CoasterFreak
Contributor
Howdy all! Just a quick trip report of my two-tank dive a couple of weeks ago with Northern Coast Diving. It was my son's first ocean dives, and only my third time in the big blue, so we were both a little nervous, but confident. Privately arranged taxi picked us up at our Resort in Puerto Plata, and had us safely at the shop in good time. When we got there, there was good news and bad news. Bad news was our planned Thursday dives were looking doubtful due to coming swells. Good news was that we would be the only divers on the boat that afternoon so we had the guide's full undivided attention (SWEET!!!!).
So we got geared up in our wetsuits and discussed the dive briefing in the shop, then made the hike down to the beach - WHAT A SIGHT!!!! I still remember the look on my son's face when he saw that water for the first time. We waded out to the boat and climbed in before heading out to the first site - The Canyon. Leaving the boat was first-class service - sit on the side, put your fins on, skipper brings you your gear, you put it on, then roll forward in. We both had a little trouble with not enough weight at first, but got this remedied quickly and headed down. First dive we saw (short list) a Scorpionfish, Lionfish, Spotted Eels, Trumpetfish, Sea Urchin, and a black (dark blue?) fish with what looked to be electirc blue spots along its spine (still looking for ID). Had an absolute blast!
Then it was back on the boat and head to the second site - Coral Gardens and Three Rocks. No issues with weight this time. Saw a baby lionfish - tried dispatching, but they are VERY evasive! More Trumpetfish, a Sea Cucumber, huge Sand Dollar, Spindly Spider, and my favorite - the Garden Eels
We barely missed a storm heading back to shore and even saw a couple of flamingos on the way back.
All in all an excellent afternoon of diving! Personal and professional service both at the shop and in the water. Main lesson learned for me is to just suck it up the next trip we take and lug our full regulator sets. There is nothing like breathing off my own gear, and even though what we had kept us alive beneath the waves, we would have been more comfortable with our own.
Finally, it is obvious that Michela knows the local reefs, is very proud of them, and loves showing divers around on them. I wish we had gotten to dive both days, but her attention and help made our one day of diving all worth it.
So we got geared up in our wetsuits and discussed the dive briefing in the shop, then made the hike down to the beach - WHAT A SIGHT!!!! I still remember the look on my son's face when he saw that water for the first time. We waded out to the boat and climbed in before heading out to the first site - The Canyon. Leaving the boat was first-class service - sit on the side, put your fins on, skipper brings you your gear, you put it on, then roll forward in. We both had a little trouble with not enough weight at first, but got this remedied quickly and headed down. First dive we saw (short list) a Scorpionfish, Lionfish, Spotted Eels, Trumpetfish, Sea Urchin, and a black (dark blue?) fish with what looked to be electirc blue spots along its spine (still looking for ID). Had an absolute blast!
Then it was back on the boat and head to the second site - Coral Gardens and Three Rocks. No issues with weight this time. Saw a baby lionfish - tried dispatching, but they are VERY evasive! More Trumpetfish, a Sea Cucumber, huge Sand Dollar, Spindly Spider, and my favorite - the Garden Eels
We barely missed a storm heading back to shore and even saw a couple of flamingos on the way back.
All in all an excellent afternoon of diving! Personal and professional service both at the shop and in the water. Main lesson learned for me is to just suck it up the next trip we take and lug our full regulator sets. There is nothing like breathing off my own gear, and even though what we had kept us alive beneath the waves, we would have been more comfortable with our own.
Finally, it is obvious that Michela knows the local reefs, is very proud of them, and loves showing divers around on them. I wish we had gotten to dive both days, but her attention and help made our one day of diving all worth it.
