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Dive Review of Scuba St. Lucia/Jade Mountain in
St. Lucia

Scuba St. Lucia/Jade Mountain, Jul, 2010,

by Paul Gray, DE, US ( 2 reports). Report 5642.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling 4 stars
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 2 stars
Comments I dove in St. Lucia following a week of diving in Bonaire. Although I thoroughly missed the diving freedom one experiences in Bonaire, diving in St. lucia was still enjoyable.

When you dive with Scuba St. Lucia, your first dive is a shore dive accompanied by a dive master. They will ask you to clear your mask and recover your regulator and once you demonstrate these skills, you finish your dive around the Anse Chastanet Reef, which was an enjoyable dive.

I found all of my dive sites to be very similar. Anse Chastanet Reef, Fairy Land, The Pinnacles and Turtle Reef all had many crinoids, arrowhead crabs and basket sponges. A bit less common, but still prevalent were various small shrimp, soldier fish, eels, deep sea gorgonians, large feather dusters, sea fans and various small tropical fish. We did find one seahorse.

The visibility was a little disappointing due to mostly overcast skies (it rained a lot) , but the water at St. Lucia does seem to be different than that of other caribbean islands. I think it has to do with the volcanic rock making the water look slightly grey in color. My best dive was on the pinnacles in the afternoon when the sun opened up and the viz was outstanding. We could easily see all three pinnacles from a far and the sea life surrounding them was abundant. This was a dive to remember.

The staff at Scuba St. Lucia was very professional. They are service-oriented and have quite a few members on their staff. They operate quickly and try hard to please people like myself who failed to sign-up ahead a time for an 8 am dive. When I arrived at 7:30 am, I was told that the dive was cancelled due to lack of interest. When I showed how disappointed I was that I got out of bed and ran down the mountain for nothing, they decided to take the boat out just for me. That rocked! I made sure I signed up in advance for the rest of my dives instead of just assuming the boat would always be leaving the resort.

The next day, my computer battery died just as the boat was getting ready to leave. The captain ran ashore and grabbed me a depth/air gauge and quickly swapped it with my computer without any fuss. These we're nice people.

This trip was the second week of our honeymoon (1st week Bonaire) and we we're scheduled to stay 4 nights at Anse Chastanet and 3 nights at Jade Mountain which is a step up the soci-economic ladder. When we arrived, we we're informed that we would be upgraded to Jade Mountain for the entire week. This resort is very expensive but man, it was fantastic. The view of the mountains never got tiring and the room itself was of very high quality. We spent 3 nights in a sky sanctuary (no infinity pool) and 4 nights in a star sanctuary. The service here was so good, it was hard to get used to and the food at the Jade Mountain Club was the best I ever had anywhere. The views from the top of the resort we're the most beautiful ever and as most people say, pictures just cannot do it justice.

We did the jungle biking, 3 hour sailboat cruise and volcano trip. The first 2 we're ok but the volcano trip was below average. We saw the bubbling mud, smelled the sulfur and viewed remnants of the crater. As we we're leaving to go to the hot springs visit, we we're approached by local vendors who we're selling very cheap looking jewelry. They we're a little pushy but not too bad. The hot springs we're a waste of time. I thought we would be sitting in a natural spring, maybe with some mud involved. We ended up sitting in a hot tub with ceramic tile all around. I guess it was kind of neat that the hot water was heated naturally underground, but I would have rather been doing something else at the resort.

I would not return to St. Lucia just for the diving but the trip was a very special one due to the island's beauty, the resort, service and it being our honeymoon. Was it worth the amount of money we paid? Sometimes I'm still trying to decide, but overall, I have no regrets.
Websites Scuba St. Lucia   Jade Mountain

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving NJ, DE, Florida Keys, Bahamas, Cozumel, Galapagos, Bonaire, North Carolina
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy Seas calm
Water Temp 86-86°F / 30-30°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions 45 minutes maximum dive time, ascend when you reach 700 psi.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments Onshore rinse tank had paints chips in the water the entire week. There was no rinse tank on the boat but the trips we're very short. Crew would hand cameras to divers in the water.
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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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