For our FIRST wedding anniversary, Ryan and I went to St. Lucia to celebrate! We stayed at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian resort and it was absolutely amazing! Funny story – Ryan and I actually planned to go to Cabo, Mexico and the Bahamas with friends, but our plans fell through like 10 days before. So, we booked our St. Lucia travel very last minute, but it turned out to be a fun, intimate, refreshing time together regardless!
Here’s a recap of the first half of our anniversary trip!
Swimsuit Top // Swimsuit Bottoms (Use code GABIE15 for 15% off at checkout) // Ryan’s Swim Trunks
Day One: Welcome to St. Lucia
Our entire first day of vacation was spent traveling to the island. St. Lucia is one of the southernmost Caribbean islands, so we flew from Raleigh to Miami to St. Lucia. Upon arrival, we went through customs and boarded the Sandals van for a 2 hour ride to the resort. Though the island is only 27 miles long, the roads are extremely windy and only two lanes wide. We definitely underestimated this drive!
It was very eye-opening to see the entire island (a lot of it is impoverished), but the resort offers helicopter transportation from the airport and I highly recommend this route instead. We opted for the helicopter ride on the way home and it was such an unbelievable experience! The island is even more beautiful from above!
We arrived at Sandals Grande just before sunset and the views were breathtaking! We chose a casual beachfront restaurant for dinner called Barefoot By The Sea. The tables were set in the sand and we had seafood over candlelight for our first evening in St. Lucia.
Day Two: Lost at Sea in St. Lucia
Swimsuit Top // Swimsuit Bottoms (Use code GABIE15 for 15% off at checkout) // Gold Bow Flip Flops // Ryan’s Swim Trunks
Would it even be a Switzer vacation if we didn’t start with a workout?! On our first full day in St. Lucia, we woke up super early to work out so we didn’t miss any time in the sun. And when I say early, I mean Ryan set his alarm for 6:30 in the dang morning! I was so mad when I rolled over and read the time on my phone. I’m thinking, aren’t you supposed to sleep in on vacation!? Well, we got up anyways and I’m actually glad we did! I continued week 7 of the Kayla Itsines BBG Program, had breakfast, and was lounging in our private Cabana by 8:30 AM!
Unfortunately for me, we were only relaxing for about 7 minutes before Ryan said, “Let’s go do something!” and enthusiastically suggested kayaking. If you follow my Instagram, then you’ve already heard how quickly this “fun” activity turned into a complete vacation nightmare!! If you haven’t heard the story, go check out my St. Lucia Highlight for a laugh! We got stuck out at sea… what an exhilarating start to our vacation! 0/10 recommend kayaking in St. Lucia.
Day Three: Sunburn, Seaweed, and Studying in St. Lucia
Cover-Up is an oldie from Spell & The Gypsy (sorry guys!! #RealLife) // Similar Cover-Up here, here, and here // Gold Bow Flip Flops
Watercolor Inspired Dress // Straw Pom & Tassel Tote, also sold here in pink // David Yurman Ring // Nude Ankle Strap Heels (ON SALE for 30% off!)
The next morning we woke up INCREDIBLY sunburned (my skin peeled for two and a half weeks after our trip haha). Have you ever been so sunburned that even your clothes were painful to wear!? We had a speedboat and snorkeling excursion planned for that day, but we decided to cancel since we were so fried! Instead, we went horseback riding!
This was my second time (and Ryan’s first time) ever riding a horse so we loved every second of it! We drove to this (kinda sketchy) farm and rode our horses a mile to the beach. To our surprise, the sand and water was covered in seaweed. Apparently, you’re supposed to ride your horse into the ocean, but we stayed on the shore to avoid a seaweed bath haha! On our ride back to the farm, it started pouring rain. Neither us nor the horses seemed to mind. It was actually kinda cool! If you’re planning a trip to St. Lucia, I’d hold off on this excursion until the seaweed issue subsides! Nevertheless, we enjoyed this quick excursion!
It only rained for about an hour, so Ryan and I went back to the resort, freshened up, and went to dinner early so we could study. Yes, you read that right- we had to study on day three. On our honeymoon in Maui last year, we absolutely fell in love with scuba diving. So, we decided to get scuba certified in St. Lucia so that we could dive deeper. We had to read three lessons, complete the chapter quizzes, and study for our final exam the next morning.
Day Four: Scuba Certified in St. Lucia
On Wednesday, we met our scuba instructor on the dock at 7:45 AM and boated to our first scuba spot: the breathtaking St. Lucia Pitons. And if you think they’re beautiful on land, wait until you see them underwater! It was about a 30 minute boat ride so, we took our final scuba written test on the way there. One of us made a 90% on the exam while the other had to retake the exam… I’ll let you guess which one of us had to retake it haha!
After passing the written test, we suited up and descended to the ocean floor with our instructor where we had to demonstrate scuba skills like recovering your regulator (the thing you use to breathe), clearing your mask, and sharing air with your buddy. After passing the underwater skills test, we got to dive for two hours with 2 tanks of air!
The question I get most frequently is, “aren’t you scared of marine life??” And this may sound crazy because I’m usually afraid and uncomfortable in the ocean, but when I tell you I was completely calm 50 feet underwater, I truly mean it! Being on the ocean floor feels sooo different than floating on top of the water snorkeling or swimming offshore. I truly felt “one” with the ocean haha! We were following these huge barracuda and swimming with schools of fish. It was unbelievable and unlike anything I’ve seen before! 10/10 recommend scuba diving in St. Lucia. And if you’re scuba diving with Sandals Grande, ask for Esnard! He is THE man!
St. Lucia Travel To Be Continued…
These first few days in St. Lucia were so refreshing and fun! Ryan and I loved exploring the island and just spending quality time together for our anniversary. There’s just something about traveling together that brings you closer! I love reminiscing on the memories we made traveling to new places – whether it’s just down the road or 2 planes and a 2 hour mountainous drive to St. Lucia, our travel memories are some of my most cherished moments.
Would y’all like more details on the second half of our trip?! The last day was my FAVORITE day! Comment below and let me know!
Where’s your favorite vacation destination??
xoxo,
Gab
