One Word Summary - Splendid

The Resort

I had been a bit concerned because of the British heritage of this island, so I had contacted the resort in advance to ensure that the dress regulations were up to my standards.  Once they replied that shorts & tee-shirts were acceptable at dinner, I decided that the resort was ok.

We had a hillside unit and were thus subjected to a bit of climbing.  The room itself was spacious, comfy, and had functional electricity & plumbing. Fridge in the room was a nice to have feature.  Food was good.  Both North American & Caribbean style dishes were offered.  Water pistols were available at breakfast.

The Dive Shop

I was impressed.  The boats were spacious and there were plenty of showers & rinse tanks on shore.  The staff was friendly & professional.  The gear locker room was well organized and there were ample lockers.

The routine was relaxing.  Except for the trip to the Lesleen M, all the dive sites were so close that we did one tank trips, and had lunch at the resort.  Given that I was on an all inclusive package, this was my type of routine.

One incident took place where the dive shop staff impressed me.  Just as I was getting ready to jump off the boat for the morning dive, my first stage went boom and I was free-flowing at a great rate.  Fortunately the crew had a spare regulator on board so I was able to make the dive.  This reg became a free loaner while their technician replaced the HP seat in my first stage. The fee for this maintenance was reasonable.

The only thing not mentioned on their web site is that there is a Marine Park fee.  However, it was on my travel documents somewhere so I knew in advance that there was one.  It is U$12 for a year and I was able to charge this to my room.

The Dive Area

Except for one day, all the diving was in the Soufriere Marine Management Area (SMMA).  The northernmost edge is at Anse Chastanet and it extends about 3 or 4 miles south.  There are two major coves in this area, the one for the town of Soufriere, and the one between Gros & Petit Piton, where the Hilton is.  The longest boat ride was 10 minutes.  Boats from Sandals, Club Med, and some private dive operators were regular visitors to the SMMA, and they had much longer boat rides - especially Club Med - they are on the Atlantic side of the island.

The Diving

Much to my delight, it was typical Caribbean diving.  The water temp was in the low 80s as was the vis.  There were a few spots where both would drop, probably due to fresh water run-off.  Most dive sites had a bit of current, but all reef dives were drift dives so that did not matter too much.

The coral, sponges, and gorgonians were in good shape.  Lot's of little fishies, but not many big ones.  Seemed to be more snake eels than other places.  Were also quite a few sea pearls (look like green grapes) and what the divemasters called spaghetti worms.  These were kind of neat, and I don't recall seeing them anywhere else.

And Finally

Two brands of beer were available - Heineken & Piton, which is the local brew.  Piton is better.