseeing, you can spend an excellent week here, there is plenty to do.

St. Lucia, has its fair share of problems, thousands of tourists descend daily from cruise ships that pull into the island and so descend thousands of wealthy middle class white people onto the island, the contrast between local and tourist is immense.

Unfortunately, I found the security here to be a problem, I wasn't staying in a resort, I rented a local car and got out and about quite a bit, but I found that merely being white made me a target for being ripped off, or mugged, even when helping people they tried to steal from us.

That is not to say by any means that that is typical behaviour of the islanders, we met many nice people there, very friendly, willing to help and suggest ideas, but it was certainly difficult to relax in many areas we visited.

Sunset from Castries

Castries is the capital of the island, it boasts and interesting and diverse market place, the main cruise ship port, the local airport, a few beaches and is located about 20 minutes from Rodney Bay.

There are boundaries in Castries you have to be aware of, if you're staying at a hotel or resort and you plan to go into Castries, ask at reception or ask a local person where to go and where not to go, the boundaries aren't marked and wandering into them can be at best a terrible experience and at worst fatal.

We found this out on the first day of arriving whereby we wandered into an area we shouldn't have, and were 'jumped' by 2 guys with a knife, who managed to cut one of us before the pair were fought off by us and another local guy, this was at 1030 in the morning, so I do speak from experience.

I have to add that I don't think the muggers attack families, i.e. if you're with a child you may be better off than if you're not, certainly with our experience, the attackers pushed the girl out of the way to get to the guy, so maybe chivalry isn't dead!!

Rodney bay marina and hills

Rodney bay is a good deal 'whiter' than Castries, this area is more upmarket and boasts a lot of restaurants and bars and the vast majority of the yachting community, there are many resorts in and around this area and its generally safe to wander around either between restaurants or around the marina and up to the village until about 0030, after which you should only take a recommended taxi.

Every Friday there is a jump up (street party) in the village just up the road from the Marina (trois-islets I think) which is a good experience to take in some atmosphere and do some dancing, though again, only until about midnight, then you should think about leaving.

• Pros:A lot to do, very pretty island
• Cons:Crime, racism
• In a nutshell:Beautiful Island, be careful where you go.