i was surprised how nice the diving was in Dominica. excellent!

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anenomefishman

Contributor
Messages
236
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Location
Seattle
# of dives
500 - 999
we dove in the south with Dive Dominica and in the North with JC Ocean Adventures. I would say the southern marine reserve (SSMR) is better than the north marine reserve (CMR). only my opinion of course.

P3175144-adj-trim-small.jpg

frogfish at dangleben's pinnacle, dominica ~82 ft.
 
Great frogfish pic! I love frogfish but the only places that I have ever seen a lot of frogfish have been Dominica and at the Fredricksted pier in St. Croix. I have had rare sightings in a couple of other places like Bonaire and Curacao.

We were in Dominica a long time ago (Oct/Nov 2002) and we stayed at the Castle Comfort Lodge and dived with Dive Dominica. The lodge was pleasant, the food was unusual but interesting. The dive op was good and we saw many rare sea critters on dives including frogfish, sea horses, flying gunards and quite a number of octopus and eels even during the daytime. We didn't see many large animals except a few rays and turtles. However, we did have a close encounter with some Humpback whales, and a juvenile male Humpback actually circled our boat, looked us in the eye, and gave us a tail slap - very exciting!

Dominica is one of the prettiest islands we have visited in the Caribbean but we haven't been back. It was difficult to get there and we had to spend a night in Puerto Rico en route and we were a bit underwhelmed by the CCL accommodations. (Is it still true that you have to overnight in PR or can you fly there more directly now?)

I am interested in your report because it sounds like it might be a good place to re-visit. We like to take 2 weeks for our annual dive vacation but I am not sure that I want to spend 2 weeks on Dominica - maybe a week in Puerto Rico doing touristy things and then a week in Dominica?
 
If you have your own 4wd vehicle (I always rent a small Suzuki) two weeks will vanish is a flash. The interior of the island is a wonderland. Deep trackless rainforests, parrots, boas, abandoned remnants of plantations, spectacular roads over the endless mountains, clear warm rivers that you can float down straight into the sea... I've been going there for many years, and now spend more time in the interior than I do diving. Once you get out of Roseau you will probably not see a single tourist.
 
Where die you stay, and how did you like it?

Did you do any topside attractions? Rainforest hikes, etc...?

Do dive tourists to Dominica mostly eat in or hit restaurants? Does it have much in the way of nice grocery stores?

I'm thinking the way people size up Bonaire for trips.

Richard.
 
Great frogfish pic! I love frogfish but the only places that I have ever seen a lot of frogfish have been Dominica and at the Fredricksted pier in St. Croix. I have had rare sightings in a couple of other places like Bonaire and Curacao.

We were in Dominica a long time ago (Oct/Nov 2002) and we stayed at the Castle Comfort Lodge and dived with Dive Dominica. The lodge was pleasant, the food was unusual but interesting. The dive op was good and we saw many rare sea critters on dives including frogfish, sea horses, flying gunards and quite a number of octopus and eels even during the daytime. We didn't see many large animals except a few rays and turtles. However, we did have a close encounter with some Humpback whales, and a juvenile male Humpback actually circled our boat, looked us in the eye, and gave us a tail slap - very exciting!

Dominica is one of the prettiest islands we have visited in the Caribbean but we haven't been back. It was difficult to get there and we had to spend a night in Puerto Rico en route and we were a bit underwhelmed by the CCL accommodations. (Is it still true that you have to overnight in PR or can you fly there more directly now?)


I am interested in your report because it sounds like it might be a good place to re-visit. We like to take 2 weeks for our annual dive vacation but I am not sure that I want to spend 2 weeks on Dominica - maybe a week in Puerto Rico doing touristy things and then a week in Dominica?

KathyV-

we did stay at CCL in south and nicer accoms in north (Secret Bay). we did not overnight, but about a 15 hr trip either way from Seattle. we went:
SEA-EWR-SXM-DOM
DOM-SJU-IAH-SEA

there are a lot of frogfish there, saw many and snake eels. snake eels are weird as they stick their tails in the sand and burrow down only leaving their head sticking out.

---------- Post added March 28th, 2015 at 05:31 PM ----------

Where die you stay, and how did you like it?

Did you do any topside attractions? Rainforest hikes, etc...?

Do dive tourists to Dominica mostly eat in or hit restaurants? Does it have much in the way of nice grocery stores?

I'm thinking the way people size up Bonaire for trips.

Richard.

been to Bonaire 3 or 4 times. In Dominica we stayed in a dive resort in the south (Castle Comfort Lodge, Dive Dominica) and nicer place in the north (Secret Bay) and dove with JC Ocean Adventures there. we would go into town frequently with other divers (divers are a brotherhood) in Roseau. Did a few rainforest hikes/swims. it is a very beautiful island.
 
We would be traveling from ORD, I just took a look at some flights and it is still a lengthy and expensive trip. Most of the options were something like: Chicago to Miami to San Juan to Dominica; with a long interval in San Juan - so that's probably why we decided to overnight in Puerto Rico last time.

I flew to South Korea in November from Chicago on a direct flight that took 12 hours; I don't know why it should be so much more complicated, difficult, and time-consuming to go to the Caribbean; at least ORD and DOM are in the same hemisphere!

