52
USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
CARIBBEAN | PORTS
Ports of Paradise Local tours offer exceptional excursions in the Caribbean
Soufrière seafront SAINT LUCIA TOURISM AUTHORITY
By Robin Roenker
T
HERE’S VISITING A PLACE — and then there’s
experiencing it. At island ports across the Caribbean, local tour guides specialize in providing authentic tastes of life and culture in the region — offering the types of encounters that elevate daylong cruise excursions into memories that last a lifetime. When your ship pulls into these ports, prepare for paradise.
ST. LUCIA Cosol Tours (cosol-tours.com) manages to pack something for everyone into its six-hour tour of St. Lucia — from local food samples and breathtaking vistas of Marigot Bay and the picturesque town of Soufrière to the bucket-list experience of luxuriating in a natural mud bath. There’s even time to relax on Jalousie Beach, situated near the iconic Piton Mountains, where the beauty of tropical fish swimming in crystal clear waters offshore is matched only by the breathtaking scenery nearby.