St Lucia: crystal waters, cocoa, and craters

January 29, 2022

Few places have it all, but St Lucia is a serious contender. Staggering deep green mountains for hiking and climbing, rainforest trails filled with coffee and cacao trees, coral reefs teeming with life, and volcanic hot springs paired with a rejuvenating mud bath? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. What’s more, the people are some of the kindest I’ve met anywhere, and delicacies like saltfish and green figs, or freshly caught grilled fish paired with the local hot sauce, will leave you wanting for more.

St Lucia mountains rainbow — View of the Pitons flying into St Lucia

Flying into Hewanorra International airport, I was treated to a spectacular view of the green-covered twin peaks of Gros and Petit Piton (large and small, for the non-francophone), and quickly began to settle into island time. We stayed at Sweet Breezes, a simple but spacious rental home a stone’s throw from the more upscale Tet Rouge resort in a less populated area, and at night we marveled for hours at the vast quantity of stars we could see from our roof deck due to little light pollution. A few minutes’ walk took us to a small beach, where at night the waves shone with bioluminescence as they lapped the shoreline. This is a place where time seems to slow, allowing you to reconnect to what’s truly important.

Sunset St Lucia beach — Sunset, St Lucia

St Lucia Jalousie beach — Jalousie beach, St Lucia

The sea here teems with life, and you’ll be treated to schools of bright yellow grunts, squads of hovering squid, and a lone camouflaging octopus or two whether you snorkel or scuba dive. I did a couple of great dives with Chester, who runs Action Adventure Divers out of Soufriere at the base of the Pitons. We sought out invasive lionfish during our dives, which Chester speared and then asked a friend to fry for us next to the dive shop. One of the best snorkeling spots is on the north side of Jalousie beach, which you can reach by boat or by road via the Viceroy’s high-end Sugar Beach resort. We saw moray eels both freeswimming and emerging from hiding spots in the coral, inquisitive Caribbean reef squid traveling in family-size units, and a pair of pillow-sized porcupine fish. All beaches in St Lucia are public, and we enjoyed strolling along the sand, admiring the Pitons towering on either side of us. We followed with local greens, grilled fish, fried chicken, and passionfruit-flavoured drinks at the beachside restaurant, our feet in the sand as the sun set into the sea.

St Lucia sunset palm tree — St Lucian sunset

Petit Piton hiking — View of Petit Piton whilst hiking Gros Piton

Feeling up for an adventure, the next day we awoke early to hike up Gros Piton. Upon arriving at the trailhead, we were paired with a local guide and asked to pay a $50 USD entry fee, which goes to the local community (note: you cannot go up without a guide and at least 1.5L of water per person, though I’d recommend bringing 2L or more). Reaching the summit requires roughly 2 hours of mostly uphill hiking, with 3 spots spaced roughly 30 minutes apart to stop, rest, and enjoy the views along the way. We were rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and spectacular views of both Petit Piton (a more difficult summit, involving some climbing) and the southern expanses of St Lucia, with the peak of La Soufriere volcano on St Vincent visible in the distance. The way down felt longer, as it often does, but fortunately a small hut selling delicious homemade ice cream and an assortment of cold drinks awaits.

St Lucia volcano crater — Volcano crater on St Lucia

St Lucia is also one of the few places you can drive into the crater of an active volcano. We were greeted by the strong smell of sulphur and a few friendly local employees, who took us to a lookout point from where we saw an assortment of bubbling hot pools and heard stories about the history and formation of the area. Afterwards, we dipped into the nearby mineral hot springs, slathering ourselves in volcanic mud with revitalising properties that locals and tourists alike swear by. Our skin did feel baby soft for a few hours afterwards, so it’s certainly worth a shot.

