After talking to many islanders, I found the large majority of people on the island rated the beaches at Anse Chastanet and Anse Des Pitons the best on the island for snorkelling and scuba diving. Both located on the west side of the island and blessed with the warm waters of the Caribbean, one could drive between the two beaches in less than half an hour.
It should be said here that ALL BEACHES ON ST LUCIA ARE PUBLIC. Therefore, everyone has the right to access the beaches, even if they are located and primarily used by private resorts.
Always eager to get in to the water, my husband and I are consistently keen snorkelers, and upon this trip I even had a go at underwater photography, with some pretty poor results! (Therefore I will be using and accrediting other peoples pictures so I can still illustrate a few of the awesome fish we saw whilst snorkeling and scuba diving.)
The trip to Anse Chastanet was our first real chance to explore on our own. The road north of Soufrière splits at the Hummingbird Resort and leads straight to the Anse Chastanet Resort. The road is best traveled by 4x4 and is quite tight, so watch those corners and your speed! The best snorkel site is on the left / south side of the beach, as seen here:
Our bags were thrown in the sand and we ran in to the sea with our snorkels. Within a few strokes we were met with schools of Sergeant Majors fish. A little further out and towards the cliff face, fish of different shapes and sizes. Damselfish, Butterflyfish and Wrasse could be seen flitting between rocks and open water; the tiniest fish protecting territory chased off larger individuals; Barracudas partially hid away in the shadows.
Sergeant Major's (courtesy of museumsinthesea.com)
Damselfish (courtesy of subtropicalenvironments.homestead.com)
Great Barracuda (courtesy of e-themes.info)
We revisted this site on several occasions, each time I spent hours on my own, basking in the biodiversity, memorized by the peaceful yet pulsating environment.
On one occasion I rescued a girl who had become scared after feeling a current pulling her. I heard her screaming for help and immediately called to the life guard. I bombed over to her, desperately hoping it wasn't a shark attack (dramatic I know), and asked her nicely not to pull me under, before turning her on her back and softly talking to her while we swam towards shore.
The lifeguard took his time, and when he returned to his post once the girl had gone, he ignored me. No 'thank you', no 'well done' - nothing. I wish I'd written down his name so I could print it here. He works for the Anse Chastanet Resort and once word spread that I was a writer, he came to me with a dribbling apology.
We had wanted to scuba dive at Anse Chastenet, but were advised resort policy states that we must complete a shore dive first. We decided not to as we had already snorkelled the area several times, it seemed a bit over the top, but hey ho! Next stop, The Jalousie Plantation!
Within an hour of arriving at The Jalousie Plantation resort we had ditched our bags and were in the Caribbean Sea. The first area we entered was in the centre of the beach; not so good. We walked towards the sheer face of the Petit Piton and entered the water. Wow! The water was teaming with a diverse range of fish; an intoxicating array of colour, that was visible as soon as we were only a few metres offshore.
Male Parrotfish dazzled my senses every time I saw them; their colours are an exquisite mix of blue's, greens, yellows, oranges, purples and pinks. An important part of the marine ecosystem, their parrot-like beaks chomp on the seaweed that grows on corals, ensuring they do not become overgrown.
Male Parrotfish (courtesy of snorkelingonline.com)
Other common species included the Wrasse and Angelfish, both of which presented further colouful and shimmering delights underwater. They are easy to spot and enchanting to watch, as with many fish their colours deepen and lighten as the amount of light filtering through the depths changes.
Blueheaded Wrasse and Spotted Eel (courtesy of coreyfischer.com)
Queen Angelfish (courtesy of condocaribbean.com)
Spotted Trunkfish are funky looking creatures, I always (mentally) smiled when seeing them. Shy in nature and poor swimmers because of their portly shape, the toxic secretion they emit from their glands in defensive situations is potent enough to kill sharks!
Spotted Trunkfish (courtesy of miss-scuba.com)
Every underwater experience we had was captivating and enchanting; the sincere feelings stirred deep passions within me. There are several highlights which I will always draw fond memories from; my first encounter with a Green Turtle while on a drift dive along the Petit Piton, spotting the locally-rare Spotted Drum (at Anse de Piton) - on three separate occassions!...
Spotted Drum (courtesy of jimleffardphotographer.com)
Green Turtle (courtesy of biology-blog.com)
... The first immersion at Anse Chastanet beach, where a Triggerfish tried to nibble on my toes (painted a teal colour from my wedding a few days before), swimming through the engine room door on the underwater wreck, Lesleen M; and snorkeling along the Coral Gardens, beneath the mighty Gros Piton, while it rained heavily on my head, back and legs - four hours before we were due to fly home!
