Now St Lucia, its lush peaks shooting up from the sea in between St Vincent and Martinique, attracts sun-seekers instead of war fleets - many of them honeymooners, who find a natural and unspoiled island that more than lives up to all of their Caribbean dreams. At 238-square miles, St Lucia is large enough to provide visitors with breathtaking contrasts and small enough to ensure that those who want to laze their days away in peace and quiet can do just that.

In the nature reserves, rain forests, botanical gardens and coastal mangroves you'll see exotic trees and flowers, magnificent tropical birds and marine life. Between March and August, you might be sharing a beach with turtles which have clambered out of the sea to lay their eggs. You'll see banana and cocoa plantations, the crater of a dormant volcano, bubbling sulphur springs, mineral springs where visitors can bathe, 18th century forts and sleepy coastal villages. And could you really leave St Lucia without seeing the Pitons, the massive twin volcanic cones that have become the island's signature image?