Diving and snorkelling in St Lucia: the Soufrière reefs, wrecks and walls

About Diving and snorkelling in St Lucia: the Soufrière reefs, wrecks and walls

By the ULTIMATE St Lucia Editorial Team

The tourism authority maps more than 22 dive sites, and many of the best lie in the marine reserve below the Pitons. Here is where to go, and who to go with.

The marine reserve

The coast around Soufrière is managed as a marine reserve within the Pitons Management Area, where UNESCO says reefs cover more than 60% of the sea area. Moorings, anchor zones and diving and snorkelling permits are handled by the Soufrière Marine Management Association, whose office is on the Soufrière waterfront. Dive with a licensed operator and follow its briefing: never touch coral or feed fish.

Around the Pitons

Anse Chastanet’s reef starts in about 5 m right in front of the resort and slopes to around 18 m, ideal for first dives and snorkelling, with large trumpetfish and turtles. Superman’s Flight, below Petit Piton, is a drift past corals and sponges on a sloping wall, gentle enough for all levels. The Coral Gardens, at the foot of Gros Piton, run from 5 m to 27 m, and the Piton Wall drops hundreds of feet into the blue, covered with sea whips, gorgonians and soft corals. Champagne Reef is famous for bubbles of warm water rising from volcanic vents in the sand.

The view above the water is just as impressive as the view below.

Anse Cochon and the wrecks

Anse Cochon, on the west coast near Ti Kaye, has reefs starting in as little as 1.5 m and excellent visibility. Offshore lie the Lesleen M, a 165 ft freighter sunk in 1986 at 12 to 18 m, open and accessible to all levels; the 200 ft Vicky B, sunk in 2018 in about 24 m; and the SK2, a sand barge sunk as an artificial reef in about 30 m. The Daini Koyomaru, a Japanese dredger sunk in 1996, lies in 33 m and is for advanced divers only.

The north

Off Pigeon Island the reef runs from about 5 m to 18 m, with eagle rays, moray eels, lobsters and great barracuda. Berger Rock, marked by a flashing navigation light, is easy to find for night dives, and La Roche, a small island about a quarter of a mile outside Rodney Bay Marina, has trenches and valleys to about 15 m. Smugglers Cove, at Cap Estate, makes an easy beginners’ dive.

Choosing a dive shop

The tourism authority lists the island’s dive shops: Scuba St. Lucia at Anse Chastanet; Action Adventure Divers on Hummingbird Beach in Soufrière; Island Divers at Ti Kaye; Dive Fair Helen; Eastern Caribbean Diving in Rodney Bay; Scuba Steve’s (Dive Saint Lucia); Sealife Paradise on Pigeon Island beach; and the resort dive centres at BodyHoliday, Sandals and Sugar Beach.

When to go

The tourism authority says the calmest seas and clearest water are usually from December to May. Dolphins and pilot whales are seen all year, and humpbacks pass between February and April.

Saving the reefs

The Saint Lucia Divers Association helped turn the SK2 into a reef and runs a coral nursery at Anse Jambette, one of the island’s coral-restoration projects. The island also holds an annual Dive Fest.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Diving and snorkelling in St Lucia: the Soufrière reefs, wrecks and walls before you go.