We are so very fortunate to have our trip leader, Rebecca Metcalfe, creating such fantastic diving vacations for us! Two trips this year! The latest trip was to the beautiful island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean for a week of diving at the start of the dry season. We started our vacation together on Nov. 30, 2025 with 25 excited adventurers: comprising 13 scuba divers and 12 snorkellers, ready for the warmth and sunshine of this tropical isle.
[Click a photo to enlarge it or remove the caption.]
up the hill on the left for rooms, further up for Jade Mountain Resort,
with Pitons at the next bay beyond the town of Soufrière.
Our resort, Anse Chastanet, is set on a large, private hillside. It’s a 600-acre tropical estate in St. Lucia, featuring lush rainforest, two beaches (Anse Chastanet & Anse Mamin), historic plantation grounds, and stunning views of the Pitons. At beach level, there’s a restaurant, the Piton Bar, an art gallery, spa, shops, yoga pavilion, two unique beaches, a pier, the plantation, mountain bike course on extensive trails, hiking path to the local town of Soufrière, on-site dive shop and dock offering access to marine reserves, house reef and lovely coral reefs of the marine preserve.
The Pitons rise from the sea on either side of the bay to Sugar Beach. Petit Piton appears taller from the north due to an optical illusion caused by perspective and its steeper, more dramatic profile rising almost vertically from the sea, making it look imposing and larger than Gros Piton, even though Gros Piton is actually higher (2,619 ft vs. Petit Piton at 2,438 ft) and much wider at the base. From other angles, as you move south or away, Gros Piton’s greater height becomes apparent.
Up the hill for other restaurants for breakfast & dinner, Tree House Bar, guest services and reception.
Keep going up up up for open-air hillside rooms with gorgeous views.
We started diving on Dec. 1 with a check-out dive from the beach in front of the Scuba St. Lucia dive shop with our guides, Omo and Tory, on the house reef, exiting onto the dive boat ready for our second dive of the day.
The staff at the Scuba St. Lucia dive operation, including our boat captain, Xavier, and boat assistant Francis, were very attentive to our needs, enacting equipment repairs with speedy, cheerful and knowledgeable skill. Here we are with Omo, standing at the back, thumbs up. This was one of the best dive boats ever: spacious, comfortable, well equipped, shaded from the sun, serving delicious treats at the surface interval.
The Dive Sites
Diving with Scuba St. Lucia, which is on site at Anse Chastanet. All of our dives were within the Marine Preserve. The dive site descriptions below are from the internet. Let us know if you have any recommended edits!
Monday, Dec. 1
- Orientation and Anse Chastanet Reef (House Reef) Checkout dive – Chastanet Reef is an easily accessible shore dive in St. Lucia, known for its shallow coral gardens on a sandy plateau (5-25 ft) that dramatically drops to a deep wall (140+ ft), offering diverse coral, sponges, and abundant fish like parrotfish, chromis, filefish, goatfish, wrasse, eels, lobster, smooth trunkfish, French angelfish, huge barrel sponges, making it ideal for all levels, especially macro photography.
. - Turtle Reef – Yes, we did see turtles! This crescent-shaped reef off shore from Anse Chastanet is a favourite with many divers. It drops quickly from a plateau area of around 40 feet to approximately 150 feet. From the spectacular pillar coral and barrel sponges in the shallows, to the deeper soft corals and ledges below.
. - Chocolate Tasting!
Surface interval at the Pitons:
photo credit: Dave Tanner
Tuesday, Dec. 2
- Piton Wall – At the base of Petit Piton, this dramatic wall falls from the surface to many hundreds of feet below. Sea whips, gorgonians, delicate soft corals and lots of large feather duster worms, make this a colourful location. Barracuda, spotted morays, banded coral shrimp, lobster and crab were spotted. Gazillions of Brown Chromis (the “potato chips of the sea”) were seen on every dive this week — primary food source for larger predators in the coral reef ecosystem.
. - Malgretoute – Under the Petit Piton Mountain, Malgretoute, which means “Despite Everything”, is a steep slope with large rocky outcrops, encrusted in colourful sponges and a variety of corals. Among these are the large barrel sponges and bright yellow tube sponges – check inside these for crabs and basket stars.
