New in town...

[KaylaDives]

Hey everyone! My name is Kayla and along with my husband Richard own SALT Dominica - a boutique / private dive operation (PADI resort) in Dominica West Indies! (not Dominican Republic)

I've been diving for over 20 years and have been a PADI pro over 10 years. I've traveled the world diving and taught in the US and Caribbean from California's cold waters to the crystal waters of Barbados. All time favorite dives: SS president coolidge night dives in Santo Vanuatu, and our home Toucari Bay!

I am a firm believer that diving is more than a hobby, sport, job etc -it is a lifestyle. I love it, I'm always looking to learn more about scuba and the environments we dive in.

When I'm not diving you can usually find me hosting outreach and awareness events centered around marine conservation ( projectaware.org/diver/kayladives )

I have used scuba board over the years but I don't think I've had an account on here in at least 10 years so I figured I would get back in it after reading some major misinformation on diving in Dominica! (but yes it's true you need to dive with a local dive guide /local dive operation - doesn't matter your cert level/agency)

So if anyone has any questions about scuba diving in Dominica - re: laws, rules, diving in the north, shore diving, etc - please feel free to reach out here or on our website saltdominica.com

Check out our social media pages
facebook.com/saltdominica
facebook.com/oursaltypassports

instagram.com/saltdominica
instagram.com/kayladives

Anyway I am happy to be a new part of this community and can't wait to connect with divers all over the world !!

 

[Compressor]

Welcome to ScubaBoard KaylaDives. Your enthusiasm for diving is excellent.

 

[drrich2]

Welcome. Glad to see a Dominica operator on the forum. Over the years I've watched some regional 'not first line' dive destinations come to light; some, like Curacao, seem to 'emerge' and get a lot more notice, and some, like St. Lucia and the British Virgin Islands, seem to plateau in terms of forum mind share.

Dominica seemed up and coming in terms of forum interest a few years back, then receded. Sounded like a winner; large, very lushly vegetated island, good diving...though it got slammed by a hurricane some time back. Buddy Dive opened an operation there, which brought brand name recognition, but IIRC that ended related to hurricane damage?

I have the impression that a big part of why Dominica doesn't seem to get as much 'mind share' on the forum is it seemed like from the U.S. it'd be 2 days to get there, 2 days back, and a lot of people are for various practical reasons working with a 7-day dive trip time budget.

Any thoughts on how long it typically takes to get to and from Dominica for most people these days?