St. Lucia, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity

Date dove: 12/08, 12/07
Booked through ship? once with ship, once independant
Operators used: Scuba St. Lucia at Anse Chastanet Resort, Frogs Diving
http://www.scubastlucia.com/default.html
http://www.ansechastanet.com/default2.html
Other operators with good reviews: http://www.divefairhelen.com/
Air Temp: 84° F
Water Temp: 80° F
Vis: 30-60 ft.
Return factor? Not likely except on another cruise. Travel to St. Lucia is pricey, as is this resort. Having said that, this island will be at the top of our list of desired ports when we shop for itineraries on future cruises in the southern Craibbean.
Information about the island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucia
2008: We booked our dives through Frogs Diving http://www.frogsdiving.com/ this year. The service provided was good. They picked us up at the ship in their 12 person boat slightly later than expected, then headed out of the port. Seas were rough so the trip was not only interesting, but shorter than expected. Conditions prevented us from getting all the way to the Pitons. We dove a wreck and a reef. Visability was limited slightly and there was a fairly strong current on both dives. Neither dive was up to the experience we had in 2007, but based on our research the less than perfect dives were the exception to the norm. We would still include St. Lucia in any cruise diving plan of the Southern Caribbean.

2007: Our first impression when the ship docked in Castries was that of just another jumbled, dirty town spoiling a lush Caribbean island. We sometimes have to remind ourselves that ships often put in at converted freight facilities, but the trash littering the shores of this harbor was a real disappointment.

Our dive boat picked us up a little way from the cruise pier and we set out on a 30 minute boat ride. We passed incredible scenery, and our impression of the island slowly evolved. The mountains here are volcanic (as I am sure all of these islands are). Sheer 200 ft. cliffs of black, red, and grey basalt stand at the water’s edge, sometimes covered in lush vegetation, sometimes not. In the occasional gaps between cliffs there are black sand beaches, tiny resorts, and ragged fishing villages. The mountains are sometimes littered with stilted houses, sometimes completely covered with rainforest. It rained off an on here all day, just light passing showers for the most part where we were, but up high in the mountains it looked heavy.



Our dive guide for the day was named Keith (we think), but he said we could call him Bond, James Bond. He says he’s the black one. The first dive was from the beach at the Anse Chastanet resort and was pleasant, but too short. It seemed that too much time was devoted to gearing up and making sure everyone was comfortable. James Bond even had the entire group clear masks and retrieve regs underwater before we headed out. Following the shore dive, we got back on the boat for a 10 minute ride to the base of two peaks jutting 2,300 and 2,600 feet straight up from the water. The color of the sea was rich blue and clear. We saw HUGE turtles, an octopus, and coral so abundant and colorful that it created sensory overload. I had a shark cleaning fish try to attach himself to my fins.


Following the second dive we had lunch at the resort's restaurant, where the food was adequate, but not spectacular. Others in our group had done this cruise dive before and said that their lunch was done for them on a secluded beach away from the main resort. We asked about that and were told that they do that when the group consists of twelve or more.

Overall we would rate this dive as one of the best cruise dives we've ever done, primarily because of the pristine condition of the reef habitat and the overall experience of the boat ride and the resort setting.