Saint Lucia Sinks Its Heroes
Below Saint Lucia, an underwater sculpture park off Canaries, is due to open this winter. It gives advisors a cultural dive product beyond the Pitons.
Saint Lucia’s next attraction is underwater. Below Saint Lucia, a sculpture park at Anse La Verdure in Canaries on the island’s west coast, is due to open this winter, the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority announced on 8 October. It gives advisors a dive and snorkel product that sells the island’s history, not just its scenery, and a reason to stop in Canaries, a west-coast village most clients pass through on the coast road to Soufrière.
What’s going in
The release says the first phase centres on 31 sculptures honouring people who shaped the country. They include figures from the end of slavery, soldiers, entrepreneurs, cultural custodians and community leaders. One depicts Dame Pearlette Louisy, Saint Lucia’s longest-serving governor-general, the only living National Legend in the collection. The release credits development to DeepBlueSea.
Government notices tell a fuller story. In 2024, the Ministry of Tourism launched a national storyboard competition, drawing 31 entrants, to set the park’s themes of culture, heritage and history. The sculptures were shown publicly at the Odsan Warehouse on 29 and 30 August 2026, before being placed in the sea. The plan has three parts: a history-themed Dive Park and a Snorkel Park at Anse La Verdure, and a later Conservation Park at Anse Ferre in Ciceron. The Voice, a Saint Lucian newspaper, reported that the dive park is planned at about 200 sculptures across five galleries on a footprint of roughly 65 by 365 feet. It also said the Canaries/Anse La Raye Development Authority, with members from both communities, will oversee operations. Government notices spell the site “Anse La Verdue”.
The sculptures are designed as artificial reefs to support coral growth, the tourism authority says. “Community participation will be pivotal to the development and operation of the attraction,” said Ernest Hilaire, the tourism minister.
How it compares
The format has a track record in the region. Grenada’s Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park, created by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor and opened in 2006, is often described as the world’s first. It now holds more than 65 sculptures at depths of up to 12 metres. Mexico’s MUSA, the Cancún Underwater Museum, opened in 2010 with about 500 works in 3 to 6 metres of water. Its purpose is to draw snorkellers away from stressed natural reefs.
Saint Lucia’s difference is subject matter. Its sculptures are portraits of real people from the island’s history, chosen through a national process, rather than one artist’s vision. That makes it a cultural attraction as much as a dive site.
For advisors
- Who to pitch: certified divers and snorkelling families already booked into west-coast resorts; culture-led clients who would book a heritage walk on land.
- When: opening is billed for “this winter”, with no date or entry fees published. Don’t promise it for December or January departures until the tourism authority confirms.
- What to ask: depth, whether a guide is required, and which Soufrière and Marigot Bay dive operators will run trips to Canaries.
- What to watch: opening dates for the Snorkel and Conservation parks, which will widen the market beyond certified divers.
Sources
- Government of Saint Lucia, Ministry of Tourism, 21 Aug 2026
- The Voice, Saint Lucia, 2 Sep 2026: three-park plan, Dame Pearlette Louisy, management authority
- Caribbean Journal, 24 Aug 2026
- Government of Saint Lucia, storyboard competition, Oct 2024
- Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park, Grenada
- MUSA, Cancún Underwater Museum
