Ever since architect Nick Troubetzkoy first purchased the first 14 hillside units, and throughout the expansion and renovation that followed, design in harmony with nature, complementing the island’s natural beauty, has remained his focal point. The 600-acre site is a lush garden of tropical foliage bordering one of the island’s best beaches, where soft silver sands dip into the clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean. A second beach, Anse Mamin, belonging to the estate is just around the corner and can be reached by the Resort’s water taxi. St Lucia’s trademark green peaks - the Gros and Petit Pitons - make for a dramatic backdrop. No two rooms at Anse Chastanet are exactly alike. Twelve beach level units are tucked away behind the coconut palms, just steps from the water’s edge and the resort’s renowned SSI Platinum Pro/PADI dive facility.

Perched on the hill are Anse Chastanet’s original rooms; cheery white-washed cottages with wrap-around wooden balconies. These octagonal-shaped “gazebos” offer splendid views of the Pitons and the sea, framed by an abundance of flourishing blossoms. Chairs and beds are covered in madras prints - a traditional island fabric of bright plaid woven with the same colours as the ginger lilies, anthuriums and bouganvillaea found in every room.

St. Lucia is the sort of island that travelers to the Caribbean dream about--a small, lush tropical gem that is still relatively unknown. One of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located midway down the Eastern Caribbean chain, between Martinique and St. Vincent, and north of Barbados. St. Lucia is only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, with a shape that is said to resemble either a mango or an avocado (depending on your taste). The Atlantic Ocean kisses its eastern shore, while the beaches of the west coast owe their beauty to the calm Caribbean Sea.

In natural beauty, St. Lucia seems like an island plucked from the South Pacific and set down in the Caribbean. Its dramatic twin coastal peaks, the Pitons, soar 2,000 feet up from the sea, sheltering magnificent rain forests where wild orchids, giant ferns, and birds of paradise flourish. Brilliantly-plumed tropical birds abound, including endangered species like the indigenous St. Lucia parrot. The rainforest is broken only by verdant fields and orchards of banana, coconut, mango, and papaya trees.

Ever thought of using a travel agent for dive travel planning? At Oceanblue we’re here to convince you it’s the best thing you can do for yourself, whether you’re planning your first dive trip, or you’re an old hand.

Here are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself when planning your dive trip:

• Where do you want to go?

• Why are you picking the destination?

• When is the best time to go?

• How are you going to get there?

• What’s the diving like and is it appropriate for my level of certification?

And that’s just the beginning!

Dive travel planning can turn into a complex web of interdependent details, any of which can derail a trip. At Oceanblue, because our mission is to be the best, we can help you cut to the chase and make every trip the trip of a lifetime.

Here are some of the reasons why you should use Oceanblue for all your dive travel planning needs:

• Service - Having an Oceanblue travel expert on your side will pay off in spades (or fins!) - in many different ways. Making complicated arrangements, finding the best resorts, knowing the operators, averting travel disasters when the going gets rough – all of this is part and parcel of what you get when you use Oceanblue Travel.

• Experience - Our dive travel experts have been booking dive travel for years. They recommend the best dive operators and resorts because they know from personal experience because they’ve been there.

• Knowledge - We know you love to dive, but unlike you, we plan dive travel for a living. Want to dive the Sea of Cortez and see hammerheads and whale sharks? Coral spawning in Bonaire? Puddle jumper or 747? How much luggage can you take without paying a fee? We have broad knowledge in dive travel, which means we know where to go, when to go, and how best to get there, so there are no surprises, aside from that close encounter with a Hawksbill.

• The power of volume - Sure, you can book yourself into that resort and use that same dive operator. Who do you think they’re going to be more eager to please, an individual who booked in, or one who was booked in by a travel company that brings a large volume of customers to their business? Let us use our influence to make sure you get treated like a VIP.

• Divers planning for divers - Yep, we’re divers too, so you can bet we have your best interest at heart, because we plan every trip like it was one we were planning for ourselves!

• Price - You get the same (or better) price from our travel experts than you do on your own. We might know about some deal that you don’t, which could save you big, but either way, the service comes with it at no cost to you.

• Time - Our knowledge and experience gives you big savings in the most precious commodity of all: time. We save you time so you can concentrate on what’s important, like that strobe you just got for your underwater camera, or how best to pack that new BCD you bought especially for this trip. Unload the task-loading, leave the travel planning to us.

Too good to be true? Give us a try and we’re sure you’ll agree, we run the best dive travel service in the business, bar none. That’s the Oceanblue Advantage.