Should you be craving a different kind of bath, nearby is the Toraille waterfall, a pretty 50 foot (15 metre) drop into a cold wading pool—stand under it for a nice back massage. Alternatively, nearby is Hotel Chocolat, an eco hotel with a spa featuring exfoliating scrubs and massages with oils made from the cacao beans grown locally on the property. Feeling sufficiently relaxed, we toured the cacao groves, and our patient guide taught us how to make our own chocolate bars from the raw ingredients. Spoiler: it requires patience and a lot of grinding pestle against mortar, and results in some of the best chocolate you’ll ever have.

Project Chocolat St Lucia — Our patient guide at Hotel Chocolat

Anse Mamin beach St Lucia — Anse Mamin beach, St Lucia

Desiring more time in the sea, we headed to the nearby beaches of Anse Chastanet and Anse Mamin. Accessible by boat or car, both feature large expanses of sand lapped by crystal clear waters with dramatic rock-hewn backdrops. The high-end, open air sister resorts of Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet are located here, and we enjoyed the fish ceviche served in a coconut along with delicious burgers on the beach at the relatively quieter Anse Mamin. Whiling away an afternoon alternating between swimming, reading, and sunbathing was enough to forget the outside world, and splurging on a couple of nights at the nearby Caille Blanc villa was definitely the right choice.

A short drive or walk from the beach, Caille Blanc perches dramatically on the hillside, with an infinity pool overlooking perhaps the best view of the Pitons. The view is overshadowed only by the friendly staff, who will ensure your stay is as magical as their island. I spent hours gazing over the expanse of ocean and mountains, and the image of the twin Piton peaks remains etched in my mind like an invitation. It’s a place you’ll want to linger, taken in by its serenity as you reflect on how lucky we are to live in this world.

Caille blanc villa pool St Lucia — View of the Pitons from the infinity pool at Caille Blanc, St Lucia

Where to eat, drink, and stay

Jungle grill, Anse Mamin beach

Sweet Breezes rental home, Choiseul, Soufriere

Hotel Chocolat

Caille Blanc Villa

A few notes on logistics

In current times, you’ll need a negative covid PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival to St Lucia. I recommend doing this early, as you’ll need to upload it to the tourism portal, after which you’ll wait to receive an email with a QR code that you’ll need in order to enter the country. If you stay at more than one hotel in the country during your stay, some may require an additional test. To return to the U.S., you’ll need a negative test taken within 24 hours. As I found pricing for this to be quite high on the island, I brought a travel-approved test with me from the U.S., which I took under a doctor’s supervision via video call from my laptop.

Having a car is essential to getting around the island (unless you’re willing to splurge on repeated outings from your hotel or rental) and gives you the freedom to explore. Many attractions are concentrated along the western side of the island, and the region around Soufriere is great to use as a base. If you’re looking to explore the whole island, keep in mind that driving distances can be significantly longer than they appear on Google Maps due to the frequent curves and potholes you’ll encounter on the roads; driving from the southern part of the island to the north without stopping will likely take about 3-4 hours. I highly recommend the locally-run Sacred Heart car rental - communication was easy, and everything went smoothly.

In the land of stones, spices and spirits

November 17, 2019

In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, Martin Scorsese writes that cinema is “about revelation—aesthetic, emotional and spiritual revelation,” and the best films are the ones that take risks to engage, excite and thrill the audience. I was reminded of his words over lunch last week at Pitiona restaurant in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I ate perhaps my favourite meal of the year. The menu features a wide range of dishes, and I wanted to try every single one. Chef José Manuel Baños combines local ingredients such as tasajo (a cut of beef), grasshopper and amaranth with a flair for unusual, unique combinations that delight the palate. Over a spectacular meal of passionfruit ceviche, guacamole with crickets and tasajo, chickpea mushroom soup, arroz milpa with duck chicharron, and snapper with leek foam, I reflected that Scorsese’s words can be aptly used to describe the culinary arts as well. What more could you want? A spectacular view overlooking the baroque, green-hued Santo Domingo church. Yes, there is that, too.

