Very decadent lunch This picture is a view from Dasheen, a restaurant literally perched on the side of a mountain, which looks out over the pitons in southern St. Lucia. All the rooms as well as the rooms in the adjacent hotel are enclosed on only three sides with the fourth side opening onto this incrediable view. There are more pictures in the gallery. I thought it was one of the most spectacular places I had ever been. And the food was also very good. Next trip I hope to spend a couple of days in the hotel. We came here via taxi and stopped at a wonderful studio on the way back to the boat.

The pitons are two very steep peaks rising about 3000 feet straight off the water in southern St. Lucia. The whole area is part of a large marine park and we stayed on one of the park's moorings. There is good shorkeling on the north shore of the bay, and the scenery from the mooring is really dramatic. St. Lucia is a volcanic island and the sand is dark because the rocks it was made from are dark. While the water is very clear, you can't see as well snorkeling as when the sand in light (as in the Bahamas) especially when it is cloudy. So I've had to get used to planning snorkeling when it is bright and sunny. And since rainy season seems to have started, there are more clouds. The result is that I try to get out snorkeling by late morning if the sun is out because clouds seem to build up more later in the day.