Saint Lucia (Soufriere)

Though most cruise ships port in Castries, further up north on the island of Saint Lucia, our stop was in the little town of Soufriere, right next to the famous Pitons.

We had booked our own Scuba tour with Scuba St. Lucia - located right in the Anse Chastanet Resort and directly in front of the Anse Chastanet Reef. Though only 1.7 miles away from Soufriere, the dive shop offered no assistance with transportation to or from. When we disembarked the cruise ship in Soufriere, we had both water and taxi drivers pushing each-other and yelling for our attention. They wanted $80USD round-trip for the sub-5 minute trip to the resort. The 1.7 miles could have been walkable, if not for the narrow road and steep grade.

Once we made it to Scuba St. Lucia via water taxi, the staff did have record of our reservation, and after checking in, we had time to relax. The first lounge chairs we sat in, we were told, were only for guests paying for day passes, so we had to move despite there being no-one around. We watched as guests of the resort came to Scuba St. Lucia and arranged for their dives for the day.

Scuba St. Lucia’s policy is for everyone to take 1 dive at Anse Chastanet Reef, which is an easy beach entry and a way for them to verify if you’re comfortable underwater. So our first dive was with a very un-engaging dive master, however we were the only 2 guests signed up for the dive, the reef was stunning, and the coral and animal life was vibrant!

During our surface interval between dives, we headed over to the Anse Chastanet Resort Restaurant, where we were asked if we were guests or visitors (it turns out guests have their own special section). Though we didn’t face this problem, the restaurant also reserves the right to deny service to non-hotel-guests. Our lunch was fine and we killed some time before our 2nd (and final) dive of the day.

The 2nd dive (marketed as a “boat dive”) was literally on the other side of the Anse Chastanet bay. We could have walked across the beach and entered there - but nonetheless our boat dive was uneventful though the first dive was much more fun.

On the water taxi back to Soufriere, we asked the driver to take a photo for us - so above is our $80 photograph with the Pitons in the background!

Summary

Overall, we were disappointed with our experience in St. Lucia, and it left a bad taste in our mouths. Though we don’t normally expect a Scuba Shop to provide or assist with transportation, it’s unfortunate that as paying guests there, we weren’t extended the same courtesy of a hotel shuttle to go 1.5 miles. The shop and resort staff seemed displeased that non-hotel-guests were visiting and were simply not friendly. The taxi drivers on the docks of Soufriere were gouging people, and on our return trip when our driver suggested that we could tip him extra (on top of the $80 we had already paid), we couldn’t help but laugh.

In short, we won’t plan on returning to St. Lucia and certainly wouldn’t recommend staying at Jade Mountain or Anse Chastanet Resorts.

“If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.”

– Rachel Wolchin