Talk to me about st lucia

[moregooder]

Am leaving for st lucia in less then a week. I understand that Tomas went through and the diving may be off, Living in Nebraska that doesn't scare us much and any viz over 10' is a good day. we are staying at villa st lucia and dive fair Helen on the south end of the island and will be there for 7 days, any must dos (on water or land) you could recommend would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Thanks Giving and a prayer for are troops

 

[ColoDale]

There are posts in Oct I think in this forum where some of us provided info on dive sites, things to do, etc. Browsing that would show all of them. I really can't add much. Hard to tell what you like to do. As you say you are staying south then Castries could be a pain to get to but then you should be near the Pitons I am guessing so there should be plenty of nature type things to do/see.
If you are staying far south I hope you are flying into the southern airport. If northern then your travel time in and out will be greater. But since you are leaving very soon then there's not alot you can do about it.
If you do travel around on your own (non-excursion tours) then you might want to get hold of a local guy, agree on a price and rent a cab or car. Sort of a private tour guide. We did this with a guy who worked at the hotel and went on his day off.
We were there a few months after a hurricane and the shallower dive sites were beat up a bit. The deeper souther sites were better.
Take your camera. Maybe talk the dive boat into going into Marigot bay (at least for a look - the water isn't very clear and the locals said there were alot of barricuda. Could depend on where inside the bay tho)

 

[moregooder]

thanks for the in site, we are flying into the southern air port and are staying at villa st lucia at Marigot bay so I will look into it.

 

[Wookie]

Am leaving for st lucia in less then a week. I understand that Tomas went through and the diving may be off, Living in Nebraska that doesn't scare us much and any viz over 10' is a good day. we are staying at villa st lucia and dive fair Helen on the south end of the island and will be there for 7 days, any must dos (on water or land) you could recommend would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Thanks Giving and a prayer for are troops

Ummm.... Villas St. Lucia and Dive Fair Helen are in Marigot Bay, definitely not the south end of the island by any means. I'd suggest flying into Castries and driving down to Marigot (about an hour) rather than Hewanorra airport (4-6 hours on windey roads if traffic is good). Diving with Dive Fair Helen will give you plenty of opportunity to dive Anse Cochon over and over again. You'll become very familiar with all of the residents there. (First name basis) You'll get a chance to dive the wreck of the Lesleen M many times too. Ask them to take you down to dive the Pitons, including Anse Chastenet wall, Superman's flight, the pinnacles, etc. Anse La Raye wall is fun, but not exceptional.

Edit - For your surface interval days, DON"T RENT YOUR OWN CAR. Find a combi van, negotiate a rate with the driver ($100 US for the day (12 hours) is reasonable), and have him drive you around the island. Don't miss the beach at Soufreire, eat lunch in one of the scary eateries there, it's a chance to visit locals you shouldn't miss. Visit the drive in volcano, Don't climb the Pitons unless you're in really good shape, and visit the mansions at Cap Estate and the old fort at Vieux Fort.

 

[moregooder]

ya ok I ment to say the airport (Hewanorra) at the south end, we will leave from up north that's just the way it worked out, it gets us there a day sooner and the villa picks use up