Money in Saint Lucia

The currency, and the rate this page does not give you.

Saint Lucia uses the East Caribbean dollar, shared with several of its neighbors.

No authority in this guide's register publishes a usable rate for it. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank serves an ordinary web browser and refuses the research agent behind this page, and the UK advice publishes no money section for Saint Lucia at all. So rather than lift a number from a conversion site and present it as official, this page does something more useful: it gives you the prices the official advice states, in the currency it states them in.

The prices the advice actually publishes.

Two of them are concrete and both are worth knowing before you arrive.

A temporary driving permit costs 54 Eastern Caribbean dollars or 20 US dollars. That is the FCDO's own wording, and it is the single most useful money fact on the page: one government-set price, quoted in both currencies, for a thing many visitors need in their first day. Our transport guide covers where to get it and what to bring.

Note what that pair of figures is and is not. It is two prices for one permit. It is not an exchange rate, and dividing one by the other would be arithmetic of this guide's own invention rather than anything an authority has published. If you want today's rate, get it from your bank or your card issuer at the moment you need it.

Taxis, and the sentence to read before you get in.

Taxis are not metered. The advice says standard fares exist for most destinations and gives one clear instruction: agree the fare in local currency with the driver before you set off.

The phrase "in local currency" is doing real work. The advice adds that you can often pay in US dollars as well as East Caribbean dollars, and a fare agreed loosely in "dollars" is a fare agreed in two different amounts. Settle the number and the currency together, before the journey rather than at the end of it.

Carrying money, and what it costs to need a doctor.

Among its personal-safety precautions the advice asks you not to carry large amounts of cash or jewelry, and to leave valuables and travel documents in a hotel safe or deposit box.

Set against that is a harder fact from the health advice: medical treatment in Saint Lucia can be expensive, serious cases may mean emergency evacuation, and one named private hospital does not accept foreign insurance as payment at all. The advice asks you to have adequate travel health insurance and accessible funds, which is a different thing from cash in a pocket. Our safety guide sets out what that hospital publishes.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Saint Lucia travel advice, safety and security: that although there is no recent history of terrorism in the country attacks cannot be ruled out; that most visits are trouble free but robberies and opportunistic crime may occur during the periods of and around large-scale events such as the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival in May and Saint Lucia Carnival in July, and that visitors at such events should take sensible precautions, avoid displaying jewelry or valuable items, not leave drinks unattended, take care at crowded events and have a clear plan to return home safely; that there have been incidents of crime including murder, armed robbery and sexual assault, and that there is a continuing serious risk of homicides, primarily gang related and involving guns, with some incidents in public areas; that visitors should secure their accommodation including on a yacht, take care walking alone off main roads, take particular care around large gatherings including street and beach parties especially after dark or during the festival season, avoid isolated areas including beaches after dark, use only licensed taxis, not carry large amounts of cash or jewelry, and leave valuables and travel documents in a hotel safe or deposit box; that it is illegal for anyone, including children, to dress in camouflage clothing; that there are severe penalties for all drug offenses; that certain same-sex sexual acts are illegal and that it is uncommon for opposite-sex or same-sex couples to show affection in public; that currents can be deceptively strong and not all beaches have lifeguards or warning flags; that travelers without a Saint Lucian driving license must get a temporary driving permit, needing a driving license, passport, passport-size photograph and 54 Eastern Caribbean dollars or 20 US dollars, obtained in person at the Department of Transport at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal at the Union Complex in Union, Castries, on telephone +1 758 468 4300, and that some hire car companies can obtain the permit and often set stricter requirements such as a year of driving experience or a higher minimum age; that roads can have potholes and speed bumps, that minor and rural roads are often narrow with steep gradients, hairpin bends and blind corners, that drivers do not always use indicators, that pedestrians often walk on the roads, that some roads are unlit at night and that road signs and hazards may not be easily visible; that accidents often happen on the main east coast road to and from Hewanorra International Airport; that a driver should not stop if flagged down by pedestrians and should keep car doors locked while driving, and in the event of an accident should call the police and not move the vehicle; that taxis are not metered, that standard fares exist for most destinations, that the fare should be agreed in local currency with the driver before setting off and that payment can often be made in US dollars as well as East Caribbean dollars; that minibus drivers often drive above the speed limit; that the hurricane season in the Caribbean normally runs from June to November and often brings heavy rains which may cause flash floods and landslides, that after a storm power, communications, transport and water supplies can be disrupted and that even in holiday resorts utility services cannot be guaranteed; that earthquakes are a risk in the Caribbean and tremors are occasionally felt; and that a traveler should check the alert level of the underwater volcano Kick em Jenny located 5 miles off the coast of Grenada, and the alert level for La Soufriere volcano located on the nearby island of St Vincent, whose eruption in 2021 sent ash over the island and caused some disruption. Accessed 20 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Saint Lucia travel advice, health: that a traveler should check before travel that the destination can provide the healthcare they may need and that they have appropriate travel insurance for local treatment or unexpected medical evacuation, and that this is particularly important for anyone with a health condition or who is pregnant; that the emergency medical number is 911 and a caller should ask for an ambulance; that vaccine recommendations should be checked at least 8 weeks before a trip; that a traveler should carry a copy of the prescription for any medication brought with them, especially anything that may be classed as a controlled drug, since the legal status and regulation of medicines can differ between countries; that the main government hospital can cope with many types of treatment but that serious cases may mean emergency evacuation; that medical treatment can be expensive and that a traveler should have adequate travel health insurance and accessible funds; that some private clinics may not accept medical travel insurance as payment and that their pre-payment policies should be checked; and that the Tapion Hospital does not accept travel or foreign medical insurance for payment. Accessed 20 September 2026.