Juardis
Contributor
Just got back from a week of diving with Sandals Grande St. Lucia. Don't know if this will help anyone here, but I said I'd write a report so here it is.
Wife and I are new divers. In fact, St. Lucia was to be our first dives (ocean or otherwise) since getting certified. As some (most?) of you know, Sandals is rather conservative when it comes to diving which suits new divers like us pretty well. However, there were a LOT of experienced divers on the boat with us and no one seemed to complain. I guess a so-so day under water is better than no day under water. To us they were pretty much awesome days, but hell, anything beats a cold rock quarry where we got certified.
Every diver has to go on a beginner dive, or introduction dive, or if you prefer, a checkout dive. No matter your experience, you do the dive. For us, it was at a place called Saline Point, about a 10 minute boat ride to the vicinity of Le Sport resort just north of the Grande. Max depth on my computer was 22 ft. Lasted about 40 minutes. Nice little dive and it was our first ever, so to us it was great. That was Sunday. There is only 1 dive on Sunday and it's at 11am and it is the check out dive. So if you arrive on Saturday, your only choice to dive on Sunday is the Sunday check out dive. If you arrive any other day, it's still the checkout dive and I'm not sure if that's 11am or 1:20pm. Never did figure that out.
Mon-Sat you get 2 dives/day. First dive is always the deepest and they limit you to 60 ft max (my max depth was 65, so it's not a hard floor obviously) and the 2nd dive they limit you to 40 ft (again, approximate). Of the 11 dives we took, avg time was between 35-40 minutes, including a 3 minute safety stop. Shortest was 34 minutes, longest was 48 minutes. All depends on the air hogs. General format is everyone descends together, follows the dive leader, then ascends together and the boat comes and picks everyone up. First to 1000 psi ends the dive and by end, I mean you start the safety stop shortly thereafter. They like to go deep then gradually ascend to conserve air and lengthen the dive. Plenty of times we didn't even need to do a safety stop (hovering) because we did it swimming between 15-20 ft. Still, as a new diver, I welcomed the chance to hover without the need to do so to practice my buoyancy skills, mask clearing, etc. It took me 5 dives before I finally figured out how not to blow through my safety stop and figure out what weight I needed, but that's a different subject.
Anyway,
Sunday, 1 dive, 11am, check out dive, for us it was Saline Pt
Mon-Sat, 2 tank dives, leave at 8:20. If you want to dive with the resort divers in the afternoon when you get back, you can but it'll cost you an extra $80. Sandals only offers 2 dives a day in the "included" part of your package.
Mon/Tue/Thu are in the Anse Cochon area with Tue/Thu your deep dive is the wreck Lesleen M.
Wed/Fri are in the Piton area.
Saturday? No idea, we didn't dive Saturday.
I don't know enough to adequately describe the dive sites, but I'll tell you what I observed and what the more experienced people had to say. Here are the sites we went to.
Sun - Saline Pt. It was shallow and sunny and colorful.
Mon - Anse Galley Wall and Anse Cochon North Reef. I was not that impressed with Galley Wall but it was my first dive to 60+ ft and therefore exciting in that regard. One of the divers was a DM and photographer said it was not very colorful which I would agree with in hindsight. Anse Cochon was interesting in that started as a drift dive. The current was very strong so there was nothing to do but float along with the current and observe reef/marine life. Eventually we rounded a point and the current dissipated. It was very silty from the runoff from hurricane Thomas in 2010 so again, not as colorful as I imagined but it was more colorful than Galley Wall. The DM photographer confirmed that.
Tue - Lesleen M and Anse Cochon South Reef. Visibility not that great this day, at either site, and they're pretty much within 100m of each other. The wreck is in about 60 ft of water and is the only dive we took with a rope to descend/ascend if needed. On Tue, wife and I needed the rope because neither of us had things quite figured out. Thu we didn't need it. Anyway, descend straight to the bottom at around 60 ft, circle the base, ascend over the railing then descend into the hold, take a lap around the hold, then ascend out of the hole and head towards the bow of the ship, circle the deck, head down the stern/port, circle the aft, do another lap if there's time/air, then ascend the rope. Not a big fan of this site, at least based on this one experience. Not a lot to see and it was crowded and hard to maneuver in the confined quarters. Anse Cochon South was much like Anse Cochon North, minus the strong current.
