St. Lucia 2026
We’ll Be Back!!!
Dan and I originally visited this resort in 2024 on a short trip to evaluate the diving and accommodations. We did not have access to the big boats that we had on this trip since those were reserved for groups. We went out on the small boats, but what we saw was enough to convince us this would be a good trip. And we were right - what we were treated to on the group dives was truly amazing!
While the dives were the highlight of the trip, Anse Chastanet is a truly a magical destination, rooted in a 17th century sugar plantation, and only became a resort in this century. Because of the volcanic terrain, the last few miles of road to the resort are challenging, to say the least.
I think one of the surprising things was that many of the dives were done in the bay between the iconic Pitons. Who would have thought that those waters would have such prolific corals?? Even with all the healthy corals, there was also a significant amount of coral restoration in process to restore both staghorn and elkhorn coral. There was virtually no bleaching and acres of healthy coral.
All of the dives were drift dives with the exception of the two wreck dives we did on the last day. While most dives had very little current, there were two dives that definitely resembled what I call “Cozumel Light”. The visibility was between 60-80 feet but there was always a little bit of cloudiness caused by the “food” in the water that all the little fish were eating. As I was once told, “clear water has no fish food”, so this was a good balance of fish food, fish, and visibility. And there were a lot of small fish - clouds of them!! Sometimes a thousand or more as they streamed by us.
We did see some turtles on the dives like this big one, as well as several other sightings of smaller ones. After a fun day of diving, many of our divers chose to snorkel in the bay by the resort and also reported seeing multiple turtles. There was the regular marine life, such as lobster and eels, as well as many other tropical fish too numerous to put in this report. It was refreshing to see the abundant life on every dive.
The dive crew was efficient and very entertaining! We had three dive guides and a helper on board, and none of the groups had more than 8 divers. Garfield, the captain, the did a great job of keeping track of and picking up all the divers as they entered at different times and drifted at different speeds. Between dives the crew showed off their skills by diving off the top deck of the boat, and soon after, many of our divers joined in on the fun!
Our photographers shared lots of photos and videos on our “WhatsApp” group that are beautiful and far too numerous to put in this trip report. Let’s just say “You had to be there!”
While this was a “Dive Trip”, the resort laid out a very busy schedule for us including a chocolate tasting, a fish talk by the local marine biologist, a stop downtown in Soufrière between dives, a plantation walk, and a Rum Tasting.
I think we had a first on this trip - two mother/daughter divers: Susan and Lizzie Noll and Evy and Eleanor Brow.
We also had a birthday event, as Maureen Curtain celebrated with the help of a surprise cake provided by the resort at the Treehouse Restaurant.
One of the surprising comments I heard came from one diver who said “I usually lose weight on a dive trip but I think I am going to gain on this trip”. Without a doubt, one of the most positive comments I heard was how good the food and service was at all of the restaurants. On Tuesday night, only the beach restaurant was open with a buffet and a manager’s happy hour from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, and you can see why food was definitely a positive part of this trip.
On Friday night, the resort gave us a farewell party where the dive crew joined us to reflect on the week of our diving adventures. After some comments about how much we appreciated their hard work, the crew was presented an envelope with the tips from the club members. The crew was encouraged to share their comments on the week of diving and lively discussion was exchanged by all present. Afterward, the club members adjourned to the dining room for their final resort dinner, before retiring to their rooms and preparing for the return home.
We’ll be back.
Dan and Daryl