Oh well, making it hard to get there probably helps keep this beautiful island and excellent diving pristine!
 
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Richard--I don't think most folk consider Dominica the way they do Bonaire. IMHO, it is a somewhat odd place that is reflected (again, IMHO) in the reviews.

We went several years ago and stayed at Castle Comfort Lodge and dove with the adjacent dive op. We enjoyed the boat diving and saw some great things (especially frogfish which were abundant during our visit), but on the whole I think Bonaire offers more and that is particularly true with respect to shore diving opportunities. There is a very nice shore dive from Castle Comfort with things to see that I have not seen elsewhere (flying gurnards, shortnose batfish). There are other shore dives, but I think it is a fairly undeveloped part of the diving scene on Dominica.

The topography and geology of the island are really interesting. It is a fun place to explore, if you are into hiking, or just to visit with a guide (which we did). That part of Dominica makes the place special.

One thing to gauge while reading the reviews and forming your own opinion is whether the folks writing the reviews (myself included) state whether they would return. While we were very glad we went to Dominica, we would not return. There were a number of characteristics that we found inhibiting. No streetlights at night in many places. No sidewalks in many places. Attempted daylight theft from a pedestrian. An overall sense of darkness and pessimism in Roseau, rather than lightness and greater optimism felt in Bonaire. In addition, there are some political things that we found upsetting, e.g., Dominica has sold its soul (again, IMHO) to China which funded the expanded airstrip in return for UN votes regarding Taiwan and to Japan which provided resources of some sort in return for allowing whaling in Dominica waters (despite the fact that whale tourism is a fairly big deal in Dominica). I am quite sure many divers will disagree with our impressions and conclusions. That's fine. To each his/her own. I encourage everyone to experience Dominica for themselves. One thing I can pretty much guarantee is that you will find it memorable.
 
Richard--I don't think most folk consider Dominica the way they do Bonaire. IMHO, it is a somewhat odd place that is reflected (again, IMHO) in the reviews. We went several years ago and stayed at Castle Comfort Lodge and dove with the adjacent dive op. We enjoyed the boat diving and saw some great things (especially frogfish which were abundant during our visit), but on the whole I think Bonaire offers more and that is particularly true with respect to shore diving opportunities. There is a very nice shore dive from Castle Comfort with things to see that I have not seen elsewhere (flying gurnards, shortnose batfish). There are other shore dives, but I think it is a fairly undeveloped part of the diving scene on Dominica. The topography and geology of the island are really interesting. It is a fun place to explore, if you are into hiking, or just to visit with a guide (which we did). That part of Dominica makes the place special. One thing to gauge while reading the reviews and forming your own opinion is whether the folks writing the reviews (myself included) state whether they would return. While we were very glad we went to Dominica, we would not return. There were a number of characteristics that we found inhibiting. No streetlights at night in many places. No sidewalks in many places. Attempted daylight theft from a pedestrian. An overall sense of darkness and pessimism in Roseau, rather than lightness and greater optimism felt in Bonaire. In addition, there are some political things that we found upsetting, e.g., Dominica has sold its soul (again, IMHO) to China which funded the expanded airstrip in return for UN votes regarding Taiwan and to Japan which provided resources of some sort in return for allowing whaling in Dominica waters (despite the fact that whale tourism is a fairly big deal in Dominica). I am quite sure many divers will disagree with our impressions and conclusions. That's fine. To each his/her own. I encourage everyone to experience Dominica for themselves. One thing I can pretty much guarantee is that you will find it memorable.

Your comments are consistent with my memories of Dominica but I didn't want to say much because we were there so long ago and things may have changed. It is a beautiful island and the diving is rather unique and we are glad that we went - but we haven't been back.

We stayed at CCL and the accommodations and food were okay. They served a lot of local food and that was interesting but rather monotonous. The diving with Dive Dominica was good and very unusual. More frogfish than I have ever seen before - or since! Plenty of seahorses and other unusual creatures including flying gunards on a night dive.

We did one off-campus tour (whale watching) and we enjoyed it and saw humpbacks - quite a thrill. We did one visit to Rosseau and that was plenty, a rather depressing place. I remember thinking to myself "why on earth would a cruise ship ever bother stopping here?" We hired a driver to give us a motor tour around parts of the island and it is very beautiful.

It was difficult and expensive to get there, and included the added cost and delay of staying overnight in PR. We are very glad that we went to Dominica. We had a lot of fun and we don't regret it, but so far we haven't been back.

It's not that I would mind going back, but it's just not high on my priority list.
 
Would you go back if it was easier to get to? e.g.: I really enjoyed the diving in Bequia but it was hard to get to from western Canada snd sirfare was expensive due to the flight from Barbados. That's one of the biggest reasons, I've not been back. For thst kind of time snd money one could go to the Phillipines.
 
Would you go back if it was easier to get to? e.g.: I really enjoyed the diving in Bequia but it was hard to get to from western Canada snd sirfare was expensive due to the flight from Barbados. That's one of the biggest reasons, I've not been back. For thst kind of time snd money one could go to the Phillipines.

I'm not sure. It would certainly be more attractive if it was easy/cheap to get too and if you had a good selection of places to stay, eat, and dive; but I don't feel any burning desire to return.
 
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