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How To Visit St Lucia On A Budget – Complete Guide

St Lucia on a budget - featured image

St Lucia has a bit of a reputation for being a super expensive, luxurious vacation destination.

The good news? It doesn’t have to be! 

There are plenty of ways to cut costs and take a cheap vacation to St Lucia (don’t worry, I’ll show you exactly how).

This ultimate guide includes where to stay in St Lucia on a budget, how to get around cheaply, how to find super cheap flights, where to eat and more.

Can You Do St Lucia on a Budget?

Yes, it is definitely possible to do St Lucia on a budget. Although St Lucia is known for its fancy all-inclusive resorts, there are also plenty of budget options and ways you can save money.

Whether you’re looking for an affordable St Lucia honeymoon or you just want to see what this beautiful island has to offer, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

Here’s some of my best tips to do St Lucia on the cheap:

  • Use a flight comparison website like kayak.com and check various dates to find the best flight deals.
  • Eat in local restaurants away from the main tourist areas as they tend to be cheaper.
  • Cook your own meals (this is easy if you book an apartment or villa rental as they come with a kitchen).
  • Use the minibus public transportation system instead of taxis to get around the island.

In the rest of this post, I will go into more detail on exactly how you can visit St Lucia on a budget.

I’ve included cheap accommodation options, budget-friendly activities, cheap flight deals and so many more handy budget travel tips that you won’t have heard before (I promise!).

St Lucia Budget Accommodation

If you’re looking for affordable accommodation in St Lucia then don’t worry as there are plenty of options with villa rentals being the cheapest option.

You don’t have to pay $500+ per night to stay at a Sandals resort to have a good time. 

In fact, you could probably spend the same amount that you’d pay per night at Sandals on your entire stay at a budget accommodation in St Lucia!

Here are my favorite St Lucia budget hotels:

This is the overall best option as this is a reasonably priced 4-star hotel in Marigot Bay. You can get rooms at around $200 per night (which is amazing for what you get).

The hotel itself is super modern and chic and overlooks Marigot Bay which features a stunning white sandy beach. There’s also 2 pools and a spa on-site as well as a dive center!

Here’s an example price for one night that I found on booking.com during high season!

Price example for Marigot Beach Club taken from booking.com.
Price example for Marigot Beach Club taken from booking.com.

Another great budget option is the Bay Gardens Hotel. This 4-star hotel in Rodney Bay has 2 pools and offers a free shuttle bus to Reduit Beach (one of St Lucia’s best beaches).

You can easily get rooms under $200 per night here even during the peak season.

Whilst the rooms here aren’t quite as modern as the above hotels (still great though), the incredible views make up for it.

This hotel is in a quiet area along the East Coast away from the main tourist spots so it offers a quiet, private escape. You can easily walk to the nearby beach or get a taxi to Vieux Fort.

You can easily get a room here for under $150 per night, even during peak season.

Sunset Lane is the cheapest accommodation on this list. It is located on the beachfront in Laborie (a small, quaint St Lucian town) and has amazing views.

The rooms here are a little bit older (not super modern) and it’s more basic compared to some other hotels but it has everything you need and is very clean and comfortable.

Rooms here are super affordable as you can get a room for $110 per night, even during high season.

Villa Rentals

The cheapest accommodation option by far is renting a villa or apartment rather than booking a hotel.

There’s actually tons of these on booking.com with plenty under $100 per night.

You won’t get some of the facilities that you’d normally get with a hotel but a villa rental certainly has everything you need.

Here’s a few affordable villa and apartment rentals I found on booking.com (all under $100 a night):

Here’s an example price I found for Serenity Seaview Suite for one night:

Price example for Serenity Seaview Suite taken from booking.com.
Price example for Serenity Seaview Suite taken from booking.com.

A bonus is that most of them actually also come with a kitchen so you can save money further by cooking your own meals from time to time!

For example, a lunch meal costs around $20 per person at a decent restaurant in St Lucia. If you cook your own meal, you’ll save most of that amount.

I often buy some basic groceries like bread and eggs from the local grocery store and cook myself scrambled eggs on toast for brekkie or lunch.

A loaf of bread and a pack of eggs from the grocery store would only cost you a few dollars and will feed you for several days.

This is one of the best ways to visit St Lucia on a budget.

If you don’t want to cook for yourself then I have some more handy tips on how to save money on food later in the post.

Cheap Flights to St Lucia

One cost that’s hard to get around is flights. Unfortunately there’s no other way to get to St Lucia unless you fancy rowing there yourself (which I’m guessing you don’t). 

Flights to St Lucia are expensive and cost, on average, between $400 and $800 for a return flight.

Of course, this varies depending on where you’re flying from.

In the list below, I’ve given a quick overview of flight prices from various major cities:

  • New York – $350 to $400
  • Los Angeles – $420 to $620
  • Chicago – $540 to $650
  • Miami – $520 to $600
  • London – $700 to $830
  • Paris – $685 to $800

These flight prices are for the peak tourist season (may be slightly cheaper during off season) and are for a return flight.

