From: price@helios.unl.edu (Chad  Price)
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
Subject: Re: Any one been to Club Med on Saint Lucia in the Caribbean?
Date: 16 Oct 1992 13:37:09 GMT
Organization: University of Nebraska--Lincoln	
Distribution: rec
NNTP-Posting-Host: helios.unl.edu

jackg@bears.ucsb.edu (Jack Greenbaum) writes:

>Subject says most of it. I've heard that it is much like Hawaii, with
>excellent wind and diving. Any first hand experience about the location
>and gear available would be great. Thanks!

My answer is: "sort of". My wife and I chartered out of Trade Winds Yachts at
Rodney Bay on St Lucia, and spent our second night anchored at the south end of
St Lucia by the Club Med dive boats. 

Windy is an understatement for that anchorage! It on the lee side of the island
at the very southern end. The wind seems to both come around the end and across
the island alternately. The night we were there, it had been VERY windy
everywhere, The 30' boat we anchored next to had been knocked down that day
(boom in the water, fortunately nothing else and no damage); we were at the
Pitons around noon and watched the wind rip the top layer of water off the
surface and turn it into spray in the gusts. Unfortunately, lulls were down to
nearly zero wind, so it was very gusty. 

Since the bay is on the lee side, there is flat water, and an offshore wind.
There is nothing downwind between St Lucia and Central America (200+ miles). We
didn't get a chance to windsurf there, as we were headed to St Vincent and the
Grenadines, but as long as there is a chase boat and someone else to watch if
there are equipment problems, the sailing should be excellent if there is wind.
The bay is quite broad and open. It is probably 2-3 miles across or so at the
widest point, and there is really no mouth, so you can continue off-short and
get into some swells if you want. The windward side of the island is only about
10-15 minutes away, and is a broad shallow coral filled bay with small breakers
on the beach. I don't know if you can get through the coral safely to sail
off-shore in the Atlantic waves there; but Cas-En-Bas is at the North end of St
Lucia on the windward side, and should offer some wave sailing as well as
rentals. That is at least 2 hours drive away (around 50 miles or so? I'm not
real clear on the on-shore distances.)

We checked out of customs there and so wound up visiting the airport via the
village. It appears to be a relatively well-off area (for there) because of the
near-by international airport; but that doesn't mean US-style well-off, it
means that a lot of people can afford shoes. The locals there seemed quite
friendly, in fact in general the St Lucia locals were friendly. Compared to the
BVI, food is both better, cheaper, and more "local" (as opposed to Americanized
for the tourists). The hot sauce it HOT! VinDeLoo curry is almost mild in
comparison (as are jalipenos).

Diving in the St Lucia-St Vincent-Grenada area should be better than the Virgin
Islands. We only snorkled. We were very impressed with the clarity of the water
and the diversity of marine life compared with the BVI and the US VI. I
recommend doing some boat sailing: the best sites are not necessarily readily
accessible from on-shore, and the scenery from off-shore is superb. The St
Lucia area has quite a few different reef type: barrier, fringe, etc. Even the
diving/snorkling immediately along the coast where the water gets very deep
very rapidly is interesting. In places along the coast, 100 yeards offshore is
in 600 feet of water! 

if you want mroe specific info, email me.

--
chad
price@helios.unl.edu
cprice@molecular.unmc.edu