St Lucia? Tobago? Two subjects here..

[yellowfish]

Has anyone been diving with the dive shop at Anse Chastenet resort on St Lucia? How is the diving and the overall operation? Any comments on dive sites and marine life? How is the resort? We are just back from Little Cayman and cannot say enough good things about diving there and the dive shop. Now we are looking to visit perhaps St Lucia at the end of this June/beginning of July. Does anyone recommend any other dive shop and resort to stay at/dive with on St Lucia?
OK...one more question, but about Tobago. Is all diving drift diving there? And are the currents stronger with moon phases, or are they pretty much the same all the time. We really don't want to constantly be drifting and not able to linger and watch whatever marine life we see.

 

[diveprof]

Anse Chastenet is a very different dive resort. No the diving doesn't compare with Little Cayman (as if much does). However, it is certainly on par with many other dive destinations. I liked the rooms on the hill that offer a view of the Pitons. This is truly a tropical island paradise. All but one wall was screened and open to nature and unbelieveable views - and privacy. Tropical birds on your porch. Wonderful "jungle" sounds at night. The minuses are No AC, so it can be very warm in the summer - only ceiling fans. misquitos too (netting provided for the bed) - particularly in the rooms on the beach. IF you cannot live without AC, this is not the place for you. And there is the hill that I climbed several times a day - restaurants are lower on the hill as is the dive op (dive gear stored at the dive op). Still the views more than made up for this. The food was good (multiple restaurants) and dinner on the beach with the tiki torches was wonderful. The resort can be a very special place, a romantic place. Service was good. Dive op seemed over protective to me. You cannot even do the shore dive (which is good) except on the scheduled guided shore dives for which there is a cost. Nice snorkling though. All things considered though, I would go back in a minute.

 

[yellowfish]

We are thinking of going in late June/early July. I do wish there was AC, but it sounds so good other wise. I mean are you able to cool down enough at night to sleep? It will be my husband and myself for a long long overdue getaway without other family or kids. Sounds like if we can handle the no AC it is a good choice. And tropical birds too? Did you explore other parts of the island? How were the boat dives? (and yes, little cayman.....what a dream!)

 

[silvernotch]

I was in St. Lucia about 6 years ago and we stayed at Crystal's Cottages in Soufriere which isn't too far from Anse Chastenet and loved it. It is up on the hillside but we had no issue driving to the beach. Went spent a lot of time also at Ti Kaye and if I ever went back I said I'd probably stay there.

 

[Rhone Man]

I was down in St Lucia last year. I thought the conditions were good and the reefs very vibrant, but the marine life was in pretty short supply. I suppose like many poor Caribbean countries, much of it had been eaten.

The only thing I know about Tobago diving is that it is supposed to be the one place in the Caribbean where you can reliably see Manta Rays seasonally.

 

[yellowfish]

Rhone Man
Did you dive around anse chastenet?

 

[diveprof]

We are thinking of going in late June/early July. I do wish there was AC, but it sounds so good other wise. I mean are you able to cool down enough at night to sleep? It will be my husband and myself for a long long overdue getaway without other family or kids. Sounds like if we can handle the no AC it is a good choice. And tropical birds too? Did you explore other parts of the island? How were the boat dives? (and yes, little cayman.....what a dream!)

That is summer so it may be a little warm . They have a ceiling fan. The boat dives were fine - not little cayman of course but interesting. We did a bit of an island tour - volcano and hot springs were interesting - soaked a while. Might check out Jade Mountain as a lodging option also - same view.

 

[jcpiota]

YouTube - virtualdivereport's Channel

The video is of the dive site "The Nursery". It is about 10 minutes by boat from the Pitons. I am doing a series of 'dive briefing' videos to answer the exact questions you are asking; 'what is the diving like......'. I have two more videos ready to be uploaded for St Lucia that I will be uploading this week. If you like, subscribe to my channel and you will be notified each time a dive report video is uploaded. I hope this gives you a good visual of diving in St. Lucia.

Let me know what you think or any suggestions you may have.

Joel
VirtualDiveReport

 

[chauncy19]

Did visit tobago many years ago. it is was my favorite place to visit and would love to go back. wonderful people and beautiful birds and scenery. However the diving I did was for someone far more experienced than I. Maybe I ran into a "bad" operator whatever. Haven't been back because I found Bonaire where the diving is easy and enjoyable. But Tobago I will some day go back to just not for diving. I was in Charlotteville(sp) and again loved the town.

 

[jcpiota]

There are three dives in the Anse Chastenet area. The Anse Chastenet house reef(for lack of a better name, the Pitons or also know as 'Superman's Flight" and The Pinnacles, two underwater peaks that are done in a 'S' figure depending on the currents. Each has unique apeal. Superman's flight is a fun and sometimes fast drift dive. The Pinnacle, around the Northeastern point normally has varied, and interesting life, even if it is smaller.

Rhone Man
Did you dive around anse chastenet?