St. Lucia · St. Lucia · Reef · Wall
Grand Caille
A shallow terrace running out to a gorgonian wall lip
Area photo: Martin Tuchscherer · CC BY-SA 3.0
An afternoon boat site near Anse Chastanet built on a terrace at about 12 m that runs out to a lip at roughly 15 m, where the slope steepens into a wall. Deep-water gorgonians and sea whips on that edge are what the resort operator singles it out for, and the terrace gives an easy, shallow start to the dive.
Where it is and how deep
13.8640° N, 61.0792° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive starts on a terrace at about 40 ft / 12 m, a broad, gently sloping shelf you cross before the ground does anything dramatic. Working outward, the terrace runs to the lip of a steep slope at roughly 50 ft / 15 m, where the profile changes character and the slope turns into a wall dropping away from the edge.
That lip is the part of the site the resort operator calls dramatic, with deep-water gorgonians and sea whips on the steep face and huge brain corals and barrel sponges nearby. From there the dive progresses along the wall and ends by returning up it, over the lip and into the shallows — the same water where the Fairyland dive often finishes. No depth is published for the wall below the lip, so the maximum is one you set rather than one the site gives you.
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 | Good | Prime |
Season follows St. Lucia: December–April is the dry season with the calmest seas; September–October carry the highest hurricane risk.
Know before you go
- Past the terrace lip at about 15 m the slope turns into a wall with no published depth below it. Set a maximum before you go over the edge and keep the deepest part of the dive first.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Grand Caille?+
The terrace starts at about 40 ft / 12 m and runs out to the lip of the wall at roughly 50 ft / 15 m. No published figure gives the depth of the wall below that lip.
Sources
- Diving with Scuba St Lucia — Scuba St Lucia (Anse Chastanet Resort)
- Diving in Saint Lucia — Saint Lucia Tourism Authority
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