Can You Recommend St. Lucia Dive Operators?

[gvre]

We will be in St. Lucia 4/13/05 and we want to book a dive off ship.

 

Last year we dove with Frogs in St. Lucia and it was o.k. but we are interested to hear if anyone can recommend any other operators?

 

We especially want a small dive group (2 - 6 persons) and we like good equiptment and a boat with a cover if possible.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice that you can provide!

 

Debbie

[scuba dad]

We just got back from St. Lucia and dove with Dive Fair Helen. They were great. They picked us up at the pier with their boat and than went back to their shop for supplies.

 

They had a full boat, probably 20+ people including some snorklers, but that did not affect the trip. They had 6 DM and broke the group into small groups based on experience. There was no bottom time limit.

 

They also had the best boat lunch I have ever seen. One of the crew's wifes made it. Two types of chicken, potato salad, mac and cheese.... My son is 14 and he ate until he was full.

 

Highly recommended!!

[gvre]

Thanks scuba dad!

Debbie

[WISara]

we went with Dive Fair Helen too --

 

they were great - Grael (sp?) was our divemaster and he was waiting for us right on the dock when we got off the boat. We only had 12-15 people with us -- and about half of that was the discover scuba people that all had their own dive masters. The rest of us were broken up into 2 groups with a divemaster or 2.

 

Food was great -- crew was AWESOME - Loved it - will definitely book with them again if we are in the area. This was my favorite spot on the whole cruise!! Just beautiful.

 

Have a great time!!

[gvre]

Thanks Sara,

 

You guys are the greatest and your tips really help!

 

Debbie

[karen2cruz]

We didn't go with Dive Fair Helen, big mistake, and next time we will. They are the best on the island. They have a good boat and were on time. Some fellow cruisers on our cruise used them - we were jealous comparing our experiences.

[gvre]

Hi Karen,

Who did you dive with? We dove with Frogs last year and it was good. We only had 5 people but the boat had no cover. We are planning to dive with them again this year. My husband dosen't want to use Dive Fair Haven because he is afraid that the boat will be crowded and full of inexperienced divers.

Debbie

[karen2cruz]

We dove with Frog's. Their boat was down. Had been out of commission for 3-4 weeks. They were nice though. the Dive Fair Helen boat was not overcrowded. They had 12 people and 2 divemasters and a large boat. Just make sure if you use Frog's that their boat is up and running. They are very good at answering their emails.

[Tracy1]

We used the ship excurision while on Adventure of the Seas Aug. 2004. They used http://www.scubastlucia.com It was great diving right by the Pitons. Because they're based at Anse Chastnet, it's about a 45 min. boat ride from the pier. It's beautiful scenery on the boat ride and the dive shop location and dive sites are absolutely gorgeous. I was kicking myself for not bring my good camera. When we arrived at the dive shop, they had our tanks/reg/bcs all read to go set out on the sidewalk with our name written in chalk in front of them. We were divided into 2 groups; 8 people with one DM and 7 withe the other DM. They checked us on 2 skills (Buoyancy check & mask clearing) before they would take us on the first dive right there from the beach. Then we went on a boat dive. After this dive they took us to the beach where they had dropped off the snorkelers earlier. There we walked a little ways through the jungle to a pavilion for the buffet lunch. The food was ok (grilled chicken and fish, pasta, salad, bland rice, bland canned beans) except for the awesome carrot cake but the setting made up for it. We then had 45 min. to lounge around or snorkel before heading back.

[gvre]

Thanks for your imput Tracy1...it sounds like you had a great dive operator. Does anyone know which operator Princess uses in St. Lucia?

Thanks,

Debbie

[karen2cruz]

They use Scuba St Lucia.

[gvre]

Thanks Karen2cruz:)