Mike’s Real St. Lucia Tours Review

I booked an excursion with Real St. Lucia Tours after reading their reviews in Trip Advisor.  All were positive and complimentary.  The owner, Janus Gyan, was very helpful in working with us to set up the dates, times and port instructions.  

We arrived at the port on time and promptly left the boat in search of our driver.  The port is a little confusing because there are 3 exits and lots of people milling around and several with signs picking up excursion seekers.  We finally asked one of the port attendants where to find our excursion and they directed us to the proper place.

We found Ian outside the taxi waiting area with sign in hand.  He was parked close to the port and quickly showed us to the car.  The car was small, but since there were only 2 of us, there was more than enough room.  Ian asked what we were interested in seeing and we mentioned The Pitons, Soufriere and Marigot Bay.  He asked if we were interested in the active volcano, mud bath and water falls.  We said yes but weren’t really interested in doing the mud bath.  

After leaving the port he offered us refreshments and headed down the coast.  The roads down the coast are narrow, winding, and hilly.  For people prone to car sickness a Dramamine might be in order, but we had no problems.  

On the way to the Pitons, we passed the banana plantations.  Ian explained the growing process for the bananas and what an important economic impact they had on the island.  He stopped at one of the roadside vendors and provided us with a bunch of fresh banana’s.  They were quite good.  I was able to take several back to the boat to enjoy the rest of the week.

On the way to the Piton’s were traveled through Soufriere.  Ian explained the history of the city and turns out it is where he lived.  He asked if we’d like to go to the beach but we declined.  Not really beach people.  Our next stop was just north of the Piton’s where we stopped and took pictures.  They were quite impressive.  We then went to the volcano where we saw the mud baths and the hot springs.  A guide at the volcano explained to us all about the volcano, minerals in the soil, and why it smelled like sulpher in the area.  Next we stopped at a waterfall where those that took the mud baths would stop to wash the mud off.  Some interesting looking mud designs.  Next stop was Marigot Bay where we took the ferry over to Doolittle’s bar and had the bartender prepare a frozen drink of her choice.  It was a mango/peach concoction that was delicious.  It was now time to head back to the ship.

We had a great time and really enjoyed Ian.  He provided us with plenty of refreshments along the way.  He was a wealth of information about the island and was pleasant to talk too.  We learned a lot about the economics of the island as well as the history and culture.  I would highly recommend this tour to others.

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