St Lucia, resort developments on the island have made this high, green island one of the Caribbean's trendy package-tour destinations, but it's still a long way from being overdeveloped. Bananas are still bigger business than tourism in this island heaven and much of the island is rural with small coastal fishing villages giving way to a hinterland of banana and coconut plantations folded within deep valleys topped by rich, mountainous jungle. The rugged terrain continues offshore in a diving heaven of underwater mountains, caves and drop-offs.

Best time to visit

January to April.

Essential experiences

Hobnobbing with the yachties at Marigot Bay; playing pirates on Pigeon Island, a base used by 'Wooden Leg' de Bois for raiding passing Spanish galleons; keeping your eyes peeled in the Frigate Islands Nature Reserve for frigate birds, herons and (gulp!) boa constrictors; holding your nose to investigate the stinky Sulphur Springs, bubbling mud and gases from underground volcanoes; the extremes on Moule a Chique, the island's southernmost point, with views of the Maria Islands and St Vincent.

In a few words, Saint Lucia is

Pirate hideouts, yachties recruiting for their next voyage, pristine beaches, impenetrable jungles, the Pitons towering over the island and bananas aplenty.

Did you know?

In these idyllic surroundings, swimming isn't always a good idea as Bilharzia (schistosomiasis) is endemic to St Lucia (but only in freshwater).