Saint Lucia is at the top of everybody’s dream list of Caribbean island vacations. The island is blessed with lovely beaches, remarkable volcanic location, and excellent treking routes. It’s no surprise you’re discussing a journey; Saint Lucia is among our preferred locations, too.
Nevertheless, these preparing phases do plead the concern: Is Saint Lucia safe? What should you get out of your journey in regards to criminal activity and natural catastrophe threat? As an entire, we ‘d inform you to work out regular preventative measures, however that’s simple enough to state. Exactly what are “regular” preventative measures anyhow?
In this guide, we’ll take a look at security in Saint Lucia. Prepare to dive deeply into particular criminal activity rates, natural catastrophe threat, and more. We can assist make Saint Lucia among the best locations you might potentially check out.
Is St Lucia Safe?
We understand that not everybody has the high-end of endless time to research study Saint Lucia. If you desire fast responses, do not fret; we have actually got you.
Here are the main points you ought to learn about the threat of travel in Saint Lucia:
As an entire, Saint Lucia is among the best island nations to check out in the Caribbean. The significant resort locations and many communities are extremely safe, with countless visitors taking a trip to Saint Lucia problem-free each year.
There are some natural threats in Saint Lucia, consisting of a cyclone threat from June up until November. The island likewise has the threat of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The opportunity of an extreme catastrophe happening is low however can not be dismissed. It’s smart to understand the appropriate procedures before taking a trip, have sufficient insurance coverage, and prevent high-risk times, like August up until October for cyclone threat.
There are criminal activity occurrences in Saint Lucia, specifically at big occasions like the Saint Lucia Carnival. Watch out for minor criminal offenses like bag snatching and pickpocketing in heavy crowds. Nevertheless, likewise know that there’s a severe criminal activity threat, consisting of heist. These are fortunately irregular occurrences normally happening in remote locations or after dark.
There are some stringent cultural distinctions, enforceable by law. The main point to note is extremely conservative mindsets to LGBTQ+ relations throughout the nation. While members of the LGBTQ+ can still take a trip to Saint Lucia, it’s recommended to be conscious of things like shows and tell of love. You ought to likewise keep in mind that drug offenses bring serious charges, often consisting of the capital punishment. It’s likewise prohibited for anybody to use camouflage clothes, a guideline not even kids are exempt from.
Mentioning things that are enforceable by law, you require a short-lived driving license to lease an automobile in Saint Lucia. Some hire business can get this pass for you, however it’s clever to ask ahead of time; otherwise, you’ll need to consider an in-person check out to the main Department of Tourist. Quick side note: never ever pick up pedestrians flagging down your automobile, and constantly keep your doors locked while driving.
St Lucia Criminal Offense Rates
Sadly, there’s really been a spike in Saint Lucia’s criminal activity rates in the previous 3 years, just recently scoring a murder rating of 77.6 percent in 2022. There’s a total criminal activity rating of 70.24 on Numbeo, which is considered high threat, and the security rating falls by half when you stroll throughout the day versus strolling in the evening. that being stated, we felt extremely safe when we were checking out the island.
As a basic guideline, its separated locations draw in opportunistic attacks and theft. In the capital of Castries, there’s a more clockwork pattern of routine criminal activity, like drugs and heist, in locations like the (paradoxically called) Tranquility Park and Vieux Fort. This is normal among huge cities, and we ‘d recommend you to keep your wits about you. It’s smart to take a look at the particular criminal activity hotspots of specific locations in Saint Lucia that you’re checking out.
As constantly, take additional care or merely prevent taking a trip night. Solo night strolls on beaches and intoxicated trips in taxis without a pre-agreed fare are all dishes for catastrophe. Likewise, take additional care in the daytime when significant occasions like the Saint Lucia Carnival are occurring.
Keep precious jewelry and costly products in your home or well-concealed when in Saint Lucia. Regardless of real occasions of targeted travelers being low in this lovely nation, an excellent guideline when taking a trip anywhere is “bring it if you’re prepared to lose it”. When it comes to a mugging, never ever attempt to eliminate for your personal belongings.
Police Existence
As an entire, the Royal Saint Lucia Police is an efficient system on the island. It is a little short-staffed and underfunded, with periodic allegations of corruption in the type of kickbacks. Nevertheless, the police gets assistance from the United States in its operations and does an excellent task of managing justice on the island. You can call the Royal Saint Lucia Police on 911 and understand that they are the very best point of contact in a harmful scenario.
