Trip Report - Dominica 2008

[pelan-pelan]

Was at Anchorage 2 years ago. The shore diving along outside these hotels looks uninspiring from the shore - but when you get in it is knockout. Lots of stuff, the sort that would normally hide, is sitting out on the rocks, totally calm and unphased. I don't think they get an awful lot of shorediving - it just looks like rocks from the jetty. Never occurred to us to worry about diving along outside the Lodge and Evergreen - I really don't think they have that mentality in Dominica - everyone is so friendly. Didn't need to travel far on the shore dive - it all just appeared in front of you.

Food wise - whilst we were there the best place to go in the evening for food was the Green Flash which was just a quick walk up the road (away from Roseau) from the hotels. Brilliant atmosphere, good food, lovely views from the deck over the sea, and live music some nights. Never seen anything like it - we have music, everyone having fun, look out over the sea and there is an eagle ray on the surface flapping around - just like it was boogeying to the music.

Enjoy - but please help Dominica by making sure people don't mix it up with the Dominican Republic!

 

[RTRski]

No kidding on that bit. I've already had to explain the difference to about 60% of the people I've talked to about the upcoming vacation ("you're going WHERE?".... ):blinking:

 

[pylut]

Currently I'm sitting here in Dominica at the Ft. Young hotel in the warm sun reflecting on a great week of diving. The weather has been mostly sunny with occasional showers that lasted only a short time. We're told the island gets 360 days of rain here on the mountain so water isn't an issue. Dominica is mountainous with some of the thickest foliage I have ever seen. The ride from the Melville airport to Roseau is about a hour long with lots of curves!
One thing I would recommend is keeping a close eye on your equipment. I was separated from my crew luggage which went to customs ahead of me while I was doing post flight duties on our aircraft. It wasn't till we got to our room (there's a lot more to this story) that I realized my dive computer had been stolen from the top of a slightly open bag and has probably has already been sold on eBay.
Anyway, our goup did five day dives and one night dive. Each day was a different site. Some of the sites were L'Bym, Corral Reef, Witches Point, Scotts Head, Dangleben's North, Soufriere Pinnacles, Critters Edge and Champagne Reef-Hot springs. Every site was beautiful and had abundant marine life. Among some of the colorful fish were Drummers and Seahorses's. We spotted a few lobster tucked under some of the reefs. On several days we spotted turtles at 30 feet and on the surface. Dive Dominica and especially the dive crew did an outstanding job and worked hard to make each dive pleasant.
The water temperature was 76 to 78 degrees with visibility running between 50 to 65 feet. Day time air temperature was 75 to 80 degrees making it enjoyable to bast in the sun after a dive.
A few side notes. We went on a recommended tour of "Titou Gorge and Trafalgar" and area where some of the filming for "Pirates of the Caribbean" 2 & 3 toke place. Take your suit and towel for both stops. Titou Gorge you swim up a small canyon to a water fall and the other you sit in a spring fed river after a short hike. There are two Large falls in the distance to see. This is done from the view of a hot-spring feed river that you can sit in. The are a number of filmed areas that can be seen from the dive boat as well. Service at the local restaurants require you to bring your shaving kit and possibly an over night bag. We received good service at our hotel.
Over all we had great fun and great diving.

 

[RTRski]

Hey pylut:

Do you think with a good back sling or something I'd be able to lug my underwater camera rig on the Titou Gorge hike, and is there stuff to make it worth it to photograph there? (not asking you to comment on my fitness as you don't know me from Adam's evil twin brother, but more on the nature of the hike - mostly walking with little climbing or hand-over-hand upslope scrambling?)

I'm imagining being able to take an over/under shot from the pool, perhaps, using strobes to light up underneath and natural light above. Or if the waterfall is truly in a 'cavern like' environment I might want some strobe light above. Basically I'll have a honker UW rig...seems like a shame not to use it to see a waterfall which requires a 'swim thru' to get to!

Let me know what you think (or anyone else who's been there). It would be a shame to lug a 40 lb pack and find out it was a waste of time. Except for the fact that I can always use the exercise (stereotypical fat arse American that I am). But as I havent been able to find much of any photos of it on the web thus far (admittedly after only a cursory search) I don't have a good idea of what the topology is really like, and don't remember it from the movies. Guess I need to rent PotC 2.

(LATER)...

Never mind - looks like it would be well worth taking....finally found some reasonable pics searching on Flickr. Just have to figure out a good rig to backpack it without taking my 'real' photo backpack that would have to be left behind on the swimthru.

 

[pylut]

The hike up to the gorge is maybe a 10 or 15 minute easy walk. The water is refreshing and the swim is great providing an interesting view. I took my "Reefmaster" underwater camera with me not knowing what to expect. There is not a lot of light in the gorge so you would need a flash, external would work best. There is a lot of mist from the water fall at the end which shows up in the pictures. Don't think you will be able to get any shots from the top side. I have about a dozen pictures I would be happy to send you if you give me an email address.
Have fun, Marc