Dominica recommendations ?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I've been going to Dominica for years and years. The two big full-service operators in Roseau are good, but I prefer my own acomodations, my own fwd car, and smaller more personal dive operations. I like Al Dive, in Loubiere, just a couple of miles south of Roseau.

Mid island, in Salisbury on the west coast I like East Caribe Divers. The diving is less spectacular than further south, but still very good, sometimes spectacular when a small whale visits.

Good times to go? I like late May-June-early July: amazing amount of life both UW and topside, like the garden of Eden. For winter getaways mid January and February are hard to beat. March and April can get windy, causing cancelled flights, but otherwise very good. Tiny airplanes, one small airport. August and September can be fabulous IF there are no hurricanes brewing.

Fly Seaborne. Avoid LIAT.

Spend time exploring the interior. Unique in the Caribbean. A wonderland. Go inland at dusk to see the bird-sized fireflys that look as if they belong in Middle Earth. hardly any bugs, nothing at all poisonous, a soft gentle paradise.

For an easy effortless and graceful honeymoon experience honeymoon experience consider Papillote Wilderness Retreat. It is very civilized, stunningly beautiful, and great food, something very hard to find on Dominica.
 
Last edited:
My husband and I just got back from our honeymoon there. It was absolutely amazing, and the diving was phenomenal. We spent the first 5 days down on the shore diving, then spent 3 days in the mountains hiking. On the coast we stayed at Fort Young. The hotel was very nice but not luxurious by western standards and the staff was super friendly and helpful - great recommendations for sightseeing and restaurants. In spite of many reviews I had read about the food being so-so, we were both pretty pleased with the food, especially in the bar area it was tasty and reasonably priced. When we moved into the mountains we stayed at Cocoa Cottage. It was beautiful, but the rooms are fairly open to the elements - no screens on the windows or doors, and the mosquito nets in the rooms are very much necessary - and this was difficult for my husband who has a serious issue with bugs. In spite of my husband's issues with the bugs, I would highly recommend both hotels.

We dove with two different dive operators. We had followed the recommendation of friends and booked several boat dives with Dive Dominica, rather than booking diving through Fort Young. This was an unfortunate decision because it turned out that Fort Young books through Dive Dominica, so if we had booked through Fort Young, we would have had the same experience it just would have cost us $10 more per day and we would have been picked up and dropped off at the hotel each day rather than having to take a taxi to and from the Dive Dominica dock every day (with taxi expense, this would have netted us a savings of $10 per day - not a huge deal, but it would have been nice). We had the same Dive Master each time and he was fantastic. The groups were fairly typical size for a large operator - our smallest group was 6 divers with 2 Dive Masters and our largest was 12. We were there over New Years and it was very important to us that we dive Champagne Reef on New Years Eve. Dive Dominica could not guarantee us when we made the reservation several months in advance that we would be diving there on that day, so we reserved a dive with Champagne Reef Dive Company. This was an excellent decision. We had so much fun on our day dive that we booked a night dive with them with them as well, and each time my husband and I were the only divers with the Dive Master. In fact, on the night dive they had two trainee Dive Masters, so it was 3 DMs to 2 divers.

We were there Dec. 29-Jan 5. On the coast the weather was awesome - 80 degrees, with 30 minutes of gentle rain once per day. Up in the mountains the temperature was about 5 degrees cooler (when we went hiking high in the mountains I think it got as low as 60 degrees), but we had torrential rain from about 1pm-6am every day. We were told by the B&B operators that this was highly unusual for the time of year, but they put out a 55 gallon rain barrel to catch some of the water one day and in 2 hours it was overflowing. The rain cut several of our hikes short and ended our Boiling Lake hike about half way through. We were still able to have a lovely time, we just got good use out of our ponchos. Since hiking was cut short the B&B operators arranged a guide to give us a driving tour of the island. We both ended up having way more fun on the tour than we imagined and were so glad our hosts suggested it and arranged it for us.

I hope you and your wife have fun in Dominica. It's truly an amazing island. My husband and I can't wait to go back.
 
Hi everybody !

Going 1st time to Dominica in mid February. It'll be my 1st tropical diving trip ever, althought I've diving for 25 years. Any advice about the kind of wetsuit I should bring and any idea of the water temperature ?

Thanks folks, have a good day.
 
Hi everybody !

Going 1st time to Dominica in mid February. It'll be my 1st tropical diving trip ever, althought I've diving for 25 years. Any advice about the kind of wetsuit I should bring and any idea of the water temperature ?

Thanks folks, have a good day.

I got cold easily while diving. I wore a 3 mil full length on all our dives and felt great (just for reference I also wear a 3 mil for pool time). There were others in our dive groups who wore 3 mil shorties, and 1 mil full lengths and all felt comfortable. So it just depends on how cold you get. The water temperature was in the 80s earlier this month. I would guess it would be fairly similar in a month, but someone else may be able to give you a better idea.
 
Thanks a lot !
 
