On our trip to St Lucia we decided to take a water taxi to see the islands capital. The water taxi dropped us off at the local markets. The markets sell t-shirts, bowls, hats, spices etc. Many of the stands offer the same items. As soon as we got off of the taxi we knew we were in trouble. When we arrived we were appeared to be some of the only toursits there. We were soon approached by vendors selling their crafts and goods. We were also almost immediately approached by numerous taxi drivers offering us rides. In fairness, it was Sept when we visited and that is the slow season, we understood that these vendors depend on tourist sales. We ended up buying a handful of items and left quickly. The prices on a lot of the handmade items were much higher then we had expected as well. I can image that arriving at the markets when there are more tourist would be a completely different experience. But next time I would go there just to pick up what I needed to buy , I would get it and get out. I don't regret going because it's a completely different side of the island...but it wasn't what I expected. Being there was very overwhelming for us.

With so many beautifel spots to see and so much to do in St Lucia, we totally regretted setting aside a few hours to see this market. Targeted at the cruise ship passengers (with the exception of a few back alley fish mongers and farmers) there isn't much "genuine" St. Lucia here at all. Visit the markets in the smaller towns instead.

We recently had the opportunity of visiting Castries St. Lucia, during the holiday season. We were on a cruise and had nothing planned for the day, but sometimes just walking in a city, you can experience more than a planned excursion. We had previously visited St. Lucia and spent time visiting the Pitons, etc, so this time we were just going to walk in town. We took a water taxi from the ship to town and we started walking with our first stop being the market. There seemed to be two parts to the market, One like a flea market and the other a food and vegetable market for locals. We seemed to be the only tourists walking through the food part of the market but that was the most interesting part of the afternoon. Seeing people hard at work selling fresh fish and vegetables. I bought some spices from one of the Vendors and to tell you honestly, nobody was pushy. There were no hard sales. It was quite and interesting walk and one can learn more at a place like this. From there we went on with our walk and landed on a downtown street with an IGA, shoe stores, furniture stores, etc. Again it seemed like we were the only tourists on these streets. Locals were out finishing there Christmas Shopping and a visit to the local furniture store was quite interesting. The people we met were nice and friendly and I never felt afraid. Sometimes an afternoon just walking and visiting the sites can be more interesting than a planned excursion.