Message: Hi, I am in the process of booking a vaca for St lucia have to do it by tomorrow.. I am a little hesitant due to the waters. When I go to an island I want that crystal blue water that is so blue clam and nice and SHALLOW. I have been getting feedback that St. Lucia does not offer this. Please someone tell me if it is worth it to go there and about the waters. the isalnd is very expensive so just want to make sure worth the $$$$. Thank you need to know by 3.21 PS I heard Mexico and Turks have the nicest waters..

the island is beautiful but if that type of water is very important to you, you WILL be disappointed.
st. john, usvi has that crystal blue water.
i haven't done mexico or turks yet but from what other fodorites say (and pix I've seen), yes the water there is more than nice.

Thanks but is the water nice at all???? So confusing. I want romantic and calm that was part of the reason for st lucia

well what i can tell you is DON'T do the hotel that we did. we stayed at the Wyndham Morgan Bay resort (i think it has new name now). the beach was small, the water was murky. from reading where other fodorites have stayed, seems like the best place with the best beach is by the Pitons, places like the jalousie hilton (which is on the other side of the island from where we've stayed). we did snorkel not far from there. the water is clear and definitely calm, you can see the bottom. the water there to me was more green than blue.
we loved the island but i think we just picked the wrong place to stay at. if you do a search on the board, i think there are a few good reports on the jalousie hilton and some other hotels in the Pitons area.
good luck.

thnaks for your input. I am actually staying at sandals Halycon .. figuring I can use all three resorts they have. Well hopefully it will be romantic. Maybe I will take a day trip to Martinique where I ams ure it is the real blue waters. Thank you so much

We visited St. Lucia while on a cruise. We took a tour of the island and then an excursion on a catamaran. We did some swimming near the Pitons off the catamaran and the water was VERY murky.

If you want clear water tryas well as the others mentioned)
1. Aruba as well as Curacao
2. Grand Cayman.
3. Mexican Carib. side

We spent two weeks on SL last year. One week in the south and one in the north. The water's fine, great visability, but if "crystal blue" is the must than SL probably isn't the place. I would estimate the visability was very clear for 30-50 feet, depending. At Anse Chastnet the reef is right off-shore. We'd snorkel and clearly see everything going on 20+ feet below. Up north there's no reef but the water's still clear, just less to see.

Don't know if it's too late for you or not, but here's my pitch anyway. I visited St. Lucia in July 2001 in the Pitons area. The water was beautiful and clear, but it appeared to be a very dark blue. It's a volcanic island, which means both that the sand will be darker than a coral-formed island, and that the water will have a steeper drop off. Twenty feet from the beach at Jalousie Hilton, the water was over 20 feet deep. We had great visibility for snorkeling, but overall the water had a beautful indigo look to it, not the turquoise that is associated with white sand bottoms and shallow water. I hope you enjoy your trip and are not disappointed. St. Lucia is lovely in and of itself.