Nevertheless, we advise evaluating the guidelines and cultural distinctions in Saint Lucia before taking a trip. These are the following laws you ought to understand:
You should bring a short-lived Saint Lucia license if leasing and driving an automobile on the island.
Drugs, consisting of cannabis, aren’t legal in Saint Lucia and bring serious legal consequences, consisting of the capital punishment.
It’s prohibited for anybody to use camouflaged clothing.
LGBTQ+ activity is presently illegal, and revealing love in public is possibly hazardous.
The authorities work in Saint Lucia, so do not get on the incorrect side of them either! This is especially real if you’re driving instead of utilizing public transport.
Natural Catastrophes in St Lucia
Saint Lucia isn’t unsusceptible to natural catastrophes, although there’s typically very little disturbance or serious occasions. Typically speaking, these are the 3 primary threats:
Volcanic activity.
Earthquakes.
Hurricanes.
Volcanic activity and earthquakes are uncommon and quite hard to anticipate. Nevertheless, you can sign up for signals when taking a trip to Saint Lucia, which will quickly alert you of updates and emergency situation strategies. It’s something to be conscious of and sign up for before flying to the island.
Hurricanes are more routine, and Saint Lucia has a cyclone season in between June and November. There are seldom genuinely hazardous cyclones in Saint Lucia. Still, flash flooding, journey disturbance, and damage are a genuine threat. In a perfect world, you ought to prevent this duration, specifically from August up until October, when cyclones are at a peak.
If that isn’t possible, though, ensure to take a look at our next area.
Hurricanes in St Lucia
So, if you are dead set on holidaying in Saint Lucia in between June and November, here’s what you require to understand. Hurricanes are determined on the Saffir-Simpson Typhoon Wind Scale. This ranks in between 1 and 5 in seriousness and assists to categorize damages and figure out whether cyclones are a severe danger.
Here’s the ranking system you can anticipate:
Classification 1: Winds of 74-95 miles per hour threaten and can trigger damage, such as damage to powerlines that might trigger interruptions.
Classification 2: Winds of 96-110 miles per hour that are extremely hazardous and will trigger damage, like all powerlines ruined and power out for weeks.
Classification 3: Winds of 112-129 miles per hour that trigger disastrous effect with electrical energy and water gain access to harmed for weeks.
Classification 4: Winds of 130-156 miles per hour that trigger disastrous damage and some locations to be uninhabitable for lots of months. There might be damage to some homes.
Classification 5: Winds of 157 miles per hour that will trigger disastrous damage, with many locations uninhabitable for lots of months. A high portion of homes will be ruined with collapsed roofing systems and walls.
Remaining Safe in St Lucia Hurricanes
So, how do you remain safe in this situation? Well, you can take some basic actions to optimize your possibilities of security in Saint Lucia’s cyclone season. In this area, we’ll provide you the leading 3.
Almost all cyclones affecting Saint Lucia remain in classification 1 or 2, so you should not experience the most serious end of the scale. However you ought to be gotten ready for things like power interruptions and affected flights. It’s an excellent concept to have insurance coverage to cover you for any unforeseen expenses and to be versatile with your schedule. Cancellation insurance coverage is constantly a convenient card to have up your sleeve!
Here are some additional recommendations for you.
1. Bring a Charged Powerbank
A charged power bank is important for power cuts. Your phone is your lifeline; it’s a method to call the authorities or an ambulance and browse to locations like healthcare facilities (you ought to currently have actually found out where they are as a preventive procedure). Bring or keeping a power bank charged is an excellent method to secure yourself in case of an interruption.
2. Know Your Hotel or Lodging’s Emergency situation Policies
Does your hotel or lodging have a particular treatments strategy? If they do not inform you when you get here or when you get your reservation verification, then ask. Ensure that you understand how individuals around you will act if there’s a cyclone and if there are any accommodation-specific methods to remain safe.
3. Consider Having No WiFi
This might sound apparent, however there’s no WiFi if there’s no power. This suggests you’ll lose access to things like Google Maps, your banking app, and even simply exposure to family and friends back home. Having a backup strategy, like offline maps or the capability to simply text your ISP to update to a roaming plan, is crucial. You ought to never ever presume that you’ll have WiFi to remain safe.
