traiano
Registered
I recently traveled to St Lucia for a family trip and dove a couple of times. I thought I would share my experience diving with SCUBA Steve's (aka Dive Saint Lucia Scuba Diving in St Lucia, Snorkeling in St. Lucia, Scuba Steve's Diving, PADI 5 STAR Dive Center, Rodney Bay).
Overall, the experience was positive. St Lucia has some lovely reefs with a variety of large and colorful coral formations. The coral seemed to be in better shape than some other reefs I have dived. I was surprised to see relatively small numbers of fish; the fish I did see were primarily very small. Having said that, I saw a variety of animals including snakes, lobster, one large barracuda, and an enormous turtle just hanging out at "Turtle Reef" near Soufriere. Other divers reported seeing two octopus. Vis was good, but not great -- never exceeding about 30 feet. Depths ranged from 30 to 80 feet on my dives.
The staff at SCUBA Steve's were friendly and professional. One DM led a group of 6-8 divers on each dive; I dove with Simeon and Vernessa -- both were knowledgable and helpful, but not over-bearing. The shop does not put a fixed time on the end of dives; the group stays down until divers reach the agreed-upon amount of remaining gas before doing a safety stop and resurfacing as a group. As a result, several of my dives lasted nearly an hour, which was great. The shop can afford to do this because they don't send the boat out again in the afternoon, so they don't have to be back at the dock at a specific time (more on this later).
My two main criticisms of the experience are:
(1) The rental gear was hit-or-miss. Two divers had issues with their regulators. One discovered the issue at the dock, so was able to change it; the other discovered his issue in the water and was forced to use a regulator that was really not working properly. If it were me, I probably would have aborted the dive. I suppose this should not be surprising, and it certainly made me happy that I brought my own reg to St Lucia. On the other hand, my rented BCD was brand new and in perfect condition. All of my rental tanks contained 3000-3200 PSI.
(2) The diving days were long. We were supposed to meet the boat at the dock at 8am, but didn't leave the dock until around 9:30. The rides to dive sites in Soufriere and Anse Cochon were around 45 minutes each way. When you combine this with the lengthy dives, you might not get back to the dock until after 3pm. I feel like I got my money's worth, but I was not expecting to be out quite so long for a two tank morning dive outing. Make your afternoon plans accordingly.
Again, I had a positive experience diving in St Lucia. It wasn't the best diving I have done or the best rental gear I have seen, but I'm certainly glad I took the time to dive.
Overall, the experience was positive. St Lucia has some lovely reefs with a variety of large and colorful coral formations. The coral seemed to be in better shape than some other reefs I have dived. I was surprised to see relatively small numbers of fish; the fish I did see were primarily very small. Having said that, I saw a variety of animals including snakes, lobster, one large barracuda, and an enormous turtle just hanging out at "Turtle Reef" near Soufriere. Other divers reported seeing two octopus. Vis was good, but not great -- never exceeding about 30 feet. Depths ranged from 30 to 80 feet on my dives.
The staff at SCUBA Steve's were friendly and professional. One DM led a group of 6-8 divers on each dive; I dove with Simeon and Vernessa -- both were knowledgable and helpful, but not over-bearing. The shop does not put a fixed time on the end of dives; the group stays down until divers reach the agreed-upon amount of remaining gas before doing a safety stop and resurfacing as a group. As a result, several of my dives lasted nearly an hour, which was great. The shop can afford to do this because they don't send the boat out again in the afternoon, so they don't have to be back at the dock at a specific time (more on this later).
My two main criticisms of the experience are:
(1) The rental gear was hit-or-miss. Two divers had issues with their regulators. One discovered the issue at the dock, so was able to change it; the other discovered his issue in the water and was forced to use a regulator that was really not working properly. If it were me, I probably would have aborted the dive. I suppose this should not be surprising, and it certainly made me happy that I brought my own reg to St Lucia. On the other hand, my rented BCD was brand new and in perfect condition. All of my rental tanks contained 3000-3200 PSI.
(2) The diving days were long. We were supposed to meet the boat at the dock at 8am, but didn't leave the dock until around 9:30. The rides to dive sites in Soufriere and Anse Cochon were around 45 minutes each way. When you combine this with the lengthy dives, you might not get back to the dock until after 3pm. I feel like I got my money's worth, but I was not expecting to be out quite so long for a two tank morning dive outing. Make your afternoon plans accordingly.
Again, I had a positive experience diving in St Lucia. It wasn't the best diving I have done or the best rental gear I have seen, but I'm certainly glad I took the time to dive.