Quikster
Registered
Got back from a trip to the Dominican Republic last month and had a great time diving down there. The original plan for the trip was just an anniversary get away but ended up adding in 6 dives over 3 days while I was there. I originally tried to contact a recommended op from this board, but they never bothered to respond to me so I found a different group. Since we weren't going for scuba we were staying in Cap Cana at the Sanctuary. It was an awesome adults only resort, very nice and quiet with fantastic staff. There also apparently was some PADI leadership conference there as we saw ~30 people in PADI polos and discussing strategies and improvements. On this trip I took my iPhone in my DiveVolk housing for capturing some video while in the water.
For diving I ended up talking to my friend that had been a few years earlier and he had used Dressel Divers. I talked to them for a while and they were very good to work with. I ended up signing up for a package that was 6 dives, 2 standalone and 2 excursions. I also booked two excursions for my wife with them.
The first day they picked me up from my hotel in Cap Cana and driving me to the Iberostar in Bavaro. Here I had a great dive guide Sofie from Brazil that showed us around our two dive sites, Astron Wreck and Rondana. We had great conditions and 2 excellent dives, astron wreck is right off the beach from Bavaro and you can see the top of it above the surf. However, due to the location the conditions have to be pretty much perfect and calm or they can't safely get people in and out and navigating through the wreck area if the surge is too strong.
The main reason I went with Dressel Divers was for the excursions the next two days. My wife doesn't scuba dive and has no interest in it, but she does enjoy snorkeling. Dressel Divers has 2 excursions one to Saona Island (SAONA ISLAND Excursion & Tour with Dressel Divers) and one to Catalina Island (CATALINA ISLAND Excursion & Tour with Dressel Divers) that take out both scuba divers and snorkelers.
Day 2 they picked us up at our resort in Cap Cana and took us to the Iberostar in Bayahibe. Here we got our gear and loaded onto two boats out to Saona Island. The scuba divers were on the smaller boat while the snorkelers went out on the larger boat. On the scuba boat I had another great dive leader Claudia from South Africa who lead us to our two dive sites around Saona Island where we again had perfect weather and dives. Between dives they had fresh fruit available for everyone consisting of pineapple and watermelon. On the snorkel side my wife had Ricardo and Enrique show her around where she saw lots of amazing wildlife and reefs during her snorkel. After all this we all met up on Saona Island for an amazing lunch together that was prepared for us and they also had alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks included now that the diving and snorkeling were done. After lunch we all got on the bigger boat to head back. On the way back we stopped by a shallow spot out in the ocean where we saw giant starfish and got to wade and swim in the water for a bit.
Day 3 they again picked us up at our resort in Cap Cana and took us to the Iberostar in Bayahibe. This day we all got onto the larger boat to Catalina Island. For the scuba divers we had dive leader Matilda from France showing us around where we saw the best reef I've seen in quite a while and a very nice wall. Once again between dives they had as much fresh fruit as you wanted consisting of pineapple and watermelon. On the snorkel side my wife again had Enrique and this time Claudia was her other guide. She was once again very impressed with the wildlife and reefs that she was able to see here. Once we were done with both our stops we again stopped for another great lunch at a building they had where we had great food and drinks. After lunch they picked us up and took us a little ways down a river telling us about the area before taking us back to the resort and our ride back.
Overall I was definitely impressed with the experiences we had here for both snorkeling and scuba diving we were both very happy and would gladly go back to Dressel Divers for more.
If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them to help with your planning.
For diving I ended up talking to my friend that had been a few years earlier and he had used Dressel Divers. I talked to them for a while and they were very good to work with. I ended up signing up for a package that was 6 dives, 2 standalone and 2 excursions. I also booked two excursions for my wife with them.
The first day they picked me up from my hotel in Cap Cana and driving me to the Iberostar in Bavaro. Here I had a great dive guide Sofie from Brazil that showed us around our two dive sites, Astron Wreck and Rondana. We had great conditions and 2 excellent dives, astron wreck is right off the beach from Bavaro and you can see the top of it above the surf. However, due to the location the conditions have to be pretty much perfect and calm or they can't safely get people in and out and navigating through the wreck area if the surge is too strong.
The main reason I went with Dressel Divers was for the excursions the next two days. My wife doesn't scuba dive and has no interest in it, but she does enjoy snorkeling. Dressel Divers has 2 excursions one to Saona Island (SAONA ISLAND Excursion & Tour with Dressel Divers) and one to Catalina Island (CATALINA ISLAND Excursion & Tour with Dressel Divers) that take out both scuba divers and snorkelers.
Day 2 they picked us up at our resort in Cap Cana and took us to the Iberostar in Bayahibe. Here we got our gear and loaded onto two boats out to Saona Island. The scuba divers were on the smaller boat while the snorkelers went out on the larger boat. On the scuba boat I had another great dive leader Claudia from South Africa who lead us to our two dive sites around Saona Island where we again had perfect weather and dives. Between dives they had fresh fruit available for everyone consisting of pineapple and watermelon. On the snorkel side my wife had Ricardo and Enrique show her around where she saw lots of amazing wildlife and reefs during her snorkel. After all this we all met up on Saona Island for an amazing lunch together that was prepared for us and they also had alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks included now that the diving and snorkeling were done. After lunch we all got on the bigger boat to head back. On the way back we stopped by a shallow spot out in the ocean where we saw giant starfish and got to wade and swim in the water for a bit.
Day 3 they again picked us up at our resort in Cap Cana and took us to the Iberostar in Bayahibe. This day we all got onto the larger boat to Catalina Island. For the scuba divers we had dive leader Matilda from France showing us around where we saw the best reef I've seen in quite a while and a very nice wall. Once again between dives they had as much fresh fruit as you wanted consisting of pineapple and watermelon. On the snorkel side my wife again had Enrique and this time Claudia was her other guide. She was once again very impressed with the wildlife and reefs that she was able to see here. Once we were done with both our stops we again stopped for another great lunch at a building they had where we had great food and drinks. After lunch they picked us up and took us a little ways down a river telling us about the area before taking us back to the resort and our ride back.
Overall I was definitely impressed with the experiences we had here for both snorkeling and scuba diving we were both very happy and would gladly go back to Dressel Divers for more.
If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them to help with your planning.