Remaining Safe on St Lucia Beaches
You can never ever be too cautious when it pertains to the sea. There’s constantly a small threat, and the ocean can be hazardous. When remaining safe on St Lucia’s beaches, the most essential thing to understand is that the island does not utilize alerting flags. This suggests that you might not be alerted if there are locations inappropriate for swimming or with riptides.
Off the back of this, the island’s eastern coastline likewise opens out onto the Atlantic Ocean. This suggests waves can get seriously choppy, specifically in cyclone season when winds get typically.
Not having actually limited locations suggests you should utilize your good sense when choosing where to swim. And if you’re not sure, ask your hotel for recommendations or check out a more safeguarded beach, like among the personal resort beaches with a 24/7 lifeguard.
Required some motivation? Take a look at the very best beaches here.
Weather Condition in St Lucia
Understanding the weather condition of your location before departure can actually be a lifesaver. If you check out St Lucia in July, you’ll understand that it’s cyclone season with a high storm threat. Weather condition matters, as it can extremely affect your journey. Understanding your location completely is the genuine method forward.
St Lucia has 2 primary seasons: the damp season from June up until December and the dry season from December up until late May. Temperature levels are likewise continuous at 78-83 degrees Fahrenheit. However we’ll take a better take a look at the seasonal variation month by month.
Spring
This is the most popular time to check out St Lucia and falls under the Spring Break dates. March is the driest month in St Lucia, with April likewise relatively dry and Might beginning to see simply a bit more rain. You ought to check out throughout this time if you desire clear skies for sightseeing and a lot of walkings and beach days.
Summertime
St Lucia is not everyone’s cup of tea in summer season, and it is best in the middle of the June to November cyclone season. July and August have the greatest levels of humidity, with routine tough spells of rainstorms. That stated, rates are lower, and destinations are quieter.
If you seem like an off-season vacation, it’s still rewarding. You can restrict the threat of being affected by a cyclone with sufficient research study ahead of time and cancellation insurance coverage. Simply be prepared to take a couple of taxis on damp days.
Fall
The cyclone season grinds to a sluggish stop around November, which suggests fall totally falls under the classification of “cyclone threat”. We would not actually advise this time of year. Even if there are no cyclones, it falls plainly into the damp season (which ranges from June to December), so you’re taking a look at great deals of rainy days.
Winter Season
December to February is when things begin to alter in St Lucia. You can wave bye-bye to the cyclone threat and hey there to the shift from damp to dry season. December is most likely to still experience a lot of damp days (approximately 16), however January drops (approximately 14 damp days), and February drops even more (simply 9). You might certainly have a good time reserving to check out St Lucia in winter season; simply go for that later on window.
5 Tips To Stay Safe in St Lucia
Remaining safe in St Lucia is absolutely workable. It’s simply a case of studying and taking standard preventative measures. It is a safe location; it simply needs a little bit of pre-departure preparation and in-country savviness.
Here’s our recommendations on the leading 5 methods to remain safe when taking a trip to St Lucia.
1. A Note on Money
It deserves keeping in mind that credit and debit cards are just accepted at some stores, in regional taxis, and in some hotels. To prevent this, we ‘d recommend constantly bring dollars as loose money. By doing this, you do not need to extract cash anywhere hazardous or enter run-ins mistakenly.
Bring a wallet of money is likewise convenient when handling the threat of a harmful mugging attack. Numerous individuals hail using a dummy wallet technique, which simply includes bring a phony wallet with less dollars or non-valuable cards in it. In case of a mugging, you can turn over that wallet rather of your genuine one– fantastic, best? You may too utilize this money to double up as a dummy wallet when taking a trip to St Lucia.
2. Smart Lodging
It deserves restating that where you lie matters. Ensure you’re a safe range from any rough locations, whether you remain in cities or more rural towns. Doing that research study before devoting to lodging is a video game changer relating to security. You’ll thank yourself later on when you can stroll problem-free to the piece de resistances and features.
3. Registered Cabs
We should not need to highlight this, however it’s so essential that we include it to this list anyhow. Just ever utilize signed up taxis, which are marked by a light blue number plate. Honestly speaking, if you enter an unregistered taxi, no one understands who you’re with or where you’ll wind up. It isn’t a safe taking a trip practice, so do not take the threat.
4. Know Your Weather Condition
The considerable threat of this lovely island is the weather condition. So do your research study and understand the weather condition threat of the month you’re checking out. This little preparation can make all the distinction. If you notice there’s “something in the air,” you’ll be taking the lead in keeping yourself safe.
