Turtle Reef - Soufrière & the Pitons - Southwest Coast, Saint Lucia

Site Overview

Turtle Reef is the site Saint Lucia's divers learn to expect a turtle at - a great crescent of coral north of Anse Chastanet that arcs around a sandy bowl, shelves at a comfortable 12 metres, then tips over an outer wall into deep blue that drops past 45 metres. The turtles are the residents and the reason for the name: green and hawksbill both work the cleaning stations along the plateau edge, parking obediently on the coral while angelfish and grunt pick them over, and a diver who drifts the crescent quietly rarely goes a dive without one, often two or three, gliding overhead or nosing along the reef. Between the turtle traffic and the topography the site has real range - easy coral-garden cruising over the bowl for Open Water divers, and a sponge-ledged wall for the advanced to descend along, with barrel sponges, sea whips and a hanging possibility of eagle ray or a cruising barracuda on the deep side. It is exposed enough that the seaward wall can carry current and swell, giving the dive a wilder, open-ocean feel than the sheltered bays south, and the blue backdrop off the drop is a photographer's gift. Named plainly and earning it completely, Turtle Reef is the most reliable wildlife date on the southwest coast.