. - Grand Caille – This was an extra dive in the afternoon to make up for our first dive which was a shore dive. Grand Caille is Creole translation for “Great House”, Grand Caille has long been known as the home for big fish. Unfortunately, few of these remain due to fishing activities, but this is still a very dramatic dive site, with massive boulders in the shallows, which blend into large reef patches in the deeper part. This dive site also boasts a wall comprising many deep-water gorgonia and sea whips. Occasionally a large barracuda will curiously observe the divers.
. - Party time – On land, the manager’s cocktail party and buffet dinner.
Wednesday, Dec. 3
- Coral Gardens – Coral Gardens is near the Pitons, a steep slope with a variety of coral species and large barrel sponges. The unusual sargassum-trigger-fish can be spotted in the deeper areas here, and occasionally large schools of barracuda take up residence. As with many of the dive sites, divers must be careful to monitor their depths, as the slope continues for hundreds of feet.
. - Surface Interval in Soufrière – Hop off and see the town before the 2nd dive.
. - Fairyland Reef – Adjacent to Turtle Reef is another beautiful dive site, called Fairyland. This area is on a major headland and is subject at times to very strong currents. This has the benefit of giving the site excellent visibility, and keeping the corals and sponges very clean so that they sparkle with their vibrant colours. The plateau area slopes gently from 40 to 60 feet; the dives are usually 50 feet and shallower on this site. Large boulders offer a number of nooks and crannies in which fish shelter. All over the reef are large numbers of schooling fish, particularly chromis and wrasses. Turtles are occasionally seen on Fairyland.
. - Fish Talk – seminar with Susan
. - Night Dive on the Chastanet Reef – It was a winner!
Thursday, Dec. 4
- Jalousie Reef – Jalousie, at the base of Gros Piton in St. Lucia, is known for its vibrant wall dive, featuring deep drops, abundant schooling fish (wrasse, bar jack), even barracuda, as well as diverse corals, sponges, and critters like eels and lobsters, offering excellent macro photography and night dive opportunities with easy shore access near Sugar Beach.
. - Devil’s Hole – Trou Diable or “Devil’s Hole” is a fascinating location. At 40 to 60 feet, there is a steep slope with large barrel sponges and well-developed coral heads, with schools of chromis and grunts in abundance. The shallower section at 20 to 30 feet, offers an intricate maze of channels around large boulders covered in a profusion of coral and sponges. This is a great spot for finding gold spotted eels, spotted drums, stingray, puffers, bobbet worm, the nimble spray crab, cowfish, trunkfish, and a crib full of old conch shells providing an interesting home for small fish.
. - Jazzy Cruise
Friday, Dec. 5
- Superman’s Flight – Located at the base of the spectacular Petit Piton Mountain, the cliff face here was used as a setting for the film Superman 2, where Superman was filmed flying down the cliff face. Imagine that while you dive here, flying with the current below the surface. There are often strong currents on this site, which help to give it good visibility. The steep slope here is covered with beautiful soft corals, and there is a great profusion of fish life.
. - Key Hole Pinnacles – This is probably the most visually stunning dive site. Four spectacular volcanic peaks rise dramatically from the depths to within a few feet of the surface. These are encrusted with a profusion of black and orange gorgonians, and this lacy network provides shelter for trumpet fish, filefish, and sometimes seahorses. Larger fishes such as grouper, jack and snapper, can be spotted around the Pinnacles.
, - Trip to Anse Mamin – BBQ Lunch, followed by the Plantation Tour Walk with Meno.
. - Night Dive on the Chastanet Reef
photo credit: Mike Starr
Saturday, Dec. 6
- Anse La Raye Shipwrecks, Vicky B and Lesleen M – Located at Anse La Raye, Lesleen M is the 165-foot freighter which was sunk in October 1986, as part of a project by the Department of Fisheries to provide artificial reefs. Already it is covered with soft corals, sponges and hydroids, and provides an ideal habitat for many juvenile fishes such as Nassau grouper, Queen and French Angel fishes. The wreck sits on an even keel on the sand. It is 30 feet to the sand deck, and 65 feet at the deepest point.
