Diving in St. Lucia

[vann1066]

Has anyone been to St. Lucia recently? I am new to diving but my wife and I are planning on going to St. Lucia in March. We were thinking of diving with Scuba St. Lucia at the Anse Chastanet Resort. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great.

Thanks a lot!

[moodymermaid]

Made several dives with "Dive Fair Helen" in St. Lucia last summer.

Had a great experience. Very accomodating and helpful staff. No overloaded boats, easy going about pick-ups for dives, and divemasters with plenty of local knowledge.

Their rates are also very reasonable.

Beautiful diving!
Enjoy it.

[vann1066]

Thanks for the info! I am staying closer Soufriere and the south but it might be worth a short drive.

[the register]

Hey, I went to St Lucia for my honeymoon this past January and did a referral to finish the certification while there. I was staying at Ti Kaye and they had Island Divers based there. The island diver people were nice and had a nice looking boat.

Talking to one of the water taxi guys, he said that Scuba St Lucia had the fastest dive boat on the island (if I'm remembering right).

St Lucia is a beautiful island and Anse Chastanet was very nice looking (from the view during a boat-by). One suggestion, make sure to bring small bills, a lot of places don't want to take american cash, so its nice to have exact change when you try.

And it'd also be useful to exchange a bit of money for eastern caribbean dollars (EC) when you're down there. The exchange rate is constant and about 2.7 EC to US.

[Navy OnStar]

My wife and I are going in april and would love to hear your reviews when you get back!

OnStar

[Chocoholic]

My boss just got back from ST. Lucia, and he said that he wished he would've just gone to Hawaii. He really didn't say much else, except that he did have fun doing the zip lining and that the island was poor.
He hasn't even brought in any pictures. What's up? He's not a diver, any idea why the attitude?

[the register]

Originally Posted by Chocoholic

My boss just got back from ST. Lucia, and he said that he wished he would've just gone to Hawaii. He really didn't say much else, except that he did have fun doing the zip lining and that the island was poor.
He hasn't even brought in any pictures. What's up? He's not a diver, any idea why the attitude?

I think as with any other place where you stay / what you do is going to affect your experience. I also know a friend of a friend who went to St lucia and thought it was dirty/had rats, ... (went to a sandals) but the I was at was very clean and super nice. We went to lunch with another couple who said they liked st lucia better than hawaii (and said there were definite similarities between the two places), so again hit or miss.

It is a poor island however, so a lot of the towns are not all that nice (go to tripadvisor.com to find all you'd ever want to know).

We did a couple little excursions, and visiting the botanical gardens and what not by soufriere was the best one. We also went to pidgeon island which was cool, but far away and requires crossing a bit of choppy sea (take the raincoat if they offer you one, assuming you don't just take a cab). And yeah, the driving there is kind of crazy. On the way to our place it was fine, but the way back was a little hair-raising/motion sick inducing (depends on the cabbie I suppose). Kind of wish we'd of done the whale watching. Glad we didn't do much shopping / spend much time in castries or rodney bay.

I'd still love to go to hawaii at some point though .

Edit: just wanted to note, hope that didn't imply that sandals is dirty/ratty; I've heard a lot of nice things about that place and their all-inclusives include dives which is pretty cool.

[cppike79]

We were thinking of diving with Scuba St. Lucia at the Anse Chastanet Resort. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great.

Hopefully you havent left on your trip yet. You will love Anse Chastanet, I was there about two years ago and did some diving with Scuba St. Lucia. The resort is absolutely amazing, in fact you wont even want to leave the resort much less look for a different dive op on the island to dive with. The dive op is well run, and just what you would expect at a place that really caters towards vacation divers (i.e. conservative profiles, 40 minute dives, and you must always have a DM with you). I have a feeling you would find similarly run dive ops all across the Island, as it is an Island that is a vacation spot first, and a dive spot second. This is not to say that the diving is not great though, in fact Anse Chastanet has a great wall dive right off the beach (really a must do night dive)

I also know a friend of a friend who went to St lucia and thought it was dirty/had rats, ... (went to a sandals)

Not to put down the many Sandals resorts, as I'm sure that they have their appeal to some people, but Anse Chastanet is in a league of its own, and is completely secluded from the rest of the island.

And it'd also be useful to exchange a bit of money for eastern caribbean dollars (EC) when you're down there. The exchange rate is constant and about 2.7 EC to US.

I would say that this wont actually be necessary, especially if you have the all inclusive package at Anse (which I would recommend, as the food is rather expensive). Unless you really see yourself leaving the resort frequently to explore the rest of the island, which is quite a chore in itself.

I hope you have a great time in St. Lucia, and if you have any specific questions feel free to write back or PM me.

p.s. I have been to Hawaii many times and can tell you that for me it doesnt compare to my trip to St. Lucia, but like everyone has said, our opinions are shaped heavily by our individual experiences.

Brian

[vann1066]

Thanks Brian. I am not actually staying at the Anse Chastanet Resort but I am a vacation diver so the diving sounds about right. I am actually going to be in a somewhat more "rustic" spot called Balenbouche Estate which is "green" with no A/C, TVs etc. I will have a car though and from what I hear, the most extreme part of my dives will be driving to the resort!

[cppike79]

I am not actually staying at the Anse Chastanet Resort.......I will have a car though and from what I hear, the most extreme part of my dives will be driving to the resort!

Ah I see......in that case you are very correct, the most extreme part of your dives will most certainly be the drive into the resort. Like I said though, if you get a chance you should do a night dive on the wall in front of Anse.....it is really a spectacular dive.

Best of luck,

Brian