Wed - Coral Garden and Fantasia in Piton area. Coral Garden was the best site of the week, not just for us, but for everyone - even those who were there for 2 weeks straight. Extremely colorful, even at 60 ft. And lots of different, unusual looking coral. At least, different and unusual based on anything else I saw that week. Visibility was great (60-70 ft?). Fantasia was similar, though not quite as colorful.
Thu - Lesleen M and Anse Cochon North Reef. Visibility this day was much better. This time, we got to swim through the bridge of the ship, which was awesome. I liked this day much better than Tue, but our DL led us through the bridge because the current was minimal and visibility much better. I get the impression they don't allow this that often, so it was a treat for new divers like us (and the experienced divers too). Anse Cochon was much like it was Tue minus the strong current but had better visibility.
Fri - Keyhole Pinnacles and The Arch. I had suggested the Pinnacles after reading some reviews and some of the experienced people then convinced the dive shop manager we should go there and, given the problems we've been having (more on that later), they took us. Usually they don't go there because the current is wicked strong but we got lucky in that it wasn't too bad. The pinnacles was my 2nd favorite dive site. The coral around the pinnacles themselves is heavily damaged from hurricane Thomas in Oct 2010, but the pinnacles themselves are fascinating. That was also the consensus of the experienced divers too. There is a lot of coral formations on the pinnacles and thus, a lot of nooks and crannies to explore on the pinnacles. Unfortunately, we didn't spend as much time there as I would've liked. The pinnacles are 2? 3? mini-pitons underwater with strong current running between them. They're mini-pitons only in the sense they're peaks like the pitons. I'd guess the actual heights to be about 40-50 feet. The Arch is an underwater arch formation that we swam under. Pretty cool I guess, but other than that, it was a relaxing dive and a perfect way to end our diving week.
As for marine life, we saw spotted eels, a green moray at the wreck, fire worms, spotted flounder (those guys are tough to see), a rockfish at Saline point but nowhere else, sea cucumber, lobster (although they hide under rocks during the day), trigger fish, file fish, trunk fish, trumpet fish, sea snakes, and a host of other fish that I can't name. There was also a turtle sighting and octopus sighting, but I missed them.
Now for the one major problem. O-rings. It wasn't a problem at the beginning of the week, but beginning Wed, the problems started and got worse. Wed my tank bled down to 2500 psi while at dock, so we had to replace my tank. Basically, your strategy should be to inspect your O-ring, attach your reg, listen for leaks, then leave it pressurized until the boat departs. If there was a problem, it generally manifested itself within 5 minutes. Also, check both tanks while at dock even if you only leave your reg on one of them while pressurized. If there is an immediate problem, you'll catch it early. Thursday we had 4 O-rings fail, or if not fail, replaced. While at dock one guy had his develop a leak and I had to close his valve and they replaced the tank. Mine had a gouge missing and I made them replace it. One guy had his fail on the surface and my wife had hers go bad at depth. Now, when I say go bad, I don't mean to the point we had to share air, but it was streaming pretty good to the point I finally called the dive short. Friday we had multiple leaks before we left dock and, looking at the O-rings, you couldn't really tell but only after putting pressure to them could we tell. My wife had to replace one tank after it bled down to 2000 psi and an O-ring replaced on the replacement tank. At the end of my second dive as I removed my reg the O-ring actually fell out! Needless to say, the dive shop manager was made aware of this by me and a more respected diver as was the general manager of the resort itself. They are aware of the issue and are supposedly working aggressively to fix it (as in, actually getting enough O-rings to replace all of them). But my advice is be wary. Inspect them at the dock, check both tanks at the dock, leave one tank pressurized until you leave the dock, then check your buddy's tank when you get in the water. Maybe you more experienced folks would have a different recommendation?
Other than that, the Piton dives are pretty darned good. Anse Cochon area is OK. So for planning purposes, do NOT miss Wed/Fri dives. One final piece of advice. Get to the dive shop as soon as possible to sign up for the check out dive and all other dives. The check out dive filled up the Sunday we signed up, but we got there at 8am and signed up while others who got there a little later (8:30?) couldn't get in. Friday's dive was a full boat and people who tried to sign up couldn't. When we got there Sunday morning, we were able to sign up for the checkout dive at 8am and for the 8:00 dive every day thereafter, but we knew we were going to dive every day.
Hope this helps someone out there.