. - Anse La Raye Wall – Located to the north-west of St. Lucia, there is a shallow wall at Anse La Raye, and below this is a slope covered in huge boulders, making way for interesting terrain. The shallow areas have lots of brightly colored fire coral, while in the deeper end there are iridescent purple vase sponges, barrel sponges, and soft coral. There is a lot of fish life on this dive – look out particularly for jacks, Bermuda-chub and spotted-drums.
. - Cocktail Farewell Party for the 15 departing Blue North travellers.
Under the Waves with Sonya
photo credit: Sonya Elliott
Resort Life
We had rainbows every day! And enjoyed the three restaurants, two bars, beautiful unique rooms, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets — plus the view of the Pitons. The food was the best ever, always delicious with amazing selections for the breakfast, lunch and dinner specials every day. And oh so many steps to climb!
Classes, Presentations and Extras!
We thought we were there for diving and snorkelling — but, oh my, so much to see and do and learn!
- Chocolate Tasting with Daniel – the chocolates are made on site – the bon bons are out of this world
- Art Class with Sakey
- Jazzy Boozy Sunset Cruise with saxophonist, Delande St. Jules
- Mixology Class – rum tasting many different runs, then mixing rum cocktails
- Fish Identification with Susan
- Reef Preservation with Louise
- Turtle Identification with Louise
- Maldives Presentation with Susan
- BBQ lunch at Anse Mamin
- Plantation Tour with Meno, aka Father Nature
- Walking Tour to Soufrière with Meno
- Cocoa Tea with Sherma (fascinating to watch her prepare it, delicious to drink)
- Drive-Through Volcano
- Botanical Gardens and Mineral Baths with Alexander the Great
- Jungle Biking
- Sailing
- Coco Doux Event – with special double rum punch in a coconut shell, wow, so delicious
- Afternoon Tea
Art Class
We learned to paint in the intriguing style of the resident artist, Sakey, with bold shapes and colours, outlined in black. His art is displayed in the art gallery at Anse Chastanet. Some of us also gathered with Patti above the Tree House bar to paint to our hearts content in the mornings.
BBQ at Anse Mamin Beach
Boat ride over to Anse Mamin Beach (although it is also walkable past the Pier) for a delicious lunch.
Plantation Tour
After lunch, we had a Plantation Tour with Meno, alias Father Nature. We learned about the history of the plantation, and sampled the aroma of different herbs now grown on the land.
We watched a Hawk Wasp terrorize a Tarantula spider as it ran through our legs in its effort to escape. (The female wasp actively hunts for a tarantula and delivers a potent sting. The paralyzed, but still living, tarantula is dragged to a prepared burrow or nest. The wasp then lays a single egg on the spider’s abdomen and seals the entrance.)
Jazzy Boozy Sunset Cruise
So relaxing, serenaded by the sax player on a gentle cruise with rum punch, open bar, personal bento boxes with yummy snacks, dancing, watching the sunset and cruising back to Anse Chastanet, aglow with lights at night.
Drive-Through Volcano
Inappropriately named as a “drive-through”, but a fascinating visit to the volcano nonetheless. Dave organized a bus trip to take us the edge of the volcano, and a walking tour to get even closer! The thick volcanic ooze is boiling up before our eyes — Don’t fall in! (We skipped the tourist mud baths, but judging from the lineups, they are popular.) This is our remaining group of 10 adventurers who stayed an extra few days for sightseeing.
Botanical Gardens and Mineral Baths
Alexander the Great was our effusive, fact-filled guide through the lush vegetation and flowers of the Botanical Gardens and on to the picturesque Diamond Falls.
To the Beach and Beyond
Cocoa Tea (not a Baking Class afterall)
photo credit: Zana Maksimovic for the beaches above & the cocoa tea below
Cocoa Tea is made with cocoa, star anise, cloves, nutmeg, bay leaves, and sometimes cinnamon, but not for us this time, as well as coconut milk and arrowroot powder. Served with a dose of local storytelling in a picturesque setting overlooking the sea and Pitons. This treat was prepared for us by Sherma, the head of the bakery and chocolate department of Anse Chastanet.
Farewell beautiful island, beautiful people, and enormous thanks to Rebecca for making life so much fun!
Photo credits: Kathryn Cullen, and others where cited above. Thanks to all of the trip participants for a great trip!
Blue North Scuba Club 