Malgretoute
Dive site on Saint Lucia’s west coast. Here's what has been recorded at this site month by month, how the region’s reefs have weathered ocean heat, and how to prepare.
Malgretoute: dive site on Saint Lucia’s west coast.
Entry
Shore and boat entries vary by site. We list only rules we can cite from official sources; entry points, depths and currents will be added once we can verify them.
- Access to the SMMA marine reserves needs a permit, available through licensed local dive operators, authorized dive leaders or the SMMA office in Soufrière. SMMA · Zoning
- Anchoring is not allowed in the SMMA; yachts must use the moorings in the designated yacht mooring areas. SMMA · Zoning
Near this sitegeotagged about 3.2 km from the site coordinates Reef 247 · WRI Staff · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The surface noise falls away.
Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.
Then Malgretoute rises to meet you.
What lives here, by month
Pick a month. These are the species most often recorded within about a kilometre in that month, from open survey records.
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twinhorn Blenny | ||||||||||||
| Caribbean hermit crab | ||||||||||||
| Sally Lightfoot crab | ||||||||||||
| Green-base tegula | ||||||||||||
| Homalopoma linnei | ||||||||||||
| Parapenaeus americanus | ||||||||||||
| Crystal Miniature Cerith | ||||||||||||
| Nassarius scissuratus | ||||||||||||
| Lesser star-turris | ||||||||||||
| Glyphostoma gabbii | ||||||||||||
| Orbiculate Pleurodonte | ||||||||||||
| Secretary Blenny |
Most-recorded species, all months
- Twinhorn Blenny (4)
- Caribbean hermit crab (2)
- Homalopoma linnei (1)
- Parapenaeus americanus (1)
- Sally Lightfoot crab (1)
- Schizocyathus fissilis (1)
- Green-base tegula (1)
- Crystal Miniature Cerith (1)
- Nassarius scissuratus (1)
- Lesser star-turris (1)
- Secretary Blenny (1)
- Spinyhead blenny (1)
- Tessellated Blenny (1)
- Glyphostoma gabbii (1)
- Orbiculate Pleurodonte (1)
GBIF.org (2026-10-15), occurrence records within ~1 km, licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0 only. Birds and land animals are excluded. Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance. 884 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.
Forty-one summers of heat
Each stripe is one year since 1985, colored by its peak heat stress across NOAA's “Windward Caribbean Islands” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.
Heat stress, measured from orbit.
NOAA CRW virtual station “Windward Caribbean Islands”. NOAA's alert thresholds are 4 °C-weeks (Alert Level 1) and 8 °C-weeks (Alert Level 2). Station page · Method. Credit: NOAA Coral Reef Watch.
Conditions
Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.
Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Windward Caribbean Islands” station climatology (monthly means).
Buoy readings are measurements; forecasts are models. Use them for planning only, and assess conditions on site. Depth and visibility data aren't listed until we can cite a source.
Plan & prepare
- Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
- Check the cited local rules above and pay any park fee before you dive.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
- Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
- Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.
Photographs from Malgretoute
Openly licensed photos, each checked for location against its title, description, category or geotag. Labels show how close each one is to the site.
Credits
- Coordinates
- Wikidata Q125912569 (CC0) · position of Malgretoute Beach. Site names follow the Soufrière Marine Management Association dive-site list. Positions come from OpenStreetMap (ODbL) and Wikidata (CC0); several use the nearest named bay or headland, so treat them as approximate.
- Species records
- GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 866, CC0_1_0: 18
- Dataset
- EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (853 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (14 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- SIO Marine Vertebrate Collection · doi:10.15468/ad1ovc (7 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US) · doi:10.15468/hnhrg3 (5 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- CAS Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) · doi:10.15468/tiac99 (2 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- Invertebrate Zoology Division, Yale Peabody Museum · doi:10.15468/0lkr3w (2 records) · GBIF
- Dataset
- Hexacorallians of the world · doi:10.15468/90drpi (1 records) · GBIF
- Query
- https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=13.83158,13.85158&decimalLongitude=-61.07306,-61.05306&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&taxonKey=44&taxonKey=206&taxonKey=229&taxonKey=136&taxonKey=225&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&limit=0
- Heat stress & SST
- NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 5 km Regional Virtual Station “Windward Caribbean Islands”
- Hero photo
- At this sitegeotagged 238 m from the site coordinates Azure vase sponge (Callyspongia plicifera) · Cos · CC BY-SA 4.0 · iNaturalist
- Arrival photo
- Near this sitegeotagged about 3.2 km from the site coordinates Reef 247 · WRI Staff · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Gallery
- 7 photos, credited under each image
- Species photos
- Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources