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Dive Review of Scuba St. Lucia/Anse Chastanet in
St. Lucia

Scuba St. Lucia/Anse Chastanet: "Anse Chastanet, again", Sep, 2022,

by Bobby Munno, NY, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 15 Helpful votes). Report 12056 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 2 stars
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling 4 stars
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments Our first stay at Anse Chastanet diving with on-site SCUBA St. Lucia four years ago did not go well with an ear infection and a Lionfish sting. Knowing neither were attributable to the resort, we did a return trip for a second take. The return was yet another great decision! The resort is beautiful with a warm and welcoming staff. Our hillside room had a fantastic view of the famous St. Lucia pitons to the south and the sunset and beach to the west. Morning coffee on our balcony brought us Antillean Crested and Purple-throated Carib Hummingbirds, Bananaquits and Lesser Antillean Bullfinches all within arm's reach, a great start to every day being a semi-bird-nerd. During our first visit we had a beachside room which was quite convenient to the dive center, beachfront bar & restaurant and, obviously, the beach. This trip had us in a room 225 stair risers up from the beach, quite a hike for the frail and unfit. The hotel does provide shuttle service upon request, summoned using the house-supplied "burner" phone, but we only availed ourselves to that amenity after our last dive to get our gear up to the room. This old geezer became a bit of a wheezer on the first couple of commutes but I soon became accustomed to the "healthy" several-times-a-day climbs and descents. We also spent our days barefoot which was a nice change for this NYC native. All meals and their servers were excellent, especially the Friday night 5-course Lionfish on-beach dinner served at Anse Mamin, the resort's north beach, where the 10-limit guests are delivered by boat. The sommelier's wine pairings made the chef's tasting even more spectacular. The gifted Lionfish cookbook was a special ending to a superb dinner and has us looking for local fish to stand in for the Caribbean pest fish unavailable in cooler climes. The diving was very good with only one tough dive due to current and carrying the unwieldy zookeeper for my Lionfish hunting, putting my PADI certification to good use. The dive boats leave the SCUBA center at 0830, 1030 & 1400 hrs daily with night dives off the beach at 1830 hrs Mondays & Wednesdays. I got to see The Thing (look it up) on my second night dive along with squid, octopus, scorpionfish, slipper & spiny lobsters, several varieties of crabs etc. along with all the sleeping day-time reef inhabitants. Sea horses were found on several dives, scorpion and frog fish were spotted numerous times, turtles almost daily and even a large nurse shark was found. I was disappointed with only scant adult French Angels, a total lack of adult Queen Angelfish and zero Grey Angels, my favorite variety. Friday, the dive boat leaves at 0930 hrs for a 2-tank trip north to a pair of wrecks on the first dive and then to Anse Cochon (Bay of Pigs) reef after fresh fruit and baked sweets on board, a great ending to a week of diving. I am happy with my decision to return to Anse Chastanet and highly recommend spoiling yourself for a week there!
Websites Scuba St. Lucia   Anse Chastanet

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Bahamas, Belize, Bonaire, Cabo, Cancun, Carriacou, 3 Caymans, Cozumel, St Croix, Curacao, Dominica, St Eustatius, FL, Grenada, HI, St Helena, Iceland, Jamaica, LI, St Lucia, Mntsrrat, NYC, Palau, PA, Philippines, Poland, Roatan, Saba, Tobago, Turks&Caicos, Utila, St Vincent, Yucatan cenotes
Closest Airport UVF Getting There direct jetBlue flight JFK to UVF

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 81-85°F / 27-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 60-81 Ft/ 18-25 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions The stated dive profile was 60 feet for 45 minutes. Dive times were limited as the boat returns to the shop after each dive. Depth limits were not enforced.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 2 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 2 stars
UW Photo Comments The dive boat had a large camera tank that never had more than a couple of inches of water in it. It was not too much of an issue as only 3 camera rigs were the maximum with an off-season maximum of 7 divers aboard. The dive shop has a dedicated camera rinse tank as the only camera amenity. Some nice macro to be had. A couple of beautiful and healthy Elkhorn coral stands made for nice subject matter. Night dive subjects in abundance.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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