Diamond Falls & Mineral Baths

The mineral baths are supposed to take off 10 years. Hasn't worked for me.

Diamond Falls and Mineral Baths
Also St. Lucia Botanical Gardens

Diamond Falls and Mineral Baths (also called Louis XVI baths) are just a short distance from Soufriere town. Take the road on the right side of Soufriere's Catholic church Follow the signs.

The Mineral Baths were built by Louis XVI in 1784 so his soldiers could take advantage of the strong mineral content of these curative waters. The king's generosity was inspired after St. Lucia's governor (Baron de Micoud) sent samples of the hot spring water to France for analysis by the "Medecine du Roi."

The Doctors of the Court in France determined the mineral waters in St. Lucia contained the same healing powers as the hot springs Aix les Bains in France and Aix la Chapelle (or Aachen) in Germany. Somewhere along the way, the tale grew up that bathing in St. Lucia's mineral springs would take 10 years off a person's life. (That reminds me, time to visit again.)

Twelve concrete baths were built and fed by a catchment that continues to function today. The Mineral Baths shut down after the bath house was destroyed during St. Lucia's Brigand Revolt during the French Revolution.
Afterwards, foliage overgrew the baths and stayed that way until the 1930s when the property owner decided to open 2 of the baths. All 12 baths were reopened to the public in 1976. In the 1980s, part of the estate was turned into one of the Caribbean's finest botanical gardens.

If you want to use the baths, you'll need a swimsuit since they're out in the open. Underground pipes feed the baths, which are of differing temperatures, heated by an underground stream from the sulphur pools (above). An attendant on duty will explain the procedure to you.

A path behinds the baths leads to the beautiful Diamond Falls, where the minerals contained in the cascading waterfall has painted brilliant colours on the rock face behind the falls. The trees and brush surrounding the pool at the base of the falls is lush and picturesque.

This area is a part of the old Soufriere Estate, a part of the 2,000 acre grant by King Louis XIII in 1713 to three Devaux brothers from Normandy, France. The Devaux family today remains a partial owner of the property.

This is one of the tourist hot spots, especially on cruise ship days. More information.

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