GingerSnap80
Registered
Long time lurker, first time reporter…
Here’s a rundown of our trip to St. Lucia a couple weeks ago…
Me: AOW, ~170 dives, in it for reefs, fish, wrecks
Husband: AOW ~60 dives new and likes it all
Us: aging but able-bodied NY’ers who are comfortable walking longer distances and go out of our way to shop and stay at locally owned places when possible.
Picking South/North/Middle? TL;DR -
All 4 shops will take you to same/similar places so it’s about what you want to experience on land before/after diving, how long a boat ride you want every morning, and how long you have to stay there to still enjoy a couple of repeats if they happen (we were there for 2 weeks and enjoyed it all). Longest ride we took was 55mins. Shortest was about 15mins.
We rented a car and yes, the driving can be as nuts as they say it is. Rough roads, UK side of the road and car, winding blind turns, very very steep hills which feel scarier when it rains, and sometimes aggressive drivers who make it feel worse. But it’s totally worth it IMHO.
Diving overall: fairly easy but rich! Encountered barely any current overall. Only had one trip out that had waves making it hard to get in/out of the boat. It was a super amazing trip for my less-experienced husband to finally get really comfortable with the rhythm of diving, gear prep, manage expectations, experience different kinds of boats, etc. I’m more seasoned and was enthralled with the diversity of colors, corals, TONS of fish, and the 2 wrecks are excellent beginner spots with enough cool stuff to keep me more than happy.
Soufiere - the South:
We stayed at the Green Fig Resort whuch has TONS of stairs. Duh it’s on a mountain. But yeah - for my aging knees…I’m glad we only were there for 4 days. Food was fine but got old after 2 days. Steep walk into town gives you more options. They suggest Action Adventure Divers but they don’t book for them and AA never responded to any outreach pre-trip or looked open when we walked by the shop several times.
We dove with Scuba St. Lucia which is the main shop for Anse Chastenet and Jade Mountain. Check in was a bit disorganized, but we were taken care of once on the (covered, comfortable, efficient) boat and the crew was great. we have most of our own equipment but I had lost my computer before the trip and had to rent one…their last one that worked at all. No other place even offered them to rent
The North: Rodney Bay & Gros Islet
The drive was crazy but doable - just take your time, pull of the road for aggressive folks, etc. took about 1hr 45mins
We stayed at an Airbnb on a hill in Gros Islet which was lovely. We drove into Rodney Bay to dive with Dive St. Lucia/Scuba Steve’s - they are combined now and operate off a dock connected to Harmony Marina Suites. Shop was ok. Crew and DMs were fine - not really top notch customer service or concierge diving I would write home about but we were fine and I felt safe enough. Several times the diving took us back to Soufiere area which was fine because there are so many nice spots but felt weird having uprooted ourselves just to go back but still very cool.
They were unable to accommodate us for an extra day we wanted to add on so we used Dive Fair Helen which is about 35mins drive from Rodney Bat but totally worth it. They are located at JJ’s Paradise now - not Marigot Bay anymore, which didn’t matter to us at all. The crew was warmer and friendlier and the full lunch (chicken, Mac and cheese, lentil stew, bread, fruit, delicious cookies we are going to try and replicate) was delicious. Crew was great, positive, and warm - proactive but not annoying when supporting a diverse group of different levels (3rd dive post cert) abilities and age (elderly grandma who spoke only Spanish), and disabilities (one diver had only one arm) and did it without being condescending or too much. Highly recommend Dive Fair Helen even if it’s not swanky. Had a very solid time and wished we had more dives with then.
The…middle? Ti Kaye:
Ended our trip for my husband’s bday at Ti Kaye resort. Fanciest of all our stays by far. Only dove 1 day but they were great. Rental gear seemed fine - nothing wrong that your precheck shouldn’t catch and they had backups for everything if any issues arose. Really loved our time with them and the resort was stunning, rooms lovely, food delicious, service and staff top notch.