Wife and I are new divers. In fact, St. Lucia was to be our first dives (ocean or otherwise) since getting certified. As some (most?) of you know, Sandals is rather conservative when it comes to diving which suits new divers like us pretty well. However, there were a LOT of experienced divers on the boat with us and no one seemed to complain. I guess a so-so day under water is better than no day under water. To us they were pretty much awesome days, but hell, anything beats a cold rock quarry where we got certified.
Every diver has to go on a beginner dive, or introduction dive, or if you prefer, a checkout dive. No matter your experience, you do the dive. For us, it was at a place called Saline Point, about a 10 minute boat ride to the vicinity of Le Sport resort just north of the Grande. Max depth on my computer was 22 ft. Lasted about 40 minutes. Nice little dive and it was our first ever, so to us it was great. That was Sunday. There is only 1 dive on Sunday and it's at 11am and it is the check out dive. So if you arrive on Saturday, your only choice to dive on Sunday is the Sunday check out dive. If you arrive any other day, it's still the checkout dive and I'm not sure if that's 11am or 1:20pm. Never did figure that out.
Mon-Sat you get 2 dives/day. First dive is always the deepest and they limit you to 60 ft max (my max depth was 65, so it's not a hard floor obviously) and the 2nd dive they limit you to 40 ft (again, approximate). Of the 11 dives we took, avg time was between 35-40 minutes, including a 3 minute safety stop. Shortest was 34 minutes, longest was 48 minutes. All depends on the air hogs. General format is everyone descends together, follows the dive leader, then ascends together and the boat comes and picks everyone up. First to 1000 psi ends the dive and by end, I mean you start the safety stop shortly thereafter. They like to go deep then gradually ascend to conserve air and lengthen the dive. Plenty of times we didn't even need to do a safety stop (hovering) because we did it swimming between 15-20 ft. Still, as a new diver, I welcomed the chance to hover without the need to do so to practice my buoyancy skills, mask clearing, etc. It took me 5 dives before I finally figured out how not to blow through my safety stop and figure out what weight I needed, but that's a different subject.
Anyway,
Sunday, 1 dive, 11am, check out dive, for us it was Saline Pt
Mon-Sat, 2 tank dives, leave at 8:20. If you want to dive with the resort divers in the afternoon when you get back, you can but it'll cost you an extra $80. Sandals only offers 2 dives a day in the "included" part of your package.
Mon/Tue/Thu are in the Anse Cochon area with Tue/Thu your deep dive is the wreck Lesleen M.
Wed/Fri are in the Piton area.
Saturday? No idea, we didn't dive Saturday.
I don't know enough to adequately describe the dive sites, but I'll tell you what I observed and what the more experienced people had to say. Here are the sites we went to.
Sun - Saline Pt. It was shallow and sunny and colorful.
Mon - Anse Galley Wall and Anse Cochon North Reef. I was not that impressed with Galley Wall but it was my first dive to 60+ ft and therefore exciting in that regard. One of the divers was a DM and photographer said it was not very colorful which I would agree with in hindsight. Anse Cochon was interesting in that started as a drift dive. The current was very strong so there was nothing to do but float along with the current and observe reef/marine life. Eventually we rounded a point and the current dissipated. It was very silty from the runoff from hurricane Thomas in 2010 so again, not as colorful as I imagined but it was more colorful than Galley Wall. The DM photographer confirmed that.
Tue - Lesleen M and Anse Cochon South Reef. Visibility not that great this day, at either site, and they're pretty much within 100m of each other. The wreck is in about 60 ft of water and is the only dive we took with a rope to descend/ascend if needed. On Tue, wife and I needed the rope because neither of us had things quite figured out. Thu we didn't need it. Anyway, descend straight to the bottom at around 60 ft, circle the base, ascend over the railing then descend into the hold, take a lap around the hold, then ascend out of the hole and head towards the bow of the ship, circle the deck, head down the stern/port, circle the aft, do another lap if there's time/air, then ascend the rope. Not a big fan of this site, at least based on this one experience. Not a lot to see and it was crowded and hard to maneuver in the confined quarters. Anse Cochon South was much like Anse Cochon North, minus the strong current.
Wed - Coral Garden and Fantasia in Piton area. Coral Garden was the best site of the week, not just for us, but for everyone - even those who were there for 2 weeks straight. Extremely colorful, even at 60 ft. And lots of different, unusual looking coral. At least, different and unusual based on anything else I saw that week. Visibility was great (60-70 ft?). Fantasia was similar, though not quite as colorful.