If your city isn’t listed here, you can check current flight prices on kayak.com. I always use this website for booking flights as it searches the entire internet for the best possible flight deals.

The best way to save money on flights is to vary your dates (if you can). Kayak has a handy monthly view where you can see the prices for each day of any given month.

Surprisingly, just moving your trip by one day could save you hundreds of dollars!

Take a look at the image below:

Image showing difference in flight price across two days using Kayak.com.
Image showing difference in flight price across two days using Kayak.com.

This photo shows the monthly prices for return flights from Chicago to St Lucia. 

As you can see, if I booked my departure flight for January 10th, I’d pay $537 but if I moved it one day later to the 11th, I’d pay $668. That’s $131 more!

To use this tool, head over to kayak.com and input your local airport and St Lucia’s UVF airport (the most common for international flights).

In the dates box, input the earliest date you are willing to travel to St Lucia and then select the ‘month’ tab.

You also need to input the duration of your trip. You can put a range like ‘6 – 8 nights’.

Image showing how to use Kayak.com monthly flight price tool.
Image showing how to use Kayak.com monthly flight price tool.

This will then bring up a view of the 4 weeks following your earliest departure date so you can see which dates are the cheapest to fly on.

Image showing how Kayak.com shows prices on their monthly flight price tool.
Image showing how Kayak.com shows prices on their monthly flight price tool.

As you can see from the above image, it looks like June 8th is the best date to fly on as it’s significantly cheaper than other dates.

Next you need to select your chosen departure date (in this case June 8th) and Kayak will generate some return dates for you based on the duration of stay you put in at the start.

Image showing how Kayak.com shows return dates and pricing.
Image showing how Kayak.com shows return dates and pricing.

As you can see from the image above, the best date to fly home is June 15th.

When To Visit St Lucia

You can save the most money by visiting during St Lucia’s rainy season, which runs from June to November, as this is actually the cheapest time to visit St Lucia.

You should be aware though that it rains often and this is also St Lucia’s hurricane season (the risk is small and hurricanes are extremely rare).

The best time to visit St Lucia for affordable prices and good weather is the shoulder season which runs from May to June.

Room rates are super affordable, the island is fairly quiet (no fighting the other tourists for a sun lounger) and the weather is ideal.

Expect temperatures in the mid-80sºF (high 20sºC) and no rain most days.

Here’s an overview of the weather in St Lucia by month:

Chart showing the average weather in St Lucia by month.
Chart showing the average weather in St Lucia by month.

Cheap Airport Transfers in St Lucia

In most countries, airport transfers are pretty expensive and they can be in St Lucia too but not always.

There’s no Uber in St Lucia and airport taxis are notoriously expensive. You’ll often be quoted hundreds of dollars by taxi drivers in the arrivals area of the airport.

After spending hours researching the cheapest airport transfers in St Lucia, I found a super affordable and comfortable option.

The cheapest option is to pre-book this shared round-trip airport transfer via minibus as it’s ridiculously cheap at just $22 for some hotels!

The price does vary depending on how far your hotel is from the airport but this package is for round-trip transportation so it includes airport transportation both ways in the price.

It’s significantly cheaper than other options and, although it’s shared, many people reported either being alone or only sharing with one other family.

Here’s what one traveler had to say about it:

Customer review of the shared airport transportation.
Customer review of the shared airport transportation.

Best Budget-Friendly Tours in St Lucia

If you’re looking for a cheap vacation to St Lucia then you definitely don’t want to be spending too much money on tours and activities.

Tours are often one of the most memorable parts of a vacation (at least for me!) so it’s worth booking onto one or two so you can make the most of your trip.

I’ve also included a few free activities later on to fill up the rest of your time.

Here’s a few of my favorite budget-friendly activities in St Lucia:

This private tour of St Lucia is actually cheaper than some of the shared tours so you’re really getting a fantastic deal here.

This tour is fully customizable and gives you the chance to see all of St Lucia’s main attractions in one day.

You’ll get your own private tour guide who will take you wherever you want to go including the drive-in volcano, the Piton mountains, Castries, Marigot Bay, Toraille Waterfall or whatever else you desire.

Additionally the tour is super highly rated (check here for yourself) with pretty much everyone saying how great it was!

Here’s what a recent traveler had to say about it:

Customer review of the St Lucia Highlights Tour.
Customer review of the St Lucia Highlights Tour.

This impressive full-day cruise takes you all over the island. Along the way, you’ll get the chance to see some of St Lucia’s most famous attractions like the Toraille Waterfall and the Sulphur Springs.

You’re also provided with snorkeling equipment so you can go snorkeling at two different locations.

Snorkeling in St Lucia is really great and you can actually even swim with turtles in St Lucia.

If you’re looking for adventure then this activity will be right up your street.

Head out into the rainforest and zoom through the forest on various different ziplines. 

You don’t need any previous experience so this activity is perfect for everyone and all equipment will be provided for you.

They will even provide round-trip transportation from your hotel (if it’s in the north) if necessary.

