La Roche (Barrel of Beef) - Rodney Bay & Pigeon Island - Northern Coast, Saint Lucia

15m Max

15-25m Vis

boat

Site Overview

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 through by a network of underwater trenches and valleys that a diver threads and pokes along at no more than 15 metres, torch in hand, turning over one of the island's most reliable concentrations of small and medium reef life. The trench system is the whole appeal: instead of an open slope or a wall, you fin down low, sand-floored channels with rocky walls furred in coral and sponge, every chimney and crevice holding a spiny lobster, a grouper, a moray or a curious pair of triggerfish, and the bigger residents - great barracuda and the occasional passing turtle - cruising the channels from one shadowed hole to the next. Because the islet shelters the reef and the trenches stay shallow, the water is usually calm, warm and clear, which makes La Roche a comfortable, easy dive that nonetheless feels like an adventure; the labyrinth topography keeps a diver curious and turning corners in a way that a plain reef flat does not. It is a fun, sociable, critter-rich ground and a superb pairing with the historic Pigeon Island next door - a shallow, exploratory dive that lets a whole group, whatever their level, go poking about the rock's underwater back streets together.

Dive Briefing

“Enter beside the islet and drop into the shallow trench system at 8 to 15 metres, then explore the channels one at a time rather than racing across the reef - the point is to read the trench walls and light the holes. Keep your buoyancy tight and your hands to yourself; the walls are hard, encrusted rock and the crevices are occupied by lobsters and fish that resent a hand. Thread the valleys slowly, torch each chimney for groupers, morays and triggerfish, and watch the open channel for cruising barracuda and the occasional turtle. The maze can absorb a wandering diver, so keep your group and the surface in mind and don't push on past your air. Surface on your marker clear of the moorings, and take a look up at the rock itself as you wait for the boat. If the group is mixed, send the weaker divers into the widest, shallowest channel first and keep the tight, deep squeezes for the confident - the maze offers both, and nobody needs to be pushed.”

Location

La Roche (Barrel of Beef) and 4 nearby dive sites in Saint Lucia.