Where to stay in the Dominican Republic

[stevsgarage]

My wife's family is considering getting together somewhere for Christmas and the Dominican Republic is on the top of their list. Great weather nice resorts All-Inclusive no hassles. A 16 year old nephew who may not be able to come and I are the only two divers in the group so I thought I'd try to research the best area there to stay for diving. There are three main areas to choose from, Santo Domingo (Boca Chica), Punta Cana, and Puerto Plata.
Any help on the subject will be appreciated.
:froggy: :froggy:

 

[DiverDave65]

I have visited and dove in Sosua (near Puerto Plata) on four different occasions. I just returned from a short trip there a week and a half ago. I have never visited any other area in the DR or dove anywhere else.

In general, the diving in and around Sosua is average at best. The coral reefs are kind of dead, the water is always a bit cloudy with silt or sediment....I did dive a fabulous small whipwreck there on my last trip that was really EXCELLENT, in about 110 ft . I like the town a lot for the night life and social fun, and I dive just to enjoy the ocean and have something to do during the day.. Almost all the dive outfits are based right on the beach and use very small boats to go out to the sites; they are just 10-15 minutes away. I have a feeling there must be some really good diving around there but it would be a longer boat ride to get to them and the dive operators just don't go too far out of the little harbor in Sosua.

I've been diving all over the world and the caribbean so maybe I'm a little cynical....if you're not very experienced you might find the diving acceptable, but I think it's kind of lousy. Mostly I go to the DR for the nightlife in town!!

PM me if you want more info.

 

[sasscuba]

Been diving there once and that was enough for me. Lousy diving lousy food and not very safe.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Stevsgarage,

Long time, amigo. How goes it?

I've dived the north, east and south of the DR, several times each, most recently this March. On my Caribbean Scale, the worst of DR diving is about as bad as it gets, while the best is on balance about average. IMHO, the diving off La Romana,/Bayahibe/Boca Chica is by far your best choice, i.e., the sites off Catalina, Catalitina and Saona Islands.

Be aware that you're not going to get a six pack with experienced divers on it unless you charter it exclusively. The ops take all comers and often include snorkelers on the trips.

Still, if you're a diver it's worth getting wet there.

I'd recommend looking into staying at the Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus http://www.iberostar.info/ and diving with Scubafun http://www.scubafun.info/e_info.htm

I'd also recommend reading my feature trip report on diving the DR in the Jun '03 issue of Undercurrent http://www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/issues2003.shtml. The information is still accurate.

Have fun.

DocVikingo