St. Lucia Vs. Barbados

[xrayspecs]

Hi All,

After going through ScubaBoard all these years to get the best knowledge on upcoming trips I've finally reached a roadblock and would like to request your direct opinions. Thanks in advance!

We are celebrating our 10th anniversary (yay!) and are hoping to fit a bit in... Our primary destination is Trinidad and maybe Tobago so we can check out the culture & history. We're not planning on any good diving on either island. We have around two weeks with the majority reserved for (hopefully) sailing, diving, with about 3 days/nights saved for Trinidad/Tobago.

This being said, we're looking for a beautiful and easy dive location either on St Lucia or Barbados but can't decide between the two. What we're hoping for from one of these islands is, in this order, these activities:
~Snorkeling from the beach (what we do more than anything oddly),
~Diving (hopefully to see some turtles -which both islands offer),
~Sailing (our goal is to rent a bareboat for 5 days/nights and island hop), and finally,
~Sightseeing on land via hiking, driving or scootering (any form of transportation is fine).

Any suggestions would be so extremely helpful! If there is somewhere close to Trinidad, we're happy to hear about it too, but it seems like Barbados and St. Lucia are the prettier of the islands with proximity to Trinidad... We're fans of "less touristy or less resort-y" if that helps. Hopefully some of you have good opinions to offer! Thanks a million!

 

[Jeeptrick]

Have you looked at Granada? Best hiking, great diving Grenadines for island hopping, good diving shoot an email to : Eco Dive Grenada.

 

[cb5150]

I prefer St. Lucia for the sheer beauty of the island, friendliness of the people and availability of activities. I've spent time in Barbados also and absolutely loved it...but it seems a bit less romantic to me and you did say you're celebrating an anniversary.

 

[Gurth]

We were in St. Lucia for a week in April and loved it.

Will you be staying on your boat or will you need accommodations?


If you're looking for a resort, we stayed at Anse Chastenet and it was amazing and has many of the things you're looking for.

There is a dive operation onsite and while not all touchy-feely, they were good for us and we enjoyed our diving there very much. Didn't see any turtles though that I remember.

I don't believe that St. Lucia is known for snorkeling, but Anse Chastenet has a reef right off it's beach that was good if not spectacular. There were other rocky areas along their shoreline that yielded cool marine life too.

Hiking opportunities are abundant on St. Lucia if that's something you want as the Pitons are there. We didn't hike them, but our daily view of them was spectacular.


If you get serious about St. Lucia, I'll try and remember more suggestions.

 

[editmojo]

Stayed on St Lucia and Grenada, Not Barbados.

Grenada had better diving but I don't think you'll find much snorkeling from shore. You can get a sailboat from several places and head up to the Grenadines which I understand are lovely with even better diving. Not sure if 5 days is enough time to do that though.

Dove of Anse Chastanets beach and that resort looks incredable and expensive. Those were some of the better dives I remember from St Lucia. There was a pretty shallow reef right by there so probably snorkel opportunities.

 

[Jeeptrick]

Have a look, you will want to go there or you will think you saw everything.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeeptr...7616955095333/

 

[jonhall]

We're not planning on any good diving on either island.

Just curious what type of diving you were planning? Haven't been to either of these islands yet but have them on my list. My vacations are generally to places were I can enjoy the Caribbean island atmosphere as well as get a lot of diving in. Please post here after your trip about your experience as well as the diving experience.

Have a great trip!

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

If I were doing an anniversary and dive trip, Anse Chastanet on St Lucia would be my first choice. The Anse Chastanet resort and spa....ahhh, to die for. On occasion there are some quiet summer deals that pop up there too (buy one, get one).

 

[xrayspecs]

Hi Everyone, Thanks tons for the great thoughts and suggestions! From this, I think we've decided to skip the sailing and just island explore, dive, and snorkel. We also have decided to likely keep it to Trinidad and Tobago. Most of the time, esp. for the water sports, we'll be in Tobago. We're deciding if we're going to try to make it to St. Lucia or not (looks more interesting to us than Grenada so far), but it's not looking as important based on what where finding in Tobago so far as we can tell. Tobago looks a bit more strait forward and it meets our criteria:

~Snorkeling from the beach (what we do more than anything oddly),
~Diving (hopefully to see some turtles),
~Sailing (no longer a goal we're going to make a specific trip around this one day soon)
~Sightseeing on land via hiking, driving, or scootering (any form of transportation is fine).

If we do end up going to St. Lucia, it seems like Anse Chastanet seems to have the best offerings, thanks everyone who suggested this place!

We ended up finding a fantastic looking (and great reviewed) place on Tobago. Great hidden bay near a working fishing community, with reefs, diving close by, leatherback turtles :turtle: and great nature activities. We'll post a solid report after we've gone. Assuming the diving is at least medium quality, we'll be quite happy I think. We're very excited about the T&T culture ...and food!

Thanks again everyone! You're awesome!

 

[hilljo88]

I've been to Anse Chastenet. Great resort. Also loved Ti Kaye resort. Lower key, smaller, less expensive than A.C. Both offer similar diving experience: short boat ride, personable dive masters, 30-60 foot depth healthy reefs. Some (gentle) drift diving. Its unusual to see large pelagics, but we have seen sea horses and frog fish! One wreck fairly shallow, a lot of life on it but otherwise not a really interesting wreck. Both resorts have a very friendly atmosphere, good food. the guest rooms and dining room are roughly 110-130 steps above the beach. The rooms typically have one side open to the air and view. Ti Kaye allows you to close this off and run the air conditioning, as well as have wifi in the rooms. Most rooms at A.C. do not have air conditioning or wifi (only in the lobby). Its not too easy to get off property at either location. Both have some beach activities. Good snorkeling along the northern edge of the Ti Kaye beach. You will have a great time at either resort.