Hello,
I am pretty new to the forums, but so far I have seen a couple of posts about diving in the Dominican Republic and I though I might contribute a little bit to the knowledge of my country.
I learned to dive in Martinique where the diving is extremely good and when I came back to the DR to dive I was a bit dissapointed. Nevertheless, as I discovered later the diving in the country is quite different from the North to the south, the west to the east. There are amazing wrecks, cave systems and reefs all over the country.
One of the problems with the DR is that the diving industry is quite recent and the island doesn't really cater to divers, but to tourist that would like to dive as a side activity. The concentration of hotels in the North Coast (Puerto Plata and Sosua) as well as in the East (Punta Cana - Bavaro) means that the diving industry is there, not because those are the best spots. Also, as there is a big concentration of dive schools in these areas, there is a lot of dammage to the reefs, due mainly to inexperienced divers.
Cave diving. There are more than 80 caves that can be dived in the country, in the east, south west and near the capital in Santo Domingo. 21 of them are easily accessible. For info of some of them you can check out this webpage http://www.cavediving.com.do/english/dive_sites/caves/index.html
Wreck diving. There are about 12 wrecks that can be dived between 14 meters to 60 meters.
Fauna. Big fish are not encountered so easily anymore, but you can still find them. Rays can be found all over the island as well as the occasional encounter with a turtle and more rarely a manatee in the north east or south west coast of the country. Humpback Whales come to the island's north east coast from December to February to breed and there are whale tours organized. Keeping this in mind, the micro life is astonishing from invertebrated to sponges and other creatures, once you get your mask to see and admire them, it is spectacular.
As you can see, to really enjoy diving in the country you need to get off the beaten path of the All Inclusives hotels and get down to where the real action takes place. There you will find the real country, real diving and much more! The country is not as unsafe as it is commonly thought. While it is a poor country it is one of the safest countries in the region (Central American countries are much more dangerous than the unsafests places of this country).
I am attaching a map of the island with a couple of the diving spots as well as the tourist industry areas (arrows).
General information about diving in the Dominican Republic, incomplete for a general overview, but interesting:
http://www.sportextreme.com/phdico103/
Daniel
I am pretty new to the forums, but so far I have seen a couple of posts about diving in the Dominican Republic and I though I might contribute a little bit to the knowledge of my country.
I learned to dive in Martinique where the diving is extremely good and when I came back to the DR to dive I was a bit dissapointed. Nevertheless, as I discovered later the diving in the country is quite different from the North to the south, the west to the east. There are amazing wrecks, cave systems and reefs all over the country.
One of the problems with the DR is that the diving industry is quite recent and the island doesn't really cater to divers, but to tourist that would like to dive as a side activity. The concentration of hotels in the North Coast (Puerto Plata and Sosua) as well as in the East (Punta Cana - Bavaro) means that the diving industry is there, not because those are the best spots. Also, as there is a big concentration of dive schools in these areas, there is a lot of dammage to the reefs, due mainly to inexperienced divers.
Cave diving. There are more than 80 caves that can be dived in the country, in the east, south west and near the capital in Santo Domingo. 21 of them are easily accessible. For info of some of them you can check out this webpage http://www.cavediving.com.do/english/dive_sites/caves/index.html
Wreck diving. There are about 12 wrecks that can be dived between 14 meters to 60 meters.
Fauna. Big fish are not encountered so easily anymore, but you can still find them. Rays can be found all over the island as well as the occasional encounter with a turtle and more rarely a manatee in the north east or south west coast of the country. Humpback Whales come to the island's north east coast from December to February to breed and there are whale tours organized. Keeping this in mind, the micro life is astonishing from invertebrated to sponges and other creatures, once you get your mask to see and admire them, it is spectacular.
As you can see, to really enjoy diving in the country you need to get off the beaten path of the All Inclusives hotels and get down to where the real action takes place. There you will find the real country, real diving and much more! The country is not as unsafe as it is commonly thought. While it is a poor country it is one of the safest countries in the region (Central American countries are much more dangerous than the unsafests places of this country).
I am attaching a map of the island with a couple of the diving spots as well as the tourist industry areas (arrows).
General information about diving in the Dominican Republic, incomplete for a general overview, but interesting:
http://www.sportextreme.com/phdico103/
Daniel
