From Dec 27th - Jan 3rd, my girlfriend and I went to the Sandals Regency in St Lucia. We are both newly certified divers, having done our 4 check out dives plus 3 more dives on our own in the local quarry before our trip. Here is a brief report:
St Lucia - As the slogan says, "St Lucia, Simply Beautiful". The country itself is very beautiful. Lots of small hills/mountains, dense tropical forests, small and interesting Caribbean towns, etc. The bad part are the roads, they are very small and narrow. With all the mountains and the small roads, I would never want to drive on this island! Sandals picks you up at the airport and the transfer you to and from the resort. It was 30 miles from the airport to the resort but the drive is about 1 hour and 20 minutes with the roads and terrain. On a side note, one morning we hiked the Gros Piton mountain, and though it was a very tough hike, the views made it very worthwhile. In general, the views are great, the people are nice, the local beer "Piton" is tasty, and we really enjoyed our time on the island.
Diving - Sandals is very conservative - 35 minute dives max, usually around when the first diver hits 1000 psi. They offer a 2 tank morning dive and a shallow afternoon dive. However, you have to go on a "Discover SCUBA" dive for your first dive, regardless if you have 2 dives or 200 dives logged. Due to our other interests and activities, we only got a chance to do 2 1 tank dives, Bay of Pigs (this was the "Discover SCUBA" Dive) and Smugglers Cove. I hear the wall diving at the Gros Piton is great, but we could not make those trips. In general, it was our first Caribbean dive, so we do not have a basis for comparison. The coral did not seem overwhelming colorful, but at times there were some really nice colors and formations (excuse my lack of scientific terms!) There were plenty of small fish, and we also saw a lobster and barracuda. Overall we did have a great time diving, and we are now looking at other vacations that will focus more on diving.
My photo gallery has both pictures and a video - both topside and also using a Canon SD550 underwater. The underwater shots are just ok, we are still working on safe diving, not bumping into coral, buoyancy, etc so we could not get very close to some of our objects.
The Resort - My first time at a Sandals (Sandals Regency), and I am iffy if I'd do it again. The "all inclusive" theory is nice, but the food is mediocre at best. Lots of variety in the food, but nothing was all that great. There is very little communication amongst the staff. For instance, it took 30 minutes, and trips to 3 different centers at the resort, to find 2 tennis racquets and a can of tennis balls. It took a few calls to get new towels into the room several times. Twice in 6 days they forgot our wake up call. The beach at this particular resort is rather rocky, and the red flag was waving every day but 1 day, making watersports at the resort impossible to enjoy. Most of our down time was spent laying around the pool, not on the beach. Sandals charges an outrageous price for excursions. We found a very nice local who runs his own sight-seeing business and for a fraction of the price you will see many more sites in an enjoyable setting. If you want his contact information please let me know; I'd be glad to share it. The golf course was an ok executive course and we did have some nice spa services. In all, it was an ok resort and a nice vacation, but very much over priced. We met several other couples on the trip and they all felt the same way.
If you have any more questions about the diving, resort or island feel free to ask.
St Lucia - As the slogan says, "St Lucia, Simply Beautiful". The country itself is very beautiful. Lots of small hills/mountains, dense tropical forests, small and interesting Caribbean towns, etc. The bad part are the roads, they are very small and narrow. With all the mountains and the small roads, I would never want to drive on this island! Sandals picks you up at the airport and the transfer you to and from the resort. It was 30 miles from the airport to the resort but the drive is about 1 hour and 20 minutes with the roads and terrain. On a side note, one morning we hiked the Gros Piton mountain, and though it was a very tough hike, the views made it very worthwhile. In general, the views are great, the people are nice, the local beer "Piton" is tasty, and we really enjoyed our time on the island.
Diving - Sandals is very conservative - 35 minute dives max, usually around when the first diver hits 1000 psi. They offer a 2 tank morning dive and a shallow afternoon dive. However, you have to go on a "Discover SCUBA" dive for your first dive, regardless if you have 2 dives or 200 dives logged. Due to our other interests and activities, we only got a chance to do 2 1 tank dives, Bay of Pigs (this was the "Discover SCUBA" Dive) and Smugglers Cove. I hear the wall diving at the Gros Piton is great, but we could not make those trips. In general, it was our first Caribbean dive, so we do not have a basis for comparison. The coral did not seem overwhelming colorful, but at times there were some really nice colors and formations (excuse my lack of scientific terms!) There were plenty of small fish, and we also saw a lobster and barracuda. Overall we did have a great time diving, and we are now looking at other vacations that will focus more on diving.
My photo gallery has both pictures and a video - both topside and also using a Canon SD550 underwater. The underwater shots are just ok, we are still working on safe diving, not bumping into coral, buoyancy, etc so we could not get very close to some of our objects.
The Resort - My first time at a Sandals (Sandals Regency), and I am iffy if I'd do it again. The "all inclusive" theory is nice, but the food is mediocre at best. Lots of variety in the food, but nothing was all that great. There is very little communication amongst the staff. For instance, it took 30 minutes, and trips to 3 different centers at the resort, to find 2 tennis racquets and a can of tennis balls. It took a few calls to get new towels into the room several times. Twice in 6 days they forgot our wake up call. The beach at this particular resort is rather rocky, and the red flag was waving every day but 1 day, making watersports at the resort impossible to enjoy. Most of our down time was spent laying around the pool, not on the beach. Sandals charges an outrageous price for excursions. We found a very nice local who runs his own sight-seeing business and for a fraction of the price you will see many more sites in an enjoyable setting. If you want his contact information please let me know; I'd be glad to share it. The golf course was an ok executive course and we did have some nice spa services. In all, it was an ok resort and a nice vacation, but very much over priced. We met several other couples on the trip and they all felt the same way.
If you have any more questions about the diving, resort or island feel free to ask.
