Dominica Trip Report and Slideshow
- Thread starter ddawson
- Start date
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
seaangel
Guest
I am going to start a thread with my Dominica report rather than continue it here.
Cindy
Cindy
ChristineH
Registered
I just got back from Dominica, we stayed at Evergreen hotel and Dive Dominica was right next door. They were AWESOME!! The DM were great, they were accomodating in every way. If there was a large group they would take out more boats, we usually dove with about 7 people and once it was just my friends and me! My luggage didn't come for the first two days of divng and Dive Dominica did not charge me for my BCD rental, fins...since I had mine it just wasn't there yet. They made sure they took us to different dive sights and the ones with the best conditions. We dove the Scotthead area. I loved Swiss Cheese and Scotthead drop off (i think that is what it is called). They took care of your gear each day and rinsed everything to get it ready for the next day. I would highly recommend them.
The Evergreen Hotel was really nice too, we had a room overlooking the water with a porch, it was clean and had A/C. Nice size bathroom to hang up wet suits...The staff was great, it has a pool which is also nice for a relaxing afternoon after diving. The only caution is that it takes a while to get your meals, you need to make sure you have time....otherwise I would also recommend Evergreen Hotel, very, very much! We didn't have the best weather, over half the time was rainy or atleast cloudy. This caused us to change our plans for the last 3 days of our vacation. We were going to stay at Cressent Moon Cottages in the rain forest, but we couldn't get up there due to rain. We went north to Portsmouth Hotel - we rented cottages that were right on the beach. It was about an hour and a half ride from Evergreen and the cottages were GREAT! The food was really good, we snorkled and enjoyed the beachfront accomodations. It was a great way to end the vacation.
The Evergreen Hotel was really nice too, we had a room overlooking the water with a porch, it was clean and had A/C. Nice size bathroom to hang up wet suits...The staff was great, it has a pool which is also nice for a relaxing afternoon after diving. The only caution is that it takes a while to get your meals, you need to make sure you have time....otherwise I would also recommend Evergreen Hotel, very, very much! We didn't have the best weather, over half the time was rainy or atleast cloudy. This caused us to change our plans for the last 3 days of our vacation. We were going to stay at Cressent Moon Cottages in the rain forest, but we couldn't get up there due to rain. We went north to Portsmouth Hotel - we rented cottages that were right on the beach. It was about an hour and a half ride from Evergreen and the cottages were GREAT! The food was really good, we snorkled and enjoyed the beachfront accomodations. It was a great way to end the vacation.
pelan-pelan
Contributor
Cindy and Christine - Glad to hear you had a good time.
Looking forward to the dive report. We go in about 2 weeks time. We always assume that we will never see our luggage again, no matter where we are going. Thanks for the info about luggage. There may not be much you can do about such things, but if you're prepared then it softens the blow.
Looking forward to the dive report. We go in about 2 weeks time. We always assume that we will never see our luggage again, no matter where we are going. Thanks for the info about luggage. There may not be much you can do about such things, but if you're prepared then it softens the blow.
seaangel:
This may be too late to help, but I found a rolling canvas trolley at Walmart just before my last trip. I just stuck my laptop, purse and a few other items in it and use it as my carry on. Plus on the return trip it had room for the gifts I bought.
Just returned from a trip to Dominica - some info for those planning a trip there - we heard universally negative comments from people who flew Carib Air. So if you have a choice - you might try to go with American Airlines instead. We flew American from San Juan without any problems.
seaangel
Guest
Acrodog,
I have suggested the same to our trip planner here at home. I told her that I would love to return, but would try American next time.
Cindy
I have suggested the same to our trip planner here at home. I told her that I would love to return, but would try American next time.
Cindy
DIVING:
We completed 15 dives in Dominica, including one night dive. We dove with Dive Dominica their boats were fine we were on three different boats during the week. All dives were at the southwest of the island near Scotts Head and at a number of sites a bit north of there. I agree with many others whove noted the predominance of small fish. Corals are not overly abundant. Lots of sponges, including barrel sponges 5+ feet high and 3+ feet across. I saw more lobster on this trip than Ive seen elsewhere in the Caribbean. On the night dive we also saw an octopus and numerous crabs with bodies 10 across. Other items of interest mantis shrimp, 4-ft nurse shark, spotted scorpion fish, large mackerel, frog fish, two seahorses, numerous hawksbill turtles, and electric rays.
Most first dives were 80 to 100 feet on walls. Our favorite sites were The Suburbs and Swiss Cheese both near Scotts Head. We dove Champaign North (shallow) during the day interesting but not a great dive site, and then the wall near Champaign South at night this was a thrilling dive.
In general visibility was only ok about 40 feet. Fine to see the reef in front of you but not very good for looking for larger creatures in the blue. It was typical that the lead diver couldnt see the trailing diver in a group. We dove in groups from about 15 divers to 3 divers during the week.
The dive masters and boat captains of Dive Dominica were friendly and nice to be around. Their dive site briefings could have benefited from a bit more detail in my opinion. We never felt rushed between dives on our daily two tank trips. They always took the lead in helping to load/unload gear from the boat, and were always helpful to divers exiting the water after a dive.
Water temp was warm between 79 and 83 degrees F. I wore a 2 mm shortie and was never uncomfortable.
We commonly encountered fish traps on our dives seems unusual for sites catering to divers but is apparently necessary given the islands economy and the locals need for food.
We went on the whale watching trip and saw dolphins too numerous to count all around the boat and two sperm whales, including a close encounter with one that swam around the boat, then laid on its side and evacuated its bowels in our direction.
Our 7 days of diving were about right fewer days and we would have missed too much/too many sites. There was no mention during the week of dive sites to the north of Fort Young, not sites on the east side of the island.
