Getting Ready for Saint Lucia: Your DevelopingEM 2026 Pre-Departure Checklist

Ann-Maree Guirguis

4 hours ago

Suddenly, November isn’t looking quite so far away.

DevelopingEM 2026 is nearly here and, if you’re joining us in Saint Lucia, now is the time to move from “I’m going to the Caribbean in November” to actually making sure everything is organised.

We’ve done these pre-conference checklists before and they remain one of the more useful things we publish.

So passports out, flights checked and sunscreen purchased.

Here is your DevelopingEM 2026 Saint Lucia pre-departure checklist.

1. First things first: are you actually registered?

It sounds obvious.

But start here.

If you haven’t yet registered for DevelopingEM 2026, now would be an excellent time to fix that.

The main DevelopingEM scientific program runs from 16–18 November 2026, with pre-conference workshops on 14–15 November and post-conference workshops on 19 November.

The conference is being held at the Royalton Saint Lucia.

If you have already registered, log back into your registration and have a look at exactly what you booked.

A registration made months ago can become surprisingly vague in the memory by November.

CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION

2. Is there anything you want to add?

While you’re looking at your registration, check whether there are any additional workshops or conference activities you meant to book but never quite got around to.

Our workshops are deliberately smaller and more interactive than the plenary program, which also means numbers are limited.

If there is something you want to attend and places remain available, add it now rather than discovering in Saint Lucia that everyone else remembered to book it.

ADD TO YOUR REGISTRATION

3. And while you’re there — consider adding a donation

This one matters to us.

DevelopingEM has always been about considerably more than flying a group of international emergency clinicians somewhere interesting for a conference.

One of the central purposes of DevelopingEM is supporting participation by clinicians from the country and region in which we hold the conference.

In Saint Lucia that commitment is bigger than ever.

Saint Lucian and regional Caribbean clinicians will be joining our plenary sessions and workshops, with DevelopingEM providing complimentary registrations and, for a number of regional delegates, assistance with travel and daily expenses.

Your registration already helps make that possible.

But you can help us do more.

There is an option within the registration portal to make an additional donation towards our regional delegate support program. AUD $1,000 represents approximately our break-even cost of supporting one conference delegate attendance, but donations do not need to be limited to that amount.

If you are able to contribute, simply add a donation to your existing registration.

It directly helps another emergency clinician get into the room.

ADD A DONATION

4. Passport, visa and entry requirements

Please don’t leave this until the airport.

All visitors to Saint Lucia require a valid passport and should have evidence of an onward or return journey.

Visa requirements depend upon your nationality, so check the current requirements applicable to your passport before travelling.

For those arriving by air, Saint Lucia also has an electronic immigration form. Travellers are encouraged to complete this before arrival and it can be submitted up to three days before travel. One form can be completed per family, generating a QR code to present on arrival.

Put a reminder in your phone for three days before you fly.

And if your journey involves connecting through the United States, Canada, the UK or another Caribbean nation, remember that transit requirements are separate from Saint Lucia’s entry requirements. Check every country through which you will travel.

5. Check your flights — including the boring bits

You probably booked the flight to Saint Lucia.

Now check the whole itinerary.

Confirm:

flight numbers and departure times
baggage allowances
terminal changes
transit visa or electronic travel-authorisation requirements
whether your luggage is checked all the way through
the time available between connecting flights
your return flight
your airport transfer in Saint Lucia.

Saint Lucia has two airports. Most long-haul international travellers arrive at Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) in the south of the island.

The Royalton is in the north.

This is not an airport-hotel transfer measured in minutes.

Allow roughly 90 minutes or more for the journey, depending upon traffic and conditions, and organise your transfer before you arrive if possible.

Then sit back and enjoy your first look at Saint Lucia.

6. Accommodation — check what you actually booked

If you are staying at the Royalton, confirm your booking dates against your conference and workshop registrations.

Particularly check whether you need accommodation for the nights before a workshop or after the main conference.

Remember:

Pre-conference workshops: 14–15 November

Main conference: 16–18 November

Post-conference workshops: 19 November

If you’re staying elsewhere, check how you plan to get to and from the Royalton each day.

Nobody wants their first educational activity of the morning to be discovering the geography of northern Saint Lucia.

7. Travel Insurance

Get it.

Medical treatment overseas, cancelled flights, missed connections and lost luggage have a remarkable ability to cost considerably more than the insurance policy you decided you didn’t need.

Make sure your policy covers:

medical treatment and evacuation
your entire period away
all countries through which you’re travelling
any pre-existing medical conditions that need to be declared
activities you’re planning after the conference — particularly diving, hiking, boating or other adventure activities.

If you’re adding a few days elsewhere in the Caribbean, make sure those destinations are covered as well.

8. Money

Saint Lucia’s official currency is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar — XCD or EC$.

US dollars are also widely accepted.

Major credit cards are accepted at most hotels, restaurants and larger businesses, and ATMs are widely available. Some local cash is nevertheless useful for smaller businesses, markets, taxis and incidental purchases.

It’s worth travelling with more than one means of accessing money.

And although modern banks are considerably better at recognising overseas travel than they once were, make sure you can access your banking app and know how your bank handles international transactions.

A frozen card is an unnecessarily complicated way to start a Caribbean conference.

9. Phones, data and roaming

Check your mobile provider’s international roaming arrangements before you leave.

International roaming can be perfectly reasonable.

It can also produce a bill that looks like you purchased part of the telecommunications infrastructure yourself.

Consider:

your provider’s international roaming package
an international eSIM
a local SIM
downloading important documents before leaving
downloading offline maps.

Save copies of your passport, travel insurance, flights and accommodation details somewhere you can access even if your phone disappears.

10. Power

Saint Lucia generally operates on 240V/50Hz electricity and commonly uses British-style Type G plugs.

Australian and New Zealand plugs therefore won’t fit without an adaptor.

North American travellers should also check whether their appliances support 240V before plugging them in.

Most modern phone, tablet and laptop chargers accept 100–240V, but check the label.

A small universal travel adaptor with multiple USB outlets is probably the simplest solution.

11. What will the weather be like?

Warm.

Very warm.

Saint Lucia has a tropical climate, with temperatures generally around 24–31°C.

November is toward the end of the wetter part of the year, so sunshine, humidity and occasional tropical rain can all be part of the same day.

Pack accordingly:

lightweight clothing
sunscreen
hat
sunglasses
swimwear — obviously
comfortable shoes
a light rain jacket or small umbrella
insect repellent
something suitable for the conference rooms, where air-conditioning may be rather more enthusiastic than the temperature outside.

Smart casual is perfectly adequate for most evenings.

This is DevelopingEM.

Nobody needs a tuxedo.

12. Medications and health

Bring enough regular medication for your entire trip, preferably with a little extra in case travel is disrupted.

Keep essential medications in your hand luggage rather than checking them into the mysterious international baggage ecosystem.

If you carry prescription medications, particularly controlled medications, check any applicable entry requirements and consider travelling with documentation from your doctor.

And don’t forget the boring but useful things: analgesia, regular medications, insect repellent and sunscreen.

Tap water in Saint Lucia is generally considered safe to drink, and bottled water is readily available.

13. Dietary requirements

If you told us about a dietary requirement when you registered, excellent.

If you didn’t — and you have one — please update your registration or let us know.

Vegetarian, vegan, allergy-related, religious or medically required diets are much easier to organise before several hundred people arrive looking for lunch.