The southern profile in Anse Cochon bay, whose name translates as Bay of Pigs. Maximum depth is around 12 m, and the ground packs reef, boulders, walls and pinnacles into that shallow band, so the dive changes character several times without ever getting deep. It is a breeding ground, thick with juvenile fish.
Where it is and how deep
13.9273° N, 61.0590° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
With a maximum depth of 40 ft / 12 m and a usual profile of about an hour, this is a long dive rather than a deep one, and gas rather than no-decompression time is what brings it to an end. The southern half of the bay is varied ground: the topography takes in reef, boulders, walls and pinnacles, all on one dive, which is unusual to find inside such a narrow depth range.
That variety sets the shape of the dive. Rather than a single line along a slope, it is a route between features — around the pinnacles, along the short walls, over the boulder ground and back across the reef. The bay is a breeding ground, full of juvenile marine life and home to many flounder, so the shallow, well-lit ground rewards a slow pace, and the safety stop happens more or less where the dive has been all along.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime |
Season follows St. Lucia: December–April is the dry season with the calmest seas; September–October carry the highest hurricane risk.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Anse Cochon South?+
Maximum depth is around 40 ft / 12 m, which makes it one of the shallower dives on the west coast. The usual dive profile is about an hour.
What will you see at Anse Cochon South?+
The bay is a breeding ground, so it is full of juvenile marine life, and it is home to many flounder. The ground itself keeps changing: reef, boulders, small walls and pinnacles, all inside 12 m.
Sources
- Diving in Saint Lucia — Saint Lucia Tourism Authority
More dive sites in St. Lucia
Reef
A shallow terrace running out to a gorgonian wall lip
Reef
Crescent reef beside turtle grass, from 12 m down
Reef
Five-finger coral from 5 m down, under Gros Piton
From 1.5 m to 18 m over coral, boulders and sand
Wreck
A 1986 artificial-reef freighter lying in 20 m of bay
Finger coral with valleys, a tunnel and a chimney
Wreck
A salvaged sand barge sunk as a reef, 21 m to 30 m
A sloping wall dived between 18 m and 34 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Giant coral pinnacles cut with caves, tunnels and caverns
One big coral bommie ringed by schooling bar jacks
Rows of beachrock slabs in 6 m, argued over since 1968
An archway into a reef canyon that opens on an amphitheatre of pillar coral