LODGING:
San Juan: We (one adult and a 14-yr old) stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in San Juan for $89 per night, plus an $16 to $18 cab fair from airport. Hotel was clean and adequate and had free breakfast and one computer available with internet connection. Small rooms, but for a quick overnight it was good and Id stay there again. There are a number of places to eat within walking distance, and if interested, you could walk or take a short cab ride to old San Juan.
Dominica: We stayed at the Fort Young Hotel, in a Deluxe Ocean Front Room (in the new section of the hotel). Room was pretty nice patio directly over the surf, cable TV. Some things that could be improved: thermostat on the AC didnt work well so AC was either on or off. Mattress was really bad you could feel each and every metal spring within.
Dive shop at Fort Young is really an office with a dunk tank and place to hang gear not a full fledged dive shop. We liked the fact that we could dunk our BCs and shorties, and booties, hang them up outside the shop in the sun and walk away. In the morning wed find them hanging up inside the shop. We typically would take the rest of our gear back to the room with us but that could have been left outside the shop as well.
Meals at Fort Young were expensive. Breakfasts were included in our package and were good. Omelets made to order, fresh fruit, French toast, etc. Lunches and dinner were either mediocre & expensive bar food, or really expensive meals at the oceanfront restaurant on site. So for lunches and dinners, unless we were in a hurry, we walked down to one of three good places to eat within 2 blocks of the hotel. In general, dont expect anything to happen too quickly down there and that applies to service at restaurants.
We found the locals to be generally indifferent. You could get a smile and eye contact from hotel staff and nearby restaurants if we took the initiative otherwise most locals didnt appear to be particularly friendly or interested in our presence/business. One exception to that was most of the staff from Dive Dominica.
On several occasions we saw people staying at Castle Comfort coming up to Fort Young to hang out for the evening.
We completed 15 dives in Dominica, including one night dive. We dove with Dive Dominica their boats were fine we were on three different boats during the week. All dives were at the southwest of the island near Scotts Head and at a number of sites a bit north of there. I agree with many others whove noted the predominance of small fish. Corals are not overly abundant. Lots of sponges, including barrel sponges 5+ feet high and 3+ feet across. I saw more lobster on this trip than Ive seen elsewhere in the Caribbean. On the night dive we also saw an octopus and numerous crabs with bodies 10 across. Other items of interest mantis shrimp, 4-ft nurse shark, spotted scorpion fish, large mackerel, frog fish, two seahorses, numerous hawksbill turtles, and electric rays.
Most first dives were 80 to 100 feet on walls. Our favorite sites were The Suburbs and Swiss Cheese both near Scotts Head. We dove Champaign North (shallow) during the day interesting but not a great dive site, and then the wall near Champaign South at night this was a thrilling dive.
In general visibility was only ok about 40 feet. Fine to see the reef in front of you but not very good for looking for larger creatures in the blue. It was typical that the lead diver couldnt see the trailing diver in a group. We dove in groups from about 15 divers to 3 divers during the week.
The dive masters and boat captains of Dive Dominica were friendly and nice to be around. Their dive site briefings could have benefited from a bit more detail in my opinion. We never felt rushed between dives on our daily two tank trips. They always took the lead in helping to load/unload gear from the boat, and were always helpful to divers exiting the water after a dive.
Water temp was warm between 79 and 83 degrees F. I wore a 2 mm shortie and was never uncomfortable.
We commonly encountered fish traps on our dives seems unusual for sites catering to divers but is apparently necessary given the islands economy and the locals need for food.
We went on the whale watching trip and saw dolphins too numerous to count all around the boat and two sperm whales, including a close encounter with one that swam around the boat, then laid on its side and evacuated its bowels in our direction.
Our 7 days of diving were about right fewer days and we would have missed too much/too many sites. There was no mention during the week of dive sites to the north of Fort Young, not sites on the east side of the island.
LODGING:
San Juan: We (one adult and a 14-yr old) stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in San Juan for $89 per night, plus an $16 to $18 cab fair from airport. Hotel was clean and adequate and had free breakfast and one computer available with internet connection. Small rooms, but for a quick overnight it was good and Id stay there again. There are a number of places to eat within walking distance, and if interested, you could walk or take a short cab ride to old San Juan.
Dominica: We stayed at the Fort Young Hotel, in a Deluxe Ocean Front Room (in the new section of the hotel). Room was pretty nice patio directly over the surf, cable TV. Some things that could be improved: thermostat on the AC didnt work well so AC was either on or off. Mattress was really bad you could feel each and every metal spring within.
Dive shop at Fort Young is really an office with a dunk tank and place to hang gear not a full fledged dive shop. We liked the fact that we could dunk our BCs and shorties, and booties, hang them up outside the shop in the sun and walk away. In the morning wed find them hanging up inside the shop. We typically would take the rest of our gear back to the room with us but that could have been left outside the shop as well.
Meals at Fort Young were expensive. Breakfasts were included in our package and were good. Omelets made to order, fresh fruit, French toast, etc. Lunches and dinner were either mediocre & expensive bar food, or really expensive meals at the oceanfront restaurant on site. So for lunches and dinners, unless we were in a hurry, we walked down to one of three good places to eat within 2 blocks of the hotel. In general, dont expect anything to happen too quickly down there and that applies to service at restaurants.
We found the locals to be generally indifferent. You could get a smile and eye contact from hotel staff and nearby restaurants if we took the initiative otherwise most locals didnt appear to be particularly friendly or interested in our presence/business. One exception to that was most of the staff from Dive Dominica.
On several occasions we saw people staying at Castle Comfort coming up to Fort Young to hang out for the evening.
Similar threads
