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Dive Review of Dive Fair Helen/Ti Kaye in
St. Lucia

Dive Fair Helen/Ti Kaye, Jan, 2004,

by William Parks, MO, United States . Report 1116.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Ti Kaye Resort was a stellar part of a wonderful vacation on a beautiful island. Located several miles off the main West Coast Highway on an isolated bay, Anse Conchon, where the protected reef begins and runs down to the Southern tip of island. There are 33 cottages, 19 of which are separate, like the one in which we stayed, and the others are duplexes. Each cottage is nestled into the hillside overlooking a view of the Caribbean Sea. Simple luxury is the theme as the cottages feature wide slatted Venetian blinds, an open air garden shower, a romantic four poster bed draped with billowing white curtains and air conditioning, which we didn't need. The front porch had a table, rocking chairs and hammock, completely private from any other cottage. (our cottage was named Hadi.)

The restaurant and bar at the open pavilion was not disappointing. The staff was attentive and very friendly. The owners made themselves available, especially Jeannie who was particularly friendly and helpful.

We dove with Dive Fair Helen which had a branch at Ti Kaye until the dock was destroyed in a storm in 2003. We were reasonably satisfied with their operation except for one dive master who was so fixed on getting an octopus to show us from under a rock, as we all hovered around him not really understanding what he was doing. He struggled for at least ten minutes not paying attention to any of us divers. The creature was dead when we finally pulled it out. We had to board the boat by swimming out from the beach. However, we rented a car for part of the trip and drove 15 minutes to Marigot Bay where we strolled onto the boat as it picked up divers who were staying at various resorts at that beautiful bay.

On Ti Kaye’s website, it appears that they again have a dive operation working out of their resort run by the owners of the resort. This would be an improvement over the minor inconvenience we had getting to the Dive Fair Helen’s dive boat.

On either side of the beach there is very nice snorkeling, as well as at least 5 dive sites a minute or two from Ti Kaye.

The diving itself was very good, though not as good as our previous experiences in Cozumel, Bonaire, and Tortola. However, the island itself is spectacular. Our land experiences were more enjoyable that even those we’ve had on Tortola. We were very happy not staying at the more expensive Anse Chastanet, where most divers seem to go. It is located near the Southern end of the island. We were even happier that we didn’t stay at one of the resorts in the more crowded, touristy Castries and Rodney Bay areas, although both areas were worth visiting. Ti Kaye Resort is located about half way between the main city towards the north, Castries, and the spectacular Soufriere area with the awesome Pitons. From our location we had pleasant, beautiful drives along the coastal highway, after a morning of diving, to either destination for very interesting site-seeing and some wonderful dining.

Although you have to climb 166 steps down (and later, up) to the beach, it is a very nice beach early in the morning and later in the afternoon. Again, with no other development there. However, we were disturbed by the fact that nearly every day, one or two party boats carrying scores of snorkeling, swimming tourists from Castries docked at Anse Conchon for several hours. There is plenty of room, as the bay is large enough, but most annoying were the handful of locals on sea kayaks trying to sell those tourists beads and conch shells constantly blowing their conches to get people’s attention. It turned out, however, that we were going either diving or site seeing ourselves most days during the time those boats invading the quiet of our isolated resort and “private” bay.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Bonaire, Cozumel, B.V.I., Cayman, Cayman Brac, Bahamas
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm
Water Temp 0-0°F / -18--18°C Wetsuit Thickness 0
Water Visibility 0-0 Ft/ 0-0 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Surface at 500 lbs.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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