Thu - Lesleen M and Anse Cochon North Reef. Visibility this day was much better. This time, we got to swim through the bridge of the ship, which was awesome. I liked this day much better than Tue, but our DL led us through the bridge because the current was minimal and visibility much better. I get the impression they don't allow this that often, so it was a treat for new divers like us (and the experienced divers too). Anse Cochon was much like it was Tue minus the strong current but had better visibility.
Fri - Keyhole Pinnacles and The Arch. I had suggested the Pinnacles after reading some reviews and some of the experienced people then convinced the dive shop manager we should go there and, given the problems we've been having (more on that later), they took us. Usually they don't go there because the current is wicked strong but we got lucky in that it wasn't too bad. The pinnacles was my 2nd favorite dive site. The coral around the pinnacles themselves is heavily damaged from hurricane Thomas in Oct 2010, but the pinnacles themselves are fascinating. That was also the consensus of the experienced divers too. There is a lot of coral formations on the pinnacles and thus, a lot of nooks and crannies to explore on the pinnacles. Unfortunately, we didn't spend as much time there as I would've liked. The pinnacles are 2? 3? mini-pitons underwater with strong current running between them. They're mini-pitons only in the sense they're peaks like the pitons. I'd guess the actual heights to be about 40-50 feet. The Arch is an underwater arch formation that we swam under. Pretty cool I guess, but other than that, it was a relaxing dive and a perfect way to end our diving week.
As for marine life, we saw spotted eels, a green moray at the wreck, fire worms, spotted flounder (those guys are tough to see), a rockfish at Saline point but nowhere else, sea cucumber, lobster (although they hide under rocks during the day), trigger fish, file fish, trunk fish, trumpet fish, sea snakes, and a host of other fish that I can't name. There was also a turtle sighting and octopus sighting, but I missed them.
Now for the one major problem. O-rings. It wasn't a problem at the beginning of the week, but beginning Wed, the problems started and got worse. Wed my tank bled down to 2500 psi while at dock, so we had to replace my tank. Basically, your strategy should be to inspect your O-ring, attach your reg, listen for leaks, then leave it pressurized until the boat departs. If there was a problem, it generally manifested itself within 5 minutes. Also, check both tanks while at dock even if you only leave your reg on one of them while pressurized. If there is an immediate problem, you'll catch it early. Thursday we had 4 O-rings fail, or if not fail, replaced. While at dock one guy had his develop a leak and I had to close his valve and they replaced the tank. Mine had a gouge missing and I made them replace it. One guy had his fail on the surface and my wife had hers go bad at depth. Now, when I say go bad, I don't mean to the point we had to share air, but it was streaming pretty good to the point I finally called the dive short. Friday we had multiple leaks before we left dock and, looking at the O-rings, you couldn't really tell but only after putting pressure to them could we tell. My wife had to replace one tank after it bled down to 2000 psi and an O-ring replaced on the replacement tank. At the end of my second dive as I removed my reg the O-ring actually fell out! Needless to say, the dive shop manager was made aware of this by me and a more respected diver as was the general manager of the resort itself. They are aware of the issue and are supposedly working aggressively to fix it (as in, actually getting enough O-rings to replace all of them). But my advice is be wary. Inspect them at the dock, check both tanks at the dock, leave one tank pressurized until you leave the dock, then check your buddy's tank when you get in the water. Maybe you more experienced folks would have a different recommendation?
Other than that, the Piton dives are pretty darned good. Anse Cochon area is OK. So for planning purposes, do NOT miss Wed/Fri dives. One final piece of advice. Get to the dive shop as soon as possible to sign up for the check out dive and all other dives. The check out dive filled up the Sunday we signed up, but we got there at 8am and signed up while others who got there a little later (8:30?) couldn't get in. Friday's dive was a full boat and people who tried to sign up couldn't. When we got there Sunday morning, we were able to sign up for the checkout dive at 8am and for the 8:00 dive every day thereafter, but we knew we were going to dive every day.
Hope this helps someone out there.
It's been quiet a few years since I've been to a Sandals, but I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it that way. I was referring more to South 4 Scuba's post than yours, where he stated 60fsw and 1000psi. Perhaps he didn't mean it the way I read it though. But yeah, I can understand one being frustrated having to surface with 1800psi+ because someone else in the group was low on air. But places like Sandal's don't generally want/allow divers to dive their own plans and they want to keep the entire group together at all times. So when one person gets low on air, the dive is over. And if they do enforce the 1000psi rule in 30fsw, that is indeed very conservative. 
