Marigot Bay & Sailing Away - Honeymoon Part Two

When it was time to head north for the second part of our honeymoon, we were super excited to experience new parts of St. Lucia and embark on some real adventure! We had a few things planned including zip-lining in the rainforest and spending a few days sailing the West Coast of the island. I had never set foot on a sail boat in my life so this was an absolute dream for me to know I was finally going to "sail away"...with my husband :) We had envisioned a honeymoon that was equal parts relaxation and adventure and it's safe to say we got a little more adventure than we had planned for! This was especially true the night we thought our sailboat was being boarded by pirates who were going to kill us. No joke! It's funny now but not at all when you're awake in the middle of the night actually scared for your life on your honeymoon :)

Before we set sail, we spent the next few nights at the Capella Resort in the Marigot Bay Marina. The water was such an intense turquoise in Marigot Bay. This resort had a swim up bar at the pool and we got to enjoy it while being the only two people in the pool. Early June sure does set a romantic scene on this island! At night, we would walk along the marina and look at all the sail boats and get more and more excited to set sail. There was the cutest little dive-y bar surrounded by water on three sides where we would go drink Piton beers and watch the sunset. If I could live one moment over and over it would be watching the sunset from that little bar. Oh island life...

We had the most amazing day zip-lining in the rain forest! The zip-lining was so far north on the island and the elevation was so high, you could see the Caribbean Sea on your left and the Atlantic Ocean on your right at the same time from up top. This was our first time ever zip-lining and it was pretty cool to have our first memories be in such a gorgeous place. I had to keep telling myself to not think about how high up we were dangling over the trees so I wouldn't pass out :) Every time we zipped from tree to tree, the guide would clip our harnesses around each tree trunk to keep us safely attached to the trees. What a thrill!

That same day, we zipped into lunch at the Pink Plantation House in Castries. This place was an absolute gem and truly the most magical spot I've ever eaten lunch. We sat on the back porch of the old house with views of the jungle and the sea. When we sat down, the peaceful quiet  made it feel like we were suddenly living in a scene from The Notebook...

 The instrumental version of "When You Wish Upon A Star" played in the background and it felt like we actually transported to our own little Caribbean heaven. Ben proposed to me in Disney World, so this song has always given me all the goosebumps :) And to top it all off, they serve macaroni and cheese! We ended up sharing it with the little bird that kept visiting our table. 

The prettiest view of our sailboat as we ate lunch on the shore at Pigeon Island National Park!

We sailed for three days with a skipper and an English translator since our skipper only spoke French. We made our way down the west coast and buoyed off as many bays as possible and swam to shore (with flippers!) They cooked for us on the boat, taught us how to snorkel during the days and how to stargaze and moongaze (is that a thing?) at night while we sipped on local rum. Our skipper turned out to be some sort of legend on the island that knew absolutely everyone so we even got to have a drink with the marine ranger!

 Snorkeling was one of the coolest things I've ever tried. Ben was a pro from the very start and once I actually got the hang of it, I just could not believe what I was actually experiencing! It was like meeting Nemo and Dory in real life haha! The fish were so bright and colorful and they were swimming right with us. This might sound silly, but our reaction every time we saw something amazing was to laugh uncontrollably underwater.  I guess that's what happens when you can't hold in your smiles and happiness while experiencing something so awesome!

Waking up on the water was so beautiful and serene. We would sit off the back of the boat with our feet in the water and enjoy our scrambled eggs and coffee :)

It was so cool to see The Pitons from a different view as we sailed into Soufriere Bay.

On our very last night in St. Lucia, all we wanted was to catch one more sunset from Sugar Beach.  So, we floated around in the sea one last time with our drinks and did a lot of reminiscing about the beautiful memories we were taking home with us. I left Ben alone for a minute and when I came back to the beach, I spotted him in the distance using the phone over at the beach bar. When he came back, he said it was just some confusion with paying for our drinks. A little later when the sun was starting to set, he asked me if I could be ready for dinner at a certain time. I was so shocked because I thought we would just be doing something simple on our last night and spending the night packing for our flight home the next day.

 It turns out there was one last surprise! I found out afterwards that Ben had even coordinated with the taxi driver to make sure he wouldn't give anything away when we were driving to dinner! The suspense was killing me at this point. I was so nervous when we were finally on our way to this mystery destination because surprises make me really nervous in the best way :)

Then we arrived at Ladera - the resort where we started our honeymoon and had the most magical time possible. Even though it had only been a week since we stayed there, I was SO happy to be back for one more dinner. We walked up to the restaurant... and then I found out that Ben had reserved the wine cellar for a private dinner for just the two of us. I am such a sucker for all things romantic and this just absolutely blew me away. I kept telling him I couldn't believe we were actually living this! I couldn't believe he brought me back to do something THIS amazing. We had our own personal waiter that took care of us the entire night and the chef even came in to introduce himself to us. When we left, the staff gave us the warmest hugs goodbye. It felt like we were family :)

What a magical honeymoon it was.
St. Lucia, you stole our hearts and we will be back someday for more adventures!

xo,
The Salleys