Private Gros Piton Hike in St Lucia

The EXPERIENCE itself was GREAT! But, I would never book with Viator again. I feel like we paid too much since Viator did not provide a tour guide or anything other than transportation and 2 bottles of water. Our hotel offered a guide, transportation and tickets to the Park for less money. You are better off booking this with your hotel in St. Lucia OR just paying for transportation and going with a guide provided by the park itself. The fine print on the Viator booking was contradictory. On one part of the document it stated that entrance fee was included, on the same document it said they were not. The park did not honor our tickets with Viator and we paid an ADDITIONAL $100 to get into the park and the tour was provided by a park tour guide, as they all are. Sometimes during busy times the guides are hard to come by, so if you DO have a trip with a guide from your hotel or other tour guide it might be safer to do that, but know before you go and reserve. I was pretty ticked off that $205 was not covering all that was expected. The price of the entrance fee not included should be CLEARLY stated on the Viator 'ticket'. As for the actual tour itself, it was wonderful and our guide was very kind and even offered to carry my 2 liter bottle that the driver gave us which we were not prepared for. Definitely have sturdy shoes, a back pack and snacks. It is nice (but not expected) to share snacks with other guides (one actually asked me for some when they saw I had several that I brought with me and I ended up sharing with all the guides up there- luckily our hotel failed to provide an early departure breakfast for us and our taxi driver who was really nice, stopped at a grocery store for us and I had gotten enough to sustain us and a few others). It is a STRENUOUS hike and takes at least 1.5 hours up and one hour down, some areas of scramble. The offer walking sticks to rent at $5 each. I have never used one, so I didn't feel comfortable. If I was familiar with their use, I could see them to be helpful for the joints. The return is hard on the knees. We took 2 hours and 15 up and 1 hr. 30 coming back. The views are spectacular and it is well worth the time and expense, and the windy roads that are stomach churning to get there (dramamine is encouraged if motion sickness bothers you).

This is more of a rock climbing event than a hike. Don't expect a smooth steep path. It is basically a steep set of rocks to traverse with some paths in between. The stopping areas are nice and offer amazing views. If you are up for a serious cardio challenge and have strong knees and ankles, go for it. Getting to the top would be worth it. But a leisurly hike it is not.

Our driver Raffi was terrific. The pitons were great and our 7 year old had no trouble with the hike at all. Do to the time constraint with our cruise ship we only made it to the 1/2 way point but it didn't compromise the enjoyment of the trip at all. We loved it.

We enjoyed the Gros Piton hike and the ride worked well. The hike is quite strenuous and be sure to take water. It is well worth the time and work as the views are amazing. Our tour guide was not the best. I saw other groups with more fun and talkative tour guides. This is the luck of the draw. Overall still a fun day for us.

Strenuous hike, but well worth it. Guide was very knowledgeable about the island and the local forest and hike.