St. Lucia: Snorkeling in the Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site During Last Caribbean Stop

March 31, 2019

CASTRIES, St. Lucia – I’m on my way across the Atlantic Ocean for the next six days after the sixth and final Caribbean island port of call today on my 17-night cruise, where I snorkeled in St. Lucia’s Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site on an absolutely spectacular day.

Got up at 7:55 a.m. aboard Costa Pacifica. Walked to the theater to meet my shore excursion, “Snorkel Near the Pitons.” Boarded a catamaran for the trip southbound along St. Lucia’s west coast.

At 9:25 a.m., my tour was near the town of Soufriere, coming up the World Heritage Site. It includes the coastal twin peaks of Gros Piton (height 2,617 feet) and Petit Piton (2,438 feet), two giant volcanic plugs.

“The volcanic complex includes a geothermal field with sulphurous fumeroles and hot springs,” according to UNESCO. “Coral reefs cover almost 60% of the site’s marine area. … The dominant terrestrial vegetation is tropical moist forest grading to subtropical wet forest, with small areas of dry forest and wet elfin woodland on the summits. … The Gros Piton is home to some 27 bird species (five of them endemic), three indigenous rodents, one opossum, three bats, eight reptiles and three amphibians.”

Soufriere and the surrounding district have a population of 7,935. It was colonized by the French and served as the island’s original capital.

Catamaran Trip to Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site in St. Lucia

I had signed up to do a hike climbing one of the Pitons but returned to my cabin at 7 yesterday evening and found a letter from the excursions desk informing me my tour was canceled due to insufficient registrations. That was really disappointing. I was looking forward to getting some exercise doing the strenuous hike up the Piton. So instead I signed up for this alternate excursion to travel to the UNESCO World Heritage Site by boat and snorkel.

It’s a beautiful morning. This is, I believe, my third time here on St. Lucia, population 166,000. Came here once on a cruise maybe nine years ago. Two years ago I made an overnight stop here on my way back to the United States after visiting St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Grenada.

I jumped in the water at 9:44 in Pitons Bay. It couldn’t have been a nicer morning. There’s a tiny little marked snorkeling area but I swam a much greater area around Petit Piton.

Snorkeling in the Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site, St. Lucia

Enjoyed a 78-minute-long snorkel swim. Came out of the water onto beautiful Sugar Beach. It’s home to “Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort,” located between the two Pitons. Quite a nice beach.

I took a quick stroll around the beach. Can’t ask for a much better location than this. If I ever come to St. Lucia for a land vacation, this looks like the place to be. What a stunningly beautiful morning.

Taking a Look at Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort, Between the Pitons of St. Lucia

I reboarded the catamaran a bit before 11:30 to return to Castries. It was a nice two-hour visit to the Pitons.

We sailed past Petit Piton with Gros Piton behind us. I can’t complain too loudly, but these early-morning excursions do exhaust the hell out of me.

After leaving Pitons Bay, we had a lovely scenic cruise around beautiful Marigot Bay.

The narrow inlet is said to have once hidden the entire British fleet from French pursuers. Today it’s a popular spot for yachts to dock or drop anchor.

Close to 12:30 p.m., I was enjoying my fourth or fifth rum punch on the voyage back to the capital; I lost track. We made a right turn into Castries Harbor, passing Holland America Koningsdam and my ship, Costa Pacifica.

Sailing from Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site to Castries, Capital of St. Lucia

Reboarded Costa Pacifica and returned to my cabin at 12:47 p.m. Then ate lunch at the buffet. Next went up to Decks 12 & 13 at 2:12 to read, post today’s photos, check e-mail on my phone, etc. I also took a nap.

Six days of shore excursions in a row (four crazy early in the morning). Yawwnnnn…. I was beat!

Boy am I looking forward to six days at sea without any schedule! It’s gonna be wonderful to have six days of relaxing, reading, and blogging ahead after six days in a row of excursions on six Caribbean islands.

Costa Pacifica sailed away from Castries at 5:10 p.m., passing the short runway at George F.L. Charles Airport (SLU), also referred to as Vigie or Castries Airport, used only for small planes.

Costa Pacifica Departs Castries, Beginning 6-Day Atlantic Crossing to Canary Islands

Our six-day trans-Atlantic crossing is now underway. We visited six Caribbean islands after leaving La Romana, Dominican Republic.

As the sun set at 6:16 and St. Lucia faded out of view, that was our last sighting of land for the next week as we voyage more than 3,000 miles to Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, Spain. Our voyage will conclude with stops at Gibraltar and Barcelona.

Watched some TV, then dinner buffet at 7:43. I’m not impressed with the buffet at all. Seems to be the same old stuff night after night. Need some more variety.

Zonked from my super-early start today, I got ready for bed immediately after dinner. Read the cruise newsletter. We’ll have our first time change at 11 a.m. tomorrow. How stupid to have a time change late in the morning instead of in the middle of the night like most ships do it.

Copied photos to my laptop and watched TV until bed at 10:39 p.m.