Thirsty Thursdays: 10 Bars I Drank In In Saint Lucia🇱🇨

“And do they have to know about my goodnight girl” – Wet Wet Wet.

There are a few crazy things about Castries and my time in Saint Lucia. It’s another country where I backpacked three different parts over three days and never really wrote about much about it. It’s a small island country, that seems to go un-noticed. I needed a PCR test both days before flying in, then on my second day here, I went at 8 a.m. and queued for hours to do another PCR test, wasting almost a whole day as I needed to go back the same day to Tapion Hospital to collect my result at 4.30 p.m. This was in 2021.

One curiosity is the main airport in Saint Lucia is known as UVF, which where I come from was once a British Army regiment from 1912, the Ulster Volunteer Force before becoming a loyalist (UK unionist) paramilitary group in Northern Ireland! Another curiosity is that Mick Jagger is often here though I never saw him! A third random curiosity is that I flew into the smaller airport, which is actually in the capital city, Castries and one of about 5 airports I have walked to, to catch my flight (others include Guernsey, Sint Maarten, Western Sahara, Nauru).

I was here officially on three calendar days, during COVID so there were a lot of restrictions yet I still managed to make it to all these bars, cafes or restaurants.

1.Royal Palm, Rodney Bay/Reduit Beach/Gros Islet

I headed up north to Rodney Bay and chilled out in a massive beach zone with loads of bars! Almost all of them were empty – there were hardly any tourists in this beautiful spot! We were at Reduit Beach and Gros Islet Beach. I bought a Rude Boy bottle at Royal Palm to take away and drank it partly in the car and partly on the beach.

I got a bit confused as to which beach this was taken on – it was either Rodney Bay, Reduit or Gros Islet. We visited all three and I was shocked that there were just no people here – no tourists anywhere. It was beautiful yet COVID had destroyed travel!

2.Wrap City, Food Village, Gros Islet

I wanted to see the national football and cricket stadium and it was in the north of the island at a place called Gros Islet. Even during COVID, I caught part of a local cricket match. I actually had a can of beer while watching the cricket, but I won’t count that as a bar – it was just after that that I went for lunch. The name of the bar/shack is Wrap City!

We headed to Wrap City in the Food Village. Here I had spicy chicken and a Rude Boy Cannabis Energy Drink. It was alcoholic.

3.No Fear Bar, Castries

I had a cold Guinness foreign export twice in No Fear Bar as well as the local Piton, named after Saint Lucia’s mountains. The first day it looked closed, it looked like this photo below. But round the side the boss was stocking up and he opened especially for me in the “side bar” and “back bar” which was a throwback to the 1980s!

With the slogan “Run Your Mouth”, this is a local wee wooden bar shack with some music pumping and a TV. You had to wear a mask inside, but not outside. Each country in the Caribbean had different restrictions on that trip, it took a while to get used to them, hence why I seem to be mask loyal in a load of photos!

Also of note, No Fear Bar is right opposite the ferry terminal! You can get a ferry direct from here, Saint Lucia to Martinique! For those geography buffs and UN believers, that means there is a ferry from here that takes you to Europe/France or the EU within two hours! Not true for me of course, as a separatist and nationalist, I count Martinique as a separate country. Sadly on my trip, I had to skip Martinique. My original plan was supposed to be to go by ferry to Martinique, then onward north to Dominica. Sadly they wouldn’t let me buy a ticket unless I had the PCR test confirmed even though my previous PCR test was within less than 48 hours and negative! When I finally got my PCR test result, it was 16.30 and the only ferry in those 3 days to Martinique had actually just left, around 15.00. Oh well, next time, no fear, eh?!

4.and 5.Christie’s Wishing Well Bar, (and the Bar next door) Castries

Christie was my local friend for two nights here. We hung out in her “bar” in what was basically the nearest “bar” to my hotel, the Harbour Vista Inn.

I was sleeping up a hilly local estate on the south east side of Castries, and found out about this bar thanks to James, the hotel manager. I was up at the top of a very local neighbourhood off La Toc Road and Christie lived here. It was actually two bars in one here, there was a bar next door we drank in too. I nicknamed Christie’s Bar “The Wishing Well Bar” as that was her username on Instagram and reminded me of that Wet Wet Wet song. Christie’s Mum and Dad joked that I would marry Christie, but we just sat and drank and talked the night away, twice. I think that’s her Mum below.

6.Harbour Vista Inn, Castries

While it is always good to visit bars in the city centre, my first ever beer here was on the balcony in my hotel. I had a cold Piton Beer here at the Harbour Vista Inn with James the boss. Due to COVID restrictions, the actual bar and restaurant was shut but James had cold beers in the fridge for me to buy.

7.Tapion Hospital PCR Test Bar, Castries

I did get fed up doing PCR tests on those trips. In total, I did 17 PCR tests in 12 different countries in a period of a few months. I also got 3 vaccinations. Here in Saint Lucia, I played the waiting game at Tapion Hospital for my PCR Test result, in the end missing the boat to Martinque.

I was suprised they had a bar and cafe here at the hospital and it was licensed. When I made the lonely, late afternoon one hour walk through a local neighbourhood (which oddly reminded me of Melbourne in Australia), I decided if the test was negative, I’d treat myself to a beer in the hospital! Of course it was negative, as all my tests were since I never caught COVID.

I had an Angosturas Chill Sorrell Juice Cocktail here to celebrate my double negative, which at the time was just too late to allow me to backpack Martinique, so instead I lined up Dominica, Guadeloupe, Beef Island, Tortola, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten and Antigua…

8.Pensioner’s Bar, Near Downtown Market, Castries

Elton John started pumping out whilst I was the only customer in the Pensioner’s Bar in central Castries. Due to the lockdown restrictions, the market wasn’t even fully functioning and many shops, offices and bars were completely shut.

Thankfully, The Pensioner’s Bar was a pleasant surprise. It doubled up as a shop and even had USA and UK flags up flying behind the “bar” which was COVID Social Distancing loyal with plastic all around it. I ordered a cold tin of Angosturas Chill Lemon Lime Bitters with peanuts.

9.Airport Souvenir Shop Bar, Castries

Backpacking the Caribbean means a lot of short sharp flights and quick airport visits. I don’t like being lazy or sitting around doing nothing so it’s always great to add an airport shop, cafe, bar or experience to your backpacking stories. Here, my final drink in Saint Lucia, was at the Airport Bar and Souvenir Shop in Castries before my flight back to Barbados, and then connecting to Dominica.

In here I went for the Ole nachos (I love nachos, most Mexican food and the spice of the Caribbean). I watered it down yet again with a cold Angostura Lime and Lemon Bitters tin.

Goodbye Saint Lucia, more memories of places being closed than open…it was supposed to be a list of 10 and I was sure I was in another bar, but cannot find the notes, photos or videos of the tenth one.

Here are some of my videos from Castries, Rodney Bay and Gros Islet while backpacking and drinking in Saint Lucia: