Arriving in St Lucia in 80C heat, any thoughts of the cold English winter that I had left behind soon became a distant memory.
Within 10mins of leaving Hewanorra Airport, on the south of the island, I had arrived at my destination, Club Med St Lucia. A quick look round the resort, at the clear blue pool, the surrounding palm trees and the numerous sports facilities told me that I would inevitably enjoy my week here.
Yet my mission at Club Med was not one of pure relaxation. I was here to learn to scuba dive and take full advantage of all the sports facilities. It was going to be a very hectic week – I had never dived before and I was more than a little apprehensive.
Club Med offers a range of diving options to suit all abilities. Visitors can either opt to take the Club Med resort course or they can study for their official Professional Association of Diving Instructors qualification. Being a novice, I opted for the easier Club Med course.
My first two days were spent in the resort’s pool, getting to know the equipment and familiarising myself with my underwater surroundings. As this preliminary training only took 2hrs each day, I was left with ample time to sunbathe and acclimatise to the heat.
However, the third day was a different story as our instructor decided to let us loose in the Caribbean Sea.
At 8am, I found myself on the Club Med dive boat, calming my nerves to the sounds of Bob Marley.
After the early morning start, being out on the dive boat gave me the perfect chance to see a fair amount of the island. For the next hour, we gently cruised around the coastline, past the famous St Lucia pitons, two dormant volcanoes, to our first dive site.
Once I was 30ft underwater, I realised I needn’t have been so worried. The whole experience of bobbing along with the current is actually very relaxing, as long as you remember to breathe, and our instructor never let us out of her sight.
We spent the next 40mins watching the fish and the sealife going about their daily business.
By the third day, I was feeling more adventurous and plucked up the courage to join the group diving on a shipwreck. The scene that greeted us at the bottom of the sea reminded me of the Titanic, obviously on a much smaller scale.
I found it to be a bizarre experience swimming along a ship’s galley that once used to be walkways for its passengers.
One advantage of the early-morning starts is that the dives are over by 1pm. This left me with plenty of time to try out some of the other Club Med facilities.
Whatever sport you’re into, the resort can cater for it. I tried my hand at tennis, attempted to rollerblade and even embarrassed myself trying to play golf with my companions. However I did opt to spectate when it came to participating in the ‘World Cup’ football challenge. In such heat that looked too much like hard work.
Thankfully in the evenings, the temperature cools and Club Med offers a full range of evening entertainment, from cabaret to Karaoke, and we found ourselves encouraged to take part at every opportunity.
Dinner takes place buffet style in a large dining room. All tastes are catered for with a selection of traditional Caribbean food, Italian, Chinese and plenty of salad and fruit. Being an all-inclusive, we were also free to help ourselves to the unlimited chilled wine and draught beer.
All too soon, my mission at the resort was completed. I had learned to scuba dive and exhausted myself sampling all the facilities on offer.
Whatever your choice of holiday, whether it be sporty and active or lazy and relaxing, then Club Med St Lucia is worth a visit.
Club Med St Lucia
Club Med prices: from £599 (adult) and £450 (child) for seven nights in December up to £799 (adult) and £620 (child) for seven nights in July and August. Both prices are inclusive of flights and transfers.
Flights: from Gatwick to Hewanorra in St Lucia. Flying time 9hrs. Transfer time 10mins. Manchester connections available via Gatwick.
Time: GMT -5hrs.
Currency: East Caribbean dollar -ÊEC$4.2 to the pound.
Scuba packages: visitors can either do the Club Med package or the PADI course.
Mini club/kids’ club: a separate club is available for children to enable parents to be free to enjoy the daytime facilities.
Other sports facilities: windsurfing (free shuttle to windsurfing beach), sailing, golf, karting, football, volleyball, tennis, rollerblading, aqua-aerobics, water polo, archery, snorkelling.