My husband and I just got back from our honeymoon there. It was absolutely amazing, and the diving was phenomenal. We spent the first 5 days down on the shore diving, then spent 3 days in the mountains hiking. On the coast we stayed at Fort Young. The hotel was very nice but not luxurious by western standards and the staff was super friendly and helpful - great recommendations for sightseeing and restaurants. In spite of many reviews I had read about the food being so-so, we were both pretty pleased with the food, especially in the bar area it was tasty and reasonably priced. When we moved into the mountains we stayed at Cocoa Cottage. It was beautiful, but the rooms are fairly open to the elements - no screens on the windows or doors, and the mosquito nets in the rooms are very much necessary - and this was difficult for my husband who has a serious issue with bugs. In spite of my husband's issues with the bugs, I would highly recommend both hotels.

We dove with two different dive operators. We had followed the recommendation of friends and booked several boat dives with Dive Dominica, rather than booking diving through Fort Young. This was an unfortunate decision because it turned out that Fort Young books through Dive Dominica, so if we had booked through Fort Young, we would have had the same experience it just would have cost us $10 more per day and we would have been picked up and dropped off at the hotel each day rather than having to take a taxi to and from the Dive Dominica dock every day (with taxi expense, this would have netted us a savings of $10 per day - not a huge deal, but it would have been nice). We had the same Dive Master each time and he was fantastic. The groups were fairly typical size for a large operator - our smallest group was 6 divers with 2 Dive Masters and our largest was 12. We were there over New Years and it was very important to us that we dive Champagne Reef on New Years Eve. Dive Dominica could not guarantee us when we made the reservation several months in advance that we would be diving there on that day, so we reserved a dive with Champagne Reef Dive Company. This was an excellent decision. We had so much fun on our day dive that we booked a night dive with them with them as well, and each time my husband and I were the only divers with the Dive Master. In fact, on the night dive they had two trainee Dive Masters, so it was 3 DMs to 2 divers.

We were there Dec. 29-Jan 5. On the coast the weather was awesome - 80 degrees, with 30 minutes of gentle rain once per day. Up in the mountains the temperature was about 5 degrees cooler (when we went hiking high in the mountains I think it got as low as 60 degrees), but we had torrential rain from about 1pm-6am every day. We were told by the B&B operators that this was highly unusual for the time of year, but they put out a 55 gallon rain barrel to catch some of the water one day and in 2 hours it was overflowing. The rain cut several of our hikes short and ended our Boiling Lake hike about half way through. We were still able to have a lovely time, we just got good use out of our ponchos. Since hiking was cut short the B&B operators arranged a guide to give us a driving tour of the island. We both ended up having way more fun on the tour than we imagined and were so glad our hosts suggested it and arranged it for us.

I hope you and your wife have fun in Dominica. It's truly an amazing island. My husband and I can't wait to go back.

Nice info, I have a couple of questions. My wife and I are also considering going in June and staying at Fort Young. Would you stay there again.
How about the diving? and large things? sharks? ect?

Thanks,
Russ
 
Nice info, I have a couple of questions. My wife and I are also considering going in June and staying at Fort Young. Would you stay there again.
How about the diving? and large things? sharks? ect?

Thanks,
Russ

We would definitely stay at Fort Young again! The accommodations were nice and comfortable, friendly staff, and easy to get to everything on the south side of the island. I would recommend paying the little bit more to get one of the oceanfront rooms - not only do they have the beautiful view, but they are also in the newer section of the hotel and apparently a little nicer. The non-ocean view rooms are all in the original fort section of the hotel. Also, a big plus in my opinion, you can arrange with the hotel to have a shuttle pick you up at the airport (I always prefer that when traveling).

The diving was fantastic - clear water with great visibility and beautiful, healthy reefs galore. We didn't see any large animals while diving - probably the largest was a sea turtle. There are often whales in the waters not far off coast but the government has regulations about diving with the whales and I believe require a permit (although I have no idea how this is enforced). We went whale watching while we were there and saw several sperm whales. I am not aware of whether or not there are sharks in the area, but we didn't see any on any of our dives. Hopefully someone else can offer more info on this for you.
 
My husband & I recently returned from a week long stay at Ft Young. (Wish we were back)
Ft Young accommodations were great. Staff are all very friendly although service is very slow (definitely island time). Ken's Hinterland Adventure Tours works out of Ft Young and they can provide you with any island excursion that you want, including the diving (which is then booked through Dive Dominica and they pick you up at Ft Young's pier every morning) Upon returning from diving, Ken and his crew will rinse, hangup and store your gear.

Ask for one of the water front rooms in the newer section. The location of the hotel is great also. If you walk out of their lower entrance you are on the main street of town. Very convenient to the open market, restaurants, bank and groceries. If we ever make a return trip to Dominica, we will definitively stay here again.

The diving was great. We saw a lot more coral but less critters. But we did find critters that have been scarce at other Caribbean locations, such as Frogfish, Seahorses and several Scorpion fish and the largest Lionfish I have ever seen. It was also fun diving the Champagne Reef and seeing all the bubbles and feel the warm water coming out from the volcanic activity. The only large fish we saw was a Barracuda swimming out in the blue.

The water was warm and I dove in only a 1mm Lavacore shorty and my husband dove a 3mm shorty. Neither of us ever got cold.
Generally my vacations all revolve around diving and diving and more diving. But on Dominica you definitely want to make time for island activities as well. The island is simply beautiful and the hikes to the waterfalls wonderful!

We also did a whale watching trip while there also organized through Ft Young and Ken's.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom