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I
travelled to St. Lucia during the summer of 1997. I must admit,
the main purpose of the vacation was not diving, but when I
reached my hotel I found, much to my suprise, that diving was
included in the all inclusive package that I had purchased.
Although I didn't get in nearly as much diving as I wanted, I
still did manage to visit a number of different dive sites, and I
did get in a night dive. I stayed at the Rendezvous, which is
located just outside the main town of Castries. The hotel itself
is for couples only, and the dive operation there was rarely
busy. It was a small, decently equipped operation run by an
American couple. I was there for their last two weeks, and I was
fortunate enough to meet the new dive masters who were coming in
from the Red Sea. Overall I was impressed by their willingness to
please divers and their stress on safety. The operation was
certainly now the best I have been diving with, but it was small
and intimate, and considering the fact that most people at the
resort were not divers, I found myself in a perfect situation.
There is no good diving, or even snorkelling, in the Castries area. All of our dives involved a long boat ride (usually a minimum of 40 minutes). However, when you consider the lush beauty of St. Lucia, the boat rides themselves were a treat. The waters are calm, the hillsides green with hanging vegetation, and the coves peaceful. You will find it hard finding a more idyllic looking island in the Caribbean.
My first dive was In Anse Chastanet Bay. This bay is located
in the St. Lucia Marine Park at the base of the famous
Pitons--two twin peaks that jut out dramatically from the ocean.
The bay is also the site of Anse Chastanet Hotel--the 
premium dive resort on the
island. Unfortunately August is the rainy season, and visibility
can be limited. Still, on this particular day we had about 40ft
visibility. The dive was a decent dive. There was lots of fish
life and we ran into a lone spotted moray. The coral was
reasonably healthy, but starting to show some wear. I did return
a week later to do some snorkelling, and I must admit the
visibility cleared and the sunny day offered some of the best
snorkelling I have had in the Caribbean--with abundant, if
somewhat over-friendly fish life.
One of the more interesting dives I took was over the Danae Koyu Maru--a Japanese dredger sunk in 1996. The ship is on its side, is very large and lies at 110 feet. As with many wrecks there was an abundance of barracuda to watch for, and a strong current to contend with. I wouldn't recommend this dive for any novice diver.
Anse Cachon, another popular snorkelling destination, provided a good sloping reef. I discovered a beautiful large scorpion fish, and the bottom was littered with a multitude of Donkey Dung Sea Cucumbers. At one point I was intrigued by a large Red Heart Urchin, when suddenly I spied an illusive Long lure Frog Fish in its yellow phase--just beautiful. Like many of the dives in St. Lucia, this was a drift dive. We took a marking buoy with us, and the boat followed overhead. The current was strong at times, and it had a tendency to shift. Sometimes we let the current carry us, but we could suddenly be fighting just to stay in the same spot. Overall, it was a very good dive.
The most thrilling dive I had was at Grand Cailli and Coral
Gardens--two sites near the Pitons. This was a very strong drift
dive--we estimated over 6 knots at times. There was a good
sloping wall, with lots of schooling fish, a monster crag,
beautiful tang and yellow tail snappers. The coral was in
beautiful shape. A word of caution though. The current here was
very strong. 
It caught all of us and gave
us quite the wild ride. Toward the end I was caught in a down
draft which took me from 40 feet to 80 feet in a matter of
seconds. Luckily I was able to quickly recover my senses and swim
slowly back to the surface. Although it was harrowing at times,
it offered quite the thrill and it was my favourite dive of the
trip.
My last dive of the trip was a night dive at the opposite end of the island near Pigeon Island. It was a shallow night dive over a reef that had undergone some serious damage. Still, the fish life was impressive. A number of Spotted Snake Eels showed their head and a good sized Southern Stingray swam by as I tried to take a picture of two Slipper Lobsters. The coral itself was home to a number of Hermit Crabs, Sponge Brittlestars, Two-Spined Sear tar and Rough File Clams with white tentacles. Golden Crinoids littered by bottom, along with dozens of Feather Dusters. It was a shallow dive, and we took our timed and enjoyed exploring the hundreds of cracks and crevices.
Overall, I enjoyed my diving in St. Lucia. The diving here can
be a real disappointment one day, and just spectacular the next.
This is not the place to come for large pelagic life, but it
still offers much to explore.To find out even more about diving
in St. Lucia click HERE.
Any Comments? E-Mail Me At: divers_log@hotmail.com
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