Going to St. Lucia for 10th Anniversary. Dive Site Suggestions?

[Navy OnStar]

My wife and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in April 08 and are going to spend it in St. Lucia. I would love to hear all your opinions about the best sites to dive while there!

Thanks in advance

OnStar

[Scubakraut]

Consider this:
Listed below are some of the islands most intriguing underwater diving sites

• Anse Chastanet: One of the most dramatic spots for diving is the stunning Anse Chastanet reef in the southwest of the island. The shallows, with depths to 25ft can be entered directly from the beach. The reefs falls away from 20-140 ft in a unique coral wall that continues from Anse Chastaner Bay around the headland of Grand Caille and in towards the harbor of Soufriere, providing some of the best diving in St Lucia.
• Anse La Raye: Known as one of the finest wall and drift dives in St Lucia, Anse La Raye can be found below a shallow wall. Interesting formations at the slope which consists of huge bolders, stimulate the eye and imagination.
• Coral Gardens: Located at the base of the Gros Piton, the Coral Gardens offer breathtaking scenery above and below the water, where five finger coral runds from a depth of 15-50ft.
• Fairy Land: At the point of Anse Chastanet, a plateau named Fairy Land slopes gently from 40-60ft. Since strong currents here keep the corals and sponges clean and the viewing is excellent and, this site is ideal for underwater photography.
• The Key Hole Pinnacles: Voted one of the "10 Best Dive Sites" by Caribbean Travel & Life, The Pinnacles are described by the magazine as "four coral and gorgonian-encrusted seamounts that rise tantalizingly up from the ocean depths".
• Lesleen M Shipwreck: The Lesleen M, a 165-foot freighter, was sunk by the Department of Fisheries in 1986 to provide an artificial reef. It lies upright in 60 ft of water near Anse Cochon on the west coast, just south of Marigot Bay. Divers can tour the ship in its entirety.
• Superman’s Flight: Names for a scene on St Lucia for the movie Superman II, this site is a drift dive on a gentle wall that drops to 1600ft. Good visibility created by strong currents permits crystal clear viewing for underwater exploration. Divers can enter the water here at the base of Petit Piton.
• The Thing: According to those who have seen it “The Thing” is said to be St Lucia’s own “Loch Ness Monster on Vacation” Seen regularly (but only at night) one may catch a glimpse of this mysterious creature at Anse Chastanet.

Caribbean diving caribbean vacation paradise, St. Lucia

[kyfriedchipper]

Took a resort course and did some shallow diving trips w/ Sandals St. Lucia when on my honeymoon - pretty decent diving - made a lasting impression and inspired my wife and I to both get certified

[gibson1525]

i'm not sure who you are diving with, but we dove with scuba steve. they are located up north and charge more to go to the dive sites down south. we dove one day up north and i wouldn't do it again. definitely worth the extra money and time to go to the dive sites on the south side, much better coral, fish and vis.

[Navy OnStar]

Thanks for all the info!

[rach]

last time i was there, we dove a site called The Nursery at night...we saw so much that the shop owner, who was waiting in the boat, had to bang on the boat to get us to come up! (note: no one was low on air and the banging was really annoying, especially because it was completely on his agenda and not the divers...but there was so much to see to pay any attention!)

[moodymermaid]

Spent several days diving with Dive Fair Helen this summer.
Great dive op.
Locally owned, knowledgeable staff, yummy home-made lunches.
Plus, they are really flexible and work hard to accomodate your needs and make things easy for the diver (in terms of arranging pick-ups, choosing dive sites, etc... I even saw them giving quick refresher chats to nervous divers, etc)
I'd definitely recommend it.

They are a really friendly op and the owner seems to have a genuine committment to local conservation actions etc. Nice to keep the money at home on island, too.