Free Things to Do in St Lucia

It’s also worth mentioning that there are tons of free things to do in St Lucia.

Here’s some fun free ideas of things to do in St Lucia which will keep costs low:

  • Go for a hike. There’s various hikes available across the island ranging from easy to hard. Hike up Gros Piton for a challenge or take a gentle stroll from Anse Chastanet to Anse Mamin Beach.
  • Watch the sunset. There’s many great sunset spots in St Lucia but Gros Islet Beach is my favorite.
  • Explore one of St Lucia’s vibrant towns. Soufriere is safe to visit for tourists and you could easily spend the whole day exploring colonial buildings and the harbor area which is usually filled with boats.

Getting Around St Lucia Cheaply

The most budget-friendly way to get around the island is by using their minibus system.

There’s not really much of an official public transport system in St Lucia and their minibuses are the closest thing.

Luckily they will get you where you need to go and for a very cheap price.

As the whole island is relatively small, it only takes a few hours to drive around St Lucia. 

By using the minibuses, you could explore the whole thing for less than $10 per person!

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The minibuses are more van-style rides (not large buses). You can recognize them by the ‘M’ on their green license plate.
  • There are no set schedules or timetables for the minibuses. They usually just leave when the driver thinks they are full enough.
  • The whole thing is very casual. You can just wave one down if you see it passing and the driver will usually stop to pick you up.
  • Alternatively you can wait at one of the designated bus stops.
  • Prices are very cheap and range from $0.60 to $4.10 depending on the distance traveled. 
  • $4.10 would get you from one side of the island to the other (1.5 hours!) so it’s fair to say they are pretty affordable.

You can view the pricing and routes here.

If you’d prefer, you can also get a car rental for around $50 per day. 

In my opinion, it isn’t worth driving in St Lucia as the roads aren’t great. The roads themselves are poor quality and often have sharp turns and windy roads.

For this reason, you’d likely have a more relaxing time if you ride in the minibus or taxi.

Cheap Food in St Lucia

The final thing to consider when doing St Lucia on the cheap is where you’re going to eat.

As I mentioned, if you book an apartment or villa rental then you can use the kitchen facilities to cook some meals yourself.

This is definitely the best way to save money. Even if you just cook yourself breakfast or lunch and still eat dinner at a restaurant, you’ll save a significant amount of money.

St Lucia restaurant prices are fairly reasonable but if you eat out for every meal, it can easily add up to hundreds of dollars.

An average restaurant meal will cost around $20 to $30 per person in St Lucia.

Here’s how that can quickly add up:

  • If you eat 3 meals out a day, that’s $20 x 3 = $60.
  • If you’re traveling as a couple then per day you’ll spend $60 x 2 = $120.
  • If you stay in St Lucia for a week then $120 x 7 = $840.

As you can see, those meal costs can really creep up on you!

By having lunch at your rental, you can easily save $280 overall and if you do the same with breakfast that’s over $500 saved!

Groceries are very reasonably priced in St Lucia so you’ll probably spend a similar amount as you would in the US.

For just a few dollars, you can get some bread, butter, eggs and salt and whip yourself up a tasty breakfast each morning in just a few minutes.

However, if you really want to eat out for every meal then there’s still several ways that you can save some money.

Here’s my top tips on saving money on food in St Lucia:

Dine at local restaurants

Avoid the fancy, expensive ones and look for the authentic, ‘off-the-beaten-track’ style restaurants as these tend to be the best value.

You can get meals for as little as $6 at these kinds of restaurants. You can get a burger and fries for around $8.

Additionally you should try to avoid restaurants which are located near to cruise ports or resorts as prices tend to be higher due to the huge amount of tourists in the area.

Check Google Maps beforehand

This is the best way to select a restaurant as you can view the menu and prices before you go. 

I always choose restaurants from Google Maps as you can read people’s reviews and look at their photos (including the menu). 

Just head over to Google Maps and either explore the map or type in something like ‘restaurants Rodney Bay’ to see a list of options in that area.

I have downloaded the app onto my phone as it’s easier to use on the go and you can save restaurants that you like.

Image showing how to view menus on Google maps.
Image showing how to view menus on Google maps.

Eat street food

You’ll often see street food stalls in various places across St Lucia. They’re a great place to get a quick (and cheap) bite to eat.

As they tend to be stalls (usually with a bit of seating), it’s much cheaper than a proper restaurant.

Avoid alcohol at restaurants

Alcohol is always the most expensive thing on the menu. 

Order a soft drink at restaurants to save money. 

If you want to have alcohol later then buy some for a much cheaper price from the grocery store and drink it on your balcony.

Look out for happy hours

If you do want to drink at a bar, you should look out for happy hours to get half price drinks. 

Most bars have signs outside to promote happy hours so keep an eye out for these. 

Alternatively you can check the reviews on Google Maps to see if anyone has mentioned it.

And that’s it!

Thanks for reading this post on how to do St Lucia on a budget.

To ensure you don’t go over budget, it’s also useful to know how much spending money you need for St Lucia.

Need more help planning your St Lucia vacation?

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