Antigua vs. St. Lucia?

sfischer87

These are my top 2 choices for our honeymoon.  Does anyone have any experience, thoughts or suggestions they can give me?  Our wedding is in June 2013... should we go right after or wait until fall or winter?  When should we start looking to book?

[Deleted User]

We've been to both. Stayed at Sandals. Actually, we just go back from St. Lucia a week ago. This was out second time there. Of the two Antigua is a more beautiful island but st Lucia has more to do. The sandals in St Lucia is better than the one in Antigua. I have a review and pics from both in the link above my siggy pic ( the one for SL 2012 isn't done yet but my daily diaries are). As far as time. Since Caribbean weather doesn't change but a few degrees either time is fine. We did find though that if you go in the months that are cold here you are more likely to wind up with an older crowd (50-60's and a few 30's-40's* like us*and very few younger than that.

dandelionsgirl

These are actually my two picks also.  My friend who just got married in January went to Antigua and says nothing but wonderful things about it.  I have also heard good things about St. Lucia though.  Sorry I guess that isn't much help.  I don't think we will be disappointed either way though.

littlechilds

We were bouncing between those 2, and settled on St Lucia Sandals.  Our clincher was the mountain terrain, and being able to venture to other sandal resorts for free.  We also enjoy hiking so the Pitons lured us;)

mbody

My FI and I were deciding between St. Lucia and Antigua too. We decided on St. Lucia because it seemed to offer more excursions. I really wanted to zipline and Antigua doesn't offer that. The Pitons also look fun to explore. Three of my friends went to St. Lucia and had a wonderful time too.

acaponi87

We also were choosing between these 2.

We ended up picking Antigua because they have better beaches and you can get a lot more for your money.

iheartpink725

Antigua is definitely a beautiful island! I have not been to St. Lucia so I cannot compare them, but i can tell you how much I love Antigua! I've been to Antigua 3 times and I can't get over the beautiful beaches! They're the best I've seen and i've been to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and Dominican Republic. They're really unlike any beaches out there! The sand, the water, everything! Also, there are plenty of excursions! Theres horse back riding around the town, Shirley Heights on Sunday nights, Miguels Private Island for a day of snorkeling and lunch and open bar, boat trips for the day including drinks, food, and snorkleing, and there is definitely zip lining. I did it myself just last year! It was wonderful! I didn't stay at Sandals but I did stay at the hotel next door and was fortunate enough to spend a whole day at Sandals enjoying their pools, drinks, and food! Also, my best friend honeymooned there last year. If you have any questions, PM me, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions!

[Deleted User]

Damn knot ate my original post. Anyway, we've been to both stayed at Sandals. We just got back from our second time at the Grande in St Lucia. Antigua is a more beautiful island, St. Lucia has more to do and of the two Sandals that we went to the Grande in St Lucia was better all around better beach, better food, better staff. I have reviews of both. Only '08 for St Lucia as I haven't had time to do '12 yet i do have in depth daily diaries though but I can tell you it was the same as '08. and pics from both including '12 St Lucia in the link above my siggy pic. Hth and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

[Deleted User]

To answer your other question on what time of year. The average temp in the Caribbean only changes a few degrees so it really doesn't matter when you go and as far as hurricans, just get trip insurance (we've never had a problem. not to say we won't but thus far we haven't).

However, we have noticed a trend with these last two trips. When it's cold weather here the older the crowed at the resorts. We saw mostly 50 and 60yr olds with a few of us 30 and 40 yr olds and just a few less in years than that. However, the trips we have done in June seem to be more 20's and 30's.

As far as booking, I book all room reservations 1yr in advance(that way we are sure to get the room we want) and airfare as soon as I can get to it (usually 331 days from your return date).

Kimberly0340

We're going to St. Lucia for our honeymoon after the Memorial day weekend wedding. We're staying at Ti Kaye-it's a boutique-style resort with about 30 cottages in Castries. We've done the large resort thing and they defintiely have their pros, and are also less expensive, but wanted something more secluded for a honeymoon.

It seems like you can't go wrong with either island-but like others have said, I think St. Lucia has more to do. We're flying from Cleveland, Ohio and the flights to St. Lucia were about the cost of going to Europe, so if flights to Antigua are less expensive that may sell it for you!

Hope that helps!

jleiden777

I am also a June 2013 bride and we are debating these two islands as well. I do have a question for those that have been to either Sandals, are there really 7 or so freestanding restaurants or do the themes just get changed out every other night or so, so really there is only a couple of restaurants redone each night?