Samfi Gardens: What Self-Catering Guests Should Arrange Before Landing

How far is Samfi Gardens from St Lucia airport: about 45 minutes from Hewanorra (UVF), which makes it one of the shortest resort transfers on the island. The property sits at Colombette, on a hillside above Soufrière, roughly 5 to 7 minutes from the town centre. From the small northern airport at Castries (SLU), it is about an hour and a half, so UVF is firmly the airport you want. Listings quote wildly different distances, from 18 km to 37 km, so go by time rather than mileage.

Samfi Gardens is a small aparthotel rather than a resort, which means your arrival planning looks a little different from the all-inclusive crowd. Two things are worth sorting before you land.

Why the distance figures disagree

Look this up across booking sites and you will find 18 km, 29 km and 37.4 km, which cannot all be right.

The time figures are far more consistent. Orbitz and HotelPlanner both state 45 minutes from Hewanorra, and that matches the general Soufrière run. The discrepancy comes from different sites measuring to different points, some straight-line and some by road.

Plan for 45 minutes. Our drive times guide gives honest figures for every resort area, and the Soufrière end of the island is genuinely the quick one from the international airport.

The hillside approach

Samfi Gardens sits above the town, which is why guests rave about the Piton views from the balconies. It also means the final stretch is a climb up a hillside road.

That is routine for a local driver. It is a different experience in a rental car after an overnight flight, on the left, in the dark. If you were planning to self-drive straight from the airport, our honest take on driving in St Lucia is worth reading first.

The thing self-catering guests should plan

Here is the practical point no booking listing spells out: there is no restaurant on site.

The apartments are equipped for self-catering, there is a well-regarded restaurant within walking distance, and Soufrière town is a few minutes away by road with plenty of options. None of that is a problem, but it does mean you want food sorted on day one rather than discovering the situation at 8pm on a hillside.

The simple fix is a supermarket stop on the way from the airport. Tell your driver when you book and it adds a few minutes to a 45 minute journey. Arriving with breakfast and a few essentials makes the first morning considerably better.

If you would rather eat out, taxi fares into town are short, and typical rates for every route are in our taxi rates guide. Just note there is no Uber in St Lucia, so having a driver's number saved matters more here than in a resort with its own restaurants.

What the location gives you

This is the trade for the self-catering set-up, and it is a good one.

You are minutes from the island's best attractions rather than the ninety-minute drive northern guests face. Sulphur Springs and the drive-in volcano are a short ride away, Diamond Falls is close, Anse Chastanet and its reef are nearby, and the Gros Piton trailhead is within about ten kilometres.

Our complete Sulphur Springs guide covers the volcano and mud baths, and our best things to do in St Lucia shows what else sits within easy reach from here.

Quick answers

How far is Samfi Gardens from Hewanorra airport? About 45 minutes by road, one of the shorter transfers on the island.

Why do listings show different distances? Sites measure to different points and some use straight-line distance. Go by the time figure, which is consistently 45 minutes.

How far is it from SLU? About an hour and a half. UVF is the airport you want.

Is there a restaurant on site? No. The apartments are self-catering, with a restaurant within walking distance and Soufrière town a few minutes away.

Can I walk into Soufrière town? It is walkable for some, but it is a hillside location, so most guests take a short ride.

How close are the Pitons and Sulphur Springs? Very. Both are a few kilometres away, which is the main advantage of staying on this side of the island.

Book your Samfi Gardens transfer

Send us your flight number and we will quote a fixed price for the 45 minute run to Colombette, hillside approach included. Tell us if you want a supermarket stop on the way and we will build it into the route.

Get your fixed price for UVF to Samfi Gardens