Passionfruit ceviche masterpiece at Pitiona restaurant

We ate another memorable meal at Alfonsina (cash only, reservations required), on the outskirts of Oaxaca city, located by a courtyard the owner-chef shares with his neighbours. Five courses (including a dessert course) are served at a communal table. Among the dishes we were treated to were a flavourful corvina ceviche in a sesame-based sauce, and, later, the same fish cooked in a spicy mole sauce. We walked off lunch around the Zócalo, Oaxaca’s main square, over which the Cathedral prominently soars, and checked out local arts and crafts in the nearby markets. The Zócalo is also a great spot for people watching while sipping on a local hot chocolate at Mayordomo (get the one with no added sugar with milk as a base), which you can also bring home with you.

When not eating, Oaxaca’s vibrant culture and history will easily fill up several days, if not weeks. Don’t miss the aforementioned Santo Domingo church, and the Textile Museum was well worth a stop. Skippable is the small botanical garden, which forces you on a painfully slow, two-hour tour to view the resident plants. We particularly enjoyed contrasting the neighbouring Zapotec sites of Mitla and Monte Albán. The former is small, easily seen in the span of an hour, and features intricate stonework that does not use any mortar. It is impressive how well-preserved many of the structures are. Monte Albán, on the other hand, is a sprawling site, less focused on the details of the stonework and more so on the layout and community that once thrived there. Wandering among the temples, some dating as far back as 2,500 years ago, you sense how small our presence is in the wider span of history. What will human civilisation be like 2,500 years hence? We pondered this and other questions over drinks at Selva, a newly opened mezcal-focused cocktail bar, back in the city. The vibe is jungle chic, the staff are incredibly friendly, and the drinks were so flavourful that one quickly turned into three.

One of the most stunning sites in the area is made by nature rather than humans: Hierve el Agua, a set of calcified waterfalls and small, vibrantly coloured pools in various hues of green, yellow and blue. The formations are deposits of calcium carbonate and other minerals that remain from previous waterfalls, a similar process to the creation of stalactites in caves. We arrived when the site opened and were lucky enough to have it largely to ourselves for about 45 minutes, during which we staged a photoshoot of Instagram-worthy calibre. Best of all, you can take a dip in the pools, refreshing when outdoor temperatures climb quickly with the exposed sun. Should you want to stay in the area (it’s about a 2 hour drive back to Oaxaca), I highly recommend our Airbnb in Mitla (walking distance to the ruins). It’s run by a young family and features a large pool and patio, a cactus garden, a vinyl record player (and records), striking sunsets, and spectacular stargazing, at roughly $60 USD/night. Our only regret was not staying longer.

For those that have more time, I’d recommend renting a car to travel further afield. We enjoyed the curvy mountain road between Oaxaca and Puerto Ángel, which climbs and climbs through the mountains, giving you stunning views over the surrounding range. We also passed through the town of San José del Pacifico, known among tourists for its temazcal rituals (basically a mud sweat lodge) featuring locally picked magic mushrooms (the season runs from June to September). Once you hit the coast, you’ll be rewarded with long stretches of beach featuring nudists (at Playa Zipolite) or surfers (at Mazunte or Puerto Escondido). I’d recommend lingering (one-way car rentals are offered by Puerto-Escondido based U-car) to sink into the slower pace of life here. We had a fantastic dinner at the Italian-run Bacco, featuring homemade pastas and fresh, locally-sourced toppings for pizzas, fish and meats. At night, should you visit around the time of a full moon, which we luckily did, you’ll see bioluminescence in the ocean as you watch the waves crash on the beach. It’s the perfect end—or beginning—to a spiritual and cultural journey through this most fascinating of Mexican states.

