The vents
Steam from the cracks.
Андрей Бобровский — CC BY 3.0 · Андрей Бобровский — CC BY 3.0 · Андрей Бобровский — CC BY 3.0 · Gordon Leggett — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sfearion — CC BY 4.0 · Shawn from Airdrie, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0
Sulphur Springs is an active geothermal area in the middle of the Qualibou caldera, above the town of Soufrière in south-west Saint Lucia. Bare grey ground sits among green hills, with steam rising, mud pools bubbling and a strong smell of sulphur, and the island markets it as a drive-in volcano. The Qualibou caldera is 3.5 by 5 km across and formed 32,000 to 39,000 years ago, after the Pitons. In 1766 a steam blast spread ash over a wide area. Since then the vents and hot springs have kept steaming in the centre of the caldera. You walk on paths and wooden platforms, watching steam pour from cracks and grey mud pools boil. Below the area are a hot stream and a small waterfall with mud pools where visitors bathe. Do not leave the paths, as the ground is hot and unstable. The springs are 2 km south-east of Soufrière, 20 km in a straight line south of Castries and 4.6 km north of Gros Piton. One report gives a US$15 fee, about EC$40, and the mud baths may cost extra. The smell is strong, so leave silver jewellery behind.
Steam from the cracks.
Grey mud boiling.
A small fall and pools.
Malgretoute road, south-east of Soufrière, Saint Lucia
Yes on the paths; do not leave them.
Yes, in pools below the area, possibly for an extra fee.