September 12th, 2006
“This tour used to be offered by a major dive co. in St. Lucia (Dive St. Lucia? I THINK that was the name of it. They had a booth right at the resort.) At any rate, I recall that we couldn't book it on our own because RCCL had a lock on this tour. Anyway, we did go by boat to Anse Chastenet (lovely, even though it was a semi-overcast day and very near the pitons). I had tried in vain ahead of time to find out if we could just walk onto that property, but learned the drive is LONG and would have cost a fortune. We were on the full day tour and had a buffet lunch at the resort, which was o.k. but nothing spectacular. My husband did 2 dives that day and I just snorkeled. Snorkeling was supposed to be the best on the island at that location, but compared to other places I've snorkeled, it was just o.k. Still, we enjoyed the day and would do it again. However, the next time we went to St. Lucia (March of '05) no tour went to Anse Chastenet. Some went to a more "natural" beach just beyond it, w/no real facilities or anything. We did do a large catamaran tour offered through our ship and did a stop at a small beach well known as a stop on the way from the piton sail (can't think of the name of it but it had lots of vendors both in and out of the water harrassing us, which I can accept as it's their way of life, but I can't say it was enjoyable). We're going to St. Lucia again next year and if Jungle Reef Adventures is the Anse Chastenet stop tour, I'd recommend it.”
March 18th, 2007
“We did this tour last week with Crown Princess. I couldn't find much on this excursion on the boards prior to going, so thought I would post on return as I saw other people looking for info as well.
It is private old plantation estate, located just before you get to the Pitons which they drove by on the return trip to the ship. It is what seemed like a lengthy boat ride from where the ship docks on a volcanic sand beach. We were loaded on to the boat with divers and had to transfer on to another boat out a ways from shore where the divers continued on. While ashore, you could snorkel and/or spend time on the beach. Chairs included and shade from the huge palm trees. You could buy soft drinks and beer there as well. When the divers returned, lunch (which was very good and included one soft drink was served in the remains of what looked like one of the old plantation buildings. After lunch you had the choice to go on a guided tour of the remains old plantation or beach/snorkel again - the guide was very informative and we learned a lot about the history of this particular plantation, what was grown there, types of vegetation, and what life was like for the slaves when it was in operation. After the tour, we were loaded on to the smaller boat and had to transfer to the bigger boat out from shore again. Boat ride getting there and back was less than comfortable and having to transfer out from shore was also just that - no narration along the way - didn't even tell us that we were viewing the Pitons when we got there. This is jmho on the excursion but I thought I would post our experience as prior to going I didn't really see anything on it.”
May 5th, 2007
“We took the Jungle Reef Estate tour last week. This was an old plantation now belonging to a hotel which the hotel gets some of its supplies from and is working to revive as a working plantation. Approx 40 minute boat ride each way to Jungle Reef on the south side of the island. This is an all day tour and did not allow much time for shopping when we got back. Snorkeling at the reef to the left side of the beach was pretty good, snorkel equipment provided if you do not have your own, plenty of shade and lounge chairs on the beach, bar w/ drinks and candy bars for purchase, the included bbq lunch had a nice variety with 2 main dishes, hiking and biking trails with bike rental available, and the "jungle" tour with a guide. The guide showed us the many varieties of fruits growing on the plantation - we walked by pineapples on the trail going to the bbq and didn't even notice them. Several people tried the inside of a fresh cocoa pod.
On the day of our tour the only tours were our snorkel tour and a scuba tour (approx 40 - 50 people total). We were the only ones on the beach and the scuba tour joined us for lunch at the estate. Bring water shoes since there were rocks before you reached the sand.
The boat captain sailed by the Pitons on the way back to the cruise dock. Some great photo opportunities. I was originally nervous since I didn't see much regarding this Princess tour, however, we really enjoyed it.”
January 11th, 2008
“The beach is a rocky black sand - not the smooth sugar sand some beaches have. You should bring shoes for the beach and wearing in the water. Better to have them and not use them then to have a problem with the rocky sand. We had a fairly good time there in 2004, but have looked for other things to do on recent trips to St. Lucia. The mountain biking, diving, snorkeling and beach groups took the same transportation and had lunch at a common facility. Boat ride was close to an hour on a large motor boat.”
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A Day At Jungle Reef Beach With Lunch -- St.Lucia
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A Day At Jungle Reef Beach With Lunch -- St.Lucia
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