One of hundreds of striking courtyards in Oaxaca

Where to eat & drink

Pitiona, Oaxaca

Alfonsina, Oaxaca outskirts

Mayordomo, Oaxaca

Selva, Oaxaca

Bacco, Playa Zipolite

Where to stay

Airbnb in Mitla

Holbox: island of whale sharks and bioluminescence

October 26, 2018

I’m a big fan of islands, and Holbox is no exception. Fortunately, it is still relatively under the radar. That may be because it is relatively hard to reach (a flight to Cancun, followed by a 2-hour shuttle ride to Chiquilá, followed by a 30 min ferry ride to the island). A few hours away from Cancun, it is a different world. With few cars on the island (mostly used by locals/for construction), most people use golf carts (unfortunately there are many of these), bike or walk to get around.

But the real draw here is a few dozen miles offshore. Every summer, from May through September, there is an abundance of plankton in the waters northeast of Holbox, which in turns draws hundreds of whale sharks. Whale sharks, for those who have not yet been inundated with photos of the spotted, majestic beasts on social media, are the largest fish and are filter feeders, their favourite food consisting of plankton and small fish. Along with them arrive boat trips from both Holbox and Isla Mujeres with tourists ready to jump in and snorkel with the sharks. Most of these tours follow the same script: two tourists in at any given time with a guide, pairs swapping out every few minutes. You’ll get 2-3 chances to swim with the sharks, which feels like not enough when you’ve spent a couple of hours on a boat getting there. I’d recommend getting together a group and chartering your own boat so that you can spend your time as you wish.

On the return, most boats will stop at Bahia Ceviche, a fantastically beautiful patchwork of long colours blending into each other—beige into blue into green into rose. It’s a beautiful spot from which to watch the resident flamingoes bend and straighten their thin legs in a gracious dance as they feed in the surrounded waters.

The inhabited parts of Holbox are also a treat, largely shaped as a grid around the main square, featuring some colourful murals and street vendors. I particularly enjoyed a long walk west along the north shore to Punta Cocos, where we relaxed on hammocks dipping into the crystal clear water and watched in amusement as a dog chased and pounced on fish and rays. In the distance, a trio of flamingoes did their dance, and everything was serene. On the way back into town, we ducked into the Holbox Animal Sanctuary along the way to see a few local rescues, then stopped for a well-deserved meal of some of the best ceviche I’ve ever had, accompanied by chips with guacalucy (a spicy version of guacamole), at Ceviches la Chingada.

Our hotel was the stunningly designed and intimate Punta Caliza, and it was surprisingly easy to settle into a calmer rhythm where our only concern became when to order our next round of margaritas. The other guests at the hotel included a family of four from New York, with an incredibly funny Mom who would include us in her jokes, a gay couple with an architectural wonder on Fire Island, and a mother and daughter, who happened to share a birthday with my friend while we were on the island. The staff graciously created a drink special in honour of their birthdays and offered 2 for 1 on it all afternoon. Breakfast was included and was always a creative affair, ranging from the sweet to the savoury, and the staff were happy to make adjustments as needed.

We also enjoyed the cocktails and small bites at nearby Luuma, and Milpa (reservations required) for fun, inventive, more upscale food and cocktails. But by far the best meal on the island was had at El Chapulim, where we wished we had had more time to return. Skippable is Barba Negra, where the tacos sounded good, but missed the mark and took a very long time to arrive, despite us being some of the only customers, as well as Casa las Tortugas—a beautiful hotel with nice views from the rooftop, but the cocktails were too sweet and the service lacking.

Unfortunately, Holbox is also one of the buggiest places I’ve been—any spot I missed with the mosquito repellent was promptly found by mosquitos. If I didn’t reapply repellent frequently, I was also tracked down and tormented by the mosquitos.

One evening after it was completely dark, we decided to brave the mosquitos and walked east along the shore until we had passed all the hotels and restaurants, and around us was only the sea and the jungle. Wading into the water, we were surrounded by flashes of bright blue bioluminescence from the plankton, which releases light when disturbed. We went for a quick dip, amazed at the sky full of stars blinking overhead and the lights surrounding us in the water. For just a few days, we escaped the hustle of New York and discovered the small paradise of Holbox. Go before it’s too late.

Packing list