Quite the backdrop for our photo opportunity. Petit Piton and Gros Piton, St. Lucia Jalousie Bay. We were fortunate to anchor (technically – take a mooring ball) right in the middle of them when we sailed. In contrast, a hotel room in the resort there will set you back $1500/night!
The Pitons are located on the southwestern coast of the island. Saint Lucia’s local brand of beer made by the Windward & Leeward Brewery is named after the Pitons.
The Pitons are two mountainous volcanic plugs, volcanic spires, located in Saint Lucia. Petit Piton is 743 m (2,438 ft) high and Gros Piton is 798.25 m (2,618.9 ft) high; they are linked by the Piton Mitan ridge. The Pitons are a World Heritage Site, (7,190 acres) in size, and located near the town of Soufrière.
St. Lucia Pitons Sailing & Cruising Video
Right between St. Lucia Pitons!
The Park Service maintains the mooring balls there and will collect your fee. Many large yachts visit this site. There is a 5 star resort called Sugar Beach Resort located between the Pitons that you can visit for cocktails or a meal as well. An overnight stay will be $1500 please. You can also arrange for some land activity tours from there.
We stayed only one night and did not go ashore, but you can clear in here also if you so choose.
We left the next morning, with our friends on SV Simplicity – after we unknotted our mooring ball lines. They must have twisted quite a bit overnight.
Coral reefs cover almost 60% of the site’s marine area. A survey has revealed 168 species of finfish, 60 species of cnidaria, including corals, eight mollusks, 14 sponges, 11 echinoderms, 15 arthropods, and eight annelid worms. The dominant terrestrial vegetation is tropical moist forest grading to subtropical wet forest, with small areas of dry forest and wet elfin woodland on the summits. At least 148 plant species have been recorded on Gros Piton, 97 on Petit Piton, and the intervening ridge, among them eight rare tree species. The Gros Piton is home to some 27 bird species (five of them endemic), three indigenous rodents, one opossum, three bats, eight reptiles, and three amphibians.
Gros Piton can be climbed without ropes or mountaineering experience. One can hike to the summit and come back down to sea level within several hours. Local guides are provided by the National Park and are included with your entry fee. They are trained by the government to have basic knowledge of the languages common among tourists and of the medical procedures required in case of common accidents. Petit Piton can be climbed, but is much more difficult.
FROM WIKIPEDIA. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitons_(Saint_Lucia))
Next stop: St Vincent & The Grenadines with special guests.