Yay!
Here’s a rundown of our trip to St. Lucia a couple weeks ago…
Me: AOW, ~170 dives, in it for reefs, fish, wrecks
Husband: AOW ~60 dives new and likes it all
Us: aging but able-bodied NY’ers who are comfortable walking longer distances and go out of our way to shop and stay at locally owned places when possible.
Picking South/North/Middle? TL;DR -
All 4 shops will take you to same/similar places so it’s about what you want to experience on land before/after diving, how long a boat ride you want every morning, and how long you have to stay there to still enjoy a couple of repeats if they happen (we were there for 2 weeks and enjoyed it all). Longest ride we took was 55mins. Shortest was about 15mins.
We rented a car and yes, the driving can be as nuts as they say it is. Rough roads, UK side of the road and car, winding blind turns, very very steep hills which feel scarier when it rains, and sometimes aggressive drivers who make it feel worse. But it’s totally worth it IMHO.
Diving overall: fairly easy but rich! Encountered barely any current overall. Only had one trip out that had waves making it hard to get in/out of the boat. It was a super amazing trip for my less-experienced husband to finally get really comfortable with the rhythm of diving, gear prep, manage expectations, experience different kinds of boats, etc. I’m more seasoned and was enthralled with the diversity of colors, corals, TONS of fish, and the 2 wrecks are excellent beginner spots with enough cool stuff to keep me more than happy.
Soufiere - the South:
We stayed at the Green Fig Resort whuch has TONS of stairs. Duh it’s on a mountain. But yeah - for my aging knees…I’m glad we only were there for 4 days. Food was fine but got old after 2 days. Steep walk into town gives you more options. They suggest Action Adventure Divers but they don’t book for them and AA never responded to any outreach pre-trip or looked open when we walked by the shop several times.
We dove with Scuba St. Lucia which is the main shop for Anse Chastenet and Jade Mountain. Check in was a bit disorganized, but we were taken care of once on the (covered, comfortable, efficient) boat and the crew was great. we have most of our own equipment but I had lost my computer before the trip and had to rent one…their last one that worked at all. No other place even offered them to rent
The North: Rodney Bay & Gros Islet
The drive was crazy but doable - just take your time, pull of the road for aggressive folks, etc. took about 1hr 45mins
We stayed at an Airbnb on a hill in Gros Islet which was lovely. We drove into Rodney Bay to dive with Dive St. Lucia/Scuba Steve’s - they are combined now and operate off a dock connected to Harmony Marina Suites. Shop was ok. Crew and DMs were fine - not really top notch customer service or concierge diving I would write home about but we were fine and I felt safe enough. Several times the diving took us back to Soufiere area which was fine because there are so many nice spots but felt weird having uprooted ourselves just to go back but still very cool.
They were unable to accommodate us for an extra day we wanted to add on so we used Dive Fair Helen which is about 35mins drive from Rodney Bat but totally worth it. They are located at JJ’s Paradise now - not Marigot Bay anymore, which didn’t matter to us at all. The crew was warmer and friendlier and the full lunch (chicken, Mac and cheese, lentil stew, bread, fruit, delicious cookies we are going to try and replicate) was delicious. Crew was great, positive, and warm - proactive but not annoying when supporting a diverse group of different levels (3rd dive post cert) abilities and age (elderly grandma who spoke only Spanish), and disabilities (one diver had only one arm) and did it without being condescending or too much. Highly recommend Dive Fair Helen even if it’s not swanky. Had a very solid time and wished we had more dives with then.
The…middle? Ti Kaye:
Ended our trip for my husband’s bday at Ti Kaye resort. Fanciest of all our stays by far. Only dove 1 day but they were great. Rental gear seemed fine - nothing wrong that your precheck shouldn’t catch and they had backups for everything if any issues arose. Really loved our time with them and the resort was stunning, rooms lovely, food delicious, service and staff top notch.
Yay!