5. Know the Regional Laws
Much of remaining safe is simply being street savvy. However if you choose to check out St Lucia, you ought to likewise understand the regional laws, which need some research study. You ought to bear in mind the constraints around substance abuse, the guidelines for leasing vehicles, and the conservative mindsets towards LGBTQ+ relationships. By doing this, you can keep the authorities in your corner.
Tips on St Lucia For Solo Travelers
Saint Lucia is such a remarkable location. And if you do not think that directly off the bat, simply take a look at these enjoyable realities. There are a couple of things to keep in mind as a solo tourist, though:
You are more attractive to lawbreakers performing muggings, specifically if you’re utilizing your phone for instructions without any “2nd set of eyes”.
There’s no one to draw on if you get surged or consume excessive.
There’s no one to view your things on the beach or when you utilize restrooms.
Generally, you ought to know that you can be considered as a little bit of a sitting duck. Do not end up being bait; be smart and familiar with what’s around you.
A Note For Female Solo Tourists
Any skilled solo female tourist understands how remaining safe works. When taking a trip to Saint Lucia, basic preventative measures are essential. You ought to bear in mind strolling alone in peaceful locations or communities infamous for criminal activity, stay alert of your environments at all times, and restrict your intake of alcohol. You ought to likewise constantly prevent strolling alone in the evening.
When taking a trip to Saint Lucia, reserving group trips and field trip may be rewarding, specifically if you do not feel great handling public transport solo. Strolling isn’t the most effective method of navigating, leaving you susceptible to seclusion. The information on sexual attack statistics are a little worrying, so it pays to be a little careful.
If you do your research study on “bad locations” and support the normal solo female handbook guidelines, you’ll enjoy this tropical island.
Tips on St Lucia For Households
St Lucia may have a somewhat spiked criminal activity rate, however as an entire, it’s still terrific for a household vacation. This is since there’s a strong facilities of family-friendly resorts, and even bothersome locations are safe in the daytime. A household with children isn’t going to be out and about in the evening anyhow. For this reason, you remain in an exceptional position to check out Saint Lucia securely.
If you have accountable and skilled adult tourists, you will enjoy checking out Saint Lucia as a household. Simply watch out for things like riptides at the beach (shallow water can still be stealthily strong), select where your hotel lies thoroughly, and prevent separated locations or distinguished city districts in the evening.
It may be worth adhering to the north side of Saint Lucia, where a lot of family-friendly resorts exist.
Checking Out St Lucia: Frequently Asked Questions
When preparing a protected journey to St Lucia, it is essential to consider when you’re going, who you’re choosing, and what you’re going to do there. All of these elements play a big part in how safe your time in Saint Lucia will be.
If you’re a knowledgeable tourist, you will not have any concerns browsing Saint Lucia. Here are some fast Frequently asked questions to strengthen all of the security suggestions we have actually run over.
In general, extremely safe. Simply watch out for particular locations like Anse Le Raye (understood for heists) and make sure in the evening and in remote locations, where there’s an increased threat of attack and theft.
St Lucia is somewhat more hazardous than Jamaica, with a spiked murder rate of 77.6 percent versus Jamaica’s 52.9 percent in 2022.
The weather condition in Saint Lucia from August to October is quite dreadful. This is when you get one of the most rain, and it’s the peak of cyclone season, indicating there is a danger of disturbance and a severe threat of flash floods.
Definitely. Saint Lucia is a terrific location to check out. Its remarkable geographical design provides great deals of activities, like treking and driving into the world’s only drive-in volcano.
Is St Lucia Safe? Last Ideas
As you can see, Saint Lucia is a nation with some criminal activity threats and threats. While there is a danger of cyclones and volcanoes, more serious occasions are uncommon. Constantly choose trustworthy lodging, research study cyclone season, and take basic travel preventative measures, and you’ll have a wonderful time. Saint Lucia actually is a stunning nation when you check out with your head securely screwed on.
That’s all from us; Saint Lucia is among our leading suggestions for island vacations in the Caribbean. The rugged volcanic landscape with sticking out peaks behind white sand beaches is renowned. And its high-end lodging scene is similarly excellent. If you ‘d like more motivation on taking a trip to Saint Lucia, take a look at our detailed guide to the finest things to do in Saint Lucia — consisting of the only drive-in volcano on the planet.