Berger Rock

Berger Rock is the north coast's little fish-lodging pinnacle - a small, compact rock marked by a flashing buoy off Rodney Bay, ringed at 8 to 14 metres by a re...

Bird's Rock

Bird's Rock is the north coast's little pelagic magnet - a low, seabird-crowned rock pinnacle a short way off Pigeon Island whose encrusted flanks rise from a s...

Daini Koyomaru

The Daini Koyomaru is the north coast's big one - a 75-metre Japanese dredger deliberately sunk in 1996 and now lying upside down on the seabed off Rodney Bay,...

La Roche (Barrel of Beef)

La Roche - the rock the sailors called Barrel of Beef, a small islet a quarter-mile off Pigeon Island - is the north coast's playful shallow maze, a reef cut th...

Le Sport

Le Sport is the island's seahorse address - a coral reef system draped in soft coral and towering gorgonian sea fans off the northern coast, and the single most...

Pigeon Island

Pigeon Island is where Saint Lucia's diving and its history share an address - a low, coral-ringed islet joined to the mainland by a causeway off Rodney Bay, be...

Saline Point

Saline Point is the northern coast's gentle classroom - the island's most northerly dive site, a shallow, sheltered reef off the big northwest resorts that runs...

Smuggler's Cove

Smuggler's Cove earns its name from the sheltered, easy-to-hide-in character of its bay - a well-protected, extremely shallow reef bowl on the north coast whose...

The north is the island's eating capital - Rodney Bay's waterfront runs everything from wood-fired pizza to proper creole, the Gros Islet fish fry on Fridays turns the whole town into a street kitchen of grilled snapper, lobster and ribs, and Castries' Central Market serves the island's best callaloo and road food. Between the two, the marinas' yacht chefs keep the north well provisioned for divers who like a good dinner after a long day of boats.

Coconut Partners Resort

Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa & Beach Resort

Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa

The BodyHoliday

La Selva Beach Resort & Spa

Jenni Bay Inn

The northern coast around Rodney Bay and the Pigeon Island causeway is Saint Lucia's most convenient diving and quietly its best for small stuff: eight sites within ten minutes of the marinas, ranging from the inverted 75-metre dredger Daini Koyomaru - the island's deepest, most advanced wreck - to sheltered reef nursery grounds where the Caribbean's rarest macro encounters are almost routine. Le Sport is the seahorse address, dwarf seahorses drifting in soft-coral gardens; La Roche's trenches hide lobsters the size of house cats; Bird's Rock and Berger Rock stack big schools, barracuda and passing eagle rays against volcanic outcrops; and the historic Pigeon Island itself wears a coral belt between its mooring buoys. British warships once sheltered in this landlocked bay, and the national landmark on the causeway still reads like an open-air museum - which makes the north the island's best region for divers whose partners would rather explore a fort than a beach bar. With the main dive shops, both airports' easiest access and the island's nightlife all on the doorstep, the north makes the perfect base for a first taste of Saint Lucia.

Rodney Bay & Pigeon Island - Northern Coast

The north is the easy arrival: George F.L. Charles (SLU) airport sits 10 minutes from Rodney Bay, and Hewanorra (UVF) in the south is about two hours up the west coast. Dive boats launch from the Rodney Bay and Gros Islet marina fronts and from the Pigeon Island side of the causeway, reaching every site in five to ten minutes; shore entries serve Smuggler's Cove and the Saline Point reef. Most centres run free hotel pickup across the Gros Islet, Rodney Bay, Castries and Marigot corridors, so divers rarely touch transport at all.

Dive Sites in Rodney Bay & Pigeon Island - Northern Coast