Getting Around Saint Lucia

The permit is arranged here, in person.

Travelers without a Saint Lucian driving license must get a temporary driving permit. The advice lists exactly what to bring:

• your driving license
• your passport
• a passport-size photograph of yourself
• 54 Eastern Caribbean dollars or 20 US dollars

You must go in person to the Department of Transport at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal, at the Union Complex, in Union, Castries. The advice gives a telephone number for current opening hours: +1 758 468 4300.

There is a shortcut worth asking about. Some hire car companies can get the permit for you, and the advice suggests asking whether yours offers it. It also warns that hire companies often set stricter conditions than the law does, such as a minimum of a year's driving experience or a higher minimum age.

Note the difference from some neighboring islands: this is not a license bought at the airport counter as a formality, and it is not an international permit you arrange before leaving home. It is a local document, obtained locally, and the passport photograph is the part travelers do not have with them.

The roads, described by the people who warn about them.

The advice is unusually concrete here, and it reads like a description of the island rather than a disclaimer. Roads can have potholes and speed bumps. Minor roads and roads in rural areas are often narrow, with steep gradients, hairpin bends and blind corners. Drivers do not always use indicators. Pedestrians often walk in the road. Some roads are unlit at night, and road signs and hazards may not be easily visible.

One road is singled out by name: accidents often happen on the main east coast road to and from Hewanorra International Airport. That is the route most visitors take from the island's main airport, frequently tired and frequently in the dark, and it is the one stretch the advice names.

Two instructions come with the roads and both are about personal safety rather than driving technique: do not stop if you are flagged down by pedestrians, and keep car doors locked while driving. In the event of an accident, call the police and do not move the vehicle.

Taxis and minibuses.

Taxis are not metered. Standard fares exist for most destinations, and the instruction is to agree the fare in local currency with the driver before you set off. You can often pay in US dollars as well as East Caribbean dollars, which is the reason the currency belongs in the agreement rather than being left until the end.

The advice asks you to only use licensed taxis.

On the island's shared minibuses, the official advice offers exactly one observation: minibus drivers often drive above the speed limit. No route map, fare table or description of the vehicles is published by any source in this guide's register, so none appears here.

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.