The Reef

Our World, Our Island

“First, do no harm”

The Reef was established  in 1994 and continues to be run by Cecile, its original owner, always maintaining the core principles of  socially-responsible and sustainable community-based tourism. The premise is simple … we have a blast, use and enjoy our natural resources, support other small, local enterprises and cause as little harm as possible to the environment.

All located within the same grounds, the property comprises:

  • Restaurant
  • Bar
  • Accommodation (The Reef Beach Huts)
  • Kitesurfing/Windsurfing/Watersports Center

The Original Caribbean

As well as providing a home-from-home for visiting surfers and overseas guests, The Reef is an integral part of the local community and is patronised by residents from across the island. You can spend your days kitesurfing and enjoying the perfect beach conditions – but should you choose to, you can also spend time hanging out, sharing experiences and finding out about the real Caribbean from the folks who know and love it best. Not here a contrived Margaritaville designed with the tourist in mind – rather a friendly, well-run, small business catering to a diverse clientele.

Responsible Tourism

When you visit or book a holiday directly with us or any of the small properties that we work with, you can be certain that this achieves the most efficient dollar penetration into the local community – without leakage of funds occurring en-route to the island (tour operators, travel agents etc.)  Such is the power of the internets!

We live on a wonderfully lush and beautiful island, however the demise of the banana industry in St Lucia which once provided  much-needed ‘green gold’,  along with other global events have presented the island’s fragile economy with new challenges. As St Lucians, we recognise that responsible management of our limited resources is now more crucial than ever before.  Whether we call it village tourism, heritage tourism, eco-tourism or any of a host of other names, the goal remains the same – to maximise the benefits to the local community of the goods and services that originate here.

So we invite you to join us, kitesurf, party, relax, immerse yourself in the Original Caribbean far from the madding crowd … and share our world, our island lifestyle, our culture.

Interested in learning more?

A History of St Lucia
Authors: Harmsen, Ellis, Devaux
ISBN:  978-976-95340-0-1

St Lucia has an extremely colourful past, and the first-ever book documenting a comprehensive history of the island has now been published. Covering the period from the geological formation of the island to the death of Father of the Nation, Sir John Compton in 2007, the book was written by The Reef’s own Jolien Harmsen along with two co-authors.

The result of some 15 years of archival research, the much-acclaimed  430-page ‘History of St Lucia’  is now available at bookshops islandwide (also on sale at The Reef). Since you are bound to bump into Jolien while at The Reef, why not grab her and ask for your own autographed copy?