Cliff-Side Resort with Spanish Architecture and Renowned French-Caribbean Cuisine

Every Friday night, the town of Gros Islet transforms from a sleepy, seaside village into the site of St. Lucia’s largest street party, The Gros Islet Jump-Up. Fodor’s calls the weekly ritual “the ultimate ‘lime’ experience (“lime” is a Caribbean term for hanging out.)." Here, you can dance all night to calypso, zouk, and reggae tunes blaring from huge, outdoor speakers. On the outskirts of the party, villagers set up roadside stands selling bottles of Piton—a local beer named for the island’s colossal volcanic plugs, Gros Piton and Petit Piton—and Caribbean street fare such as barbecue chicken and seafood. Just a few miles north, the Cap Maison resort also serves island delicacies at its onsite restaurant, The Cliff at Cap. With a dramatic cliff-side setting overlooking Smugglers Cove Beach, the restaurant’s calming atmosphere provides the perfect foil to a energetic night at the Jump-Up.

Praised by the New York Times for its “small but rich menu” and use of primarily local ingredients, The Cliff at Cap serves upscale island fare prepared by executive chef Craig Jones, a Welsh Rastafarian who specializes in nouveau French-West Indian cuisine. Chef Jones crafts jerk pork belly with coconut-shellfish froth, rock-shrimp risotto, and other island-inspired dishes that guests enjoy in an elegant, open-air dining room. For a more casual dining experience, visit The Cliff at Cap during lunch or head down to the Smugglers Cove Beach Bar B Que, just steps from the Caribbean.

Travel + Leisure writes that Cap Maison “exudes a sense of peace and quiet.” Visitors can find such serenity walking to the nearby Smugglers Cove Beach, connected via outdoor staircase, or by taking a moment to admire the resort’s unobstructed views of Caribbean Sea and the St. Lucian countryside. The resort's Spanish-style accommodations, which feature terra-cotta roofs and airy verandas, recently served as the site of The Bachelor’s final rose ceremony. After checking in, take a swim in the infinity pools or use your drink credits at one of several bars, including a wine cellar with 1,500 bottles. Or, trek offsite on guided walking or jogging tours that meander through lush landscapes filled with nutmeg and mango trees, banana fields, and St. Lucian parrots.

Gros Islet, St. Lucia: White-Sand Beaches and Historical Forts Between the Caribbean and Atlantic

Located in between Martinique and St. Vincent in the eastern Caribbean, St. Lucia was coveted by the British and French, who quarreled over the island for more than a century. Pigeon Island, just 2 miles from Cap Maison in the heart of the Gros Islet district, served as a key base for the British navy during these military engagements. Today, visitors can tour the partially intact stone buildings of Fort Rodney, which lead up to a lookout point with panoramic views of the northwest coastline.

As St. Lucia’s northernmost region, the district of Gros Islet is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the west and the choppy Atlantic Ocean to the east. Here, you’ll find calm, white-sand beaches, ideal for breezy kite surfing and deep-sea fishing trips that land king mackerel, white marlin, and barracuda. The region is also home to the St. Lucia Golf Club, a demanding par 71 course set into the rolling hills of Cap Estates.

A vacation in St. Lucia is not complete without a trip to one of its volcanoes. Considered the country’s unofficial symbol, the Pitons are two vegetation-covered volcanic plugs rising more than 2,000 feet above the southwestern coast. Nearby St. Lucia Volcano is considered "the world's only drive-in volcano," as you can drive your car close enough to the volcanic crater to see its steaming sulfur springs.

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