Dominica Dive Fest 2014

[metastasis_d]

My fiancee and I are planning on getting married on the 4th of July in Houston and then taking off to Dominica for our honeymoon! As we were looking at hotels and dive sites and whatnot tonight, we found out that we will be going there right around the time that Dive Fest 2014 should be going on... Sounds great! Except we don't have our own equipment...

We figured the hotel costs look a little more expensive (though not prohibitively so) because of the Fest, and we're okay with that. The thing we're concerned about is renting equipment. We haven't been able to find any information on just how many people tend to visit Dive Fest every year in Dominica, so we don't know how scarce rentals will be.

Our local dive shop would be an option, as we're not opposed to hauling rented equipment-but our dive shop is doing a trip to Dominica the week before! Terrible coincidence, as it means we definitely won't be able to rent his equipment.

I was wondering if anybody had been to the Dive Fest and knew how many people usually go, and more specifically, how hard it would be to find equipment rentals at that time.

We're also talking about splitting our honeymoon and doing a few days in St. Lucia, as there is a short ferry between the islands and we wouldn't have to worry about flying and having to set aside a decompression day.

I would really love any information on diving there (though previously posted threads did give me a lot of great information already) that could help us out, but we especially want to know how hard it'll be to get BCs, regulators, computers, and tanks.

Additionally, if anyone is planning to attend, we'd love to link up with someone and dive with them, as we've only done dives by ourselves a few times and on one trip this past Summer. Earlier in the Summer we met with someone we meet here to take us on a dive in a quarry south of Chicago and couldn't have had a better time (visibility aside!)

Of course we plan to call some of the local dive shops and try to get some information there, but I figured I might be able to preen info here. Can anyone help?

 

[Kharon]

I'd talk to the local dive shop and see if they could leave the equipment you want to rent with a Dominica dive shop. It would save tham from hauling some back and save you from hauling some there. A win for you both.

 

[metastasis_d]

That's an idea we were sort of considering.

 

[agilis]

I suggest you contact the Dominica dive shop you expect to be dealing with via email. If it's connected to the place you are staying that simplifies choices. They will be happy to tell you what's available. In any case, you should have at the very least your own masks and lycra skins. In July the water is usually in the mid 80s.


Dominica does not have much in the way of tourist infrastructure. There are only a few decent places to eat, and transportation is spotty. Get as many details clear before you go, and buy and read a good guide book. Paul Crask's is the best.

I've been there more than a dozen times, will be there next for the month of April. I drive my own rented 4wd. It's tough without your own wheels. Dominica is the most lush and natural island in the Caribbean, but it can be a rough place to deal with. Definitely no 'resort' feel to the place, no tranquil sunny sandy beaches. A wildly beautiful interior, vertical landscape, very few people, almost no tourists except those who come on a cruise ship for a few hours (AVOID THEM AND THEIR DAMNED BUSSES). It's the old Caribbean in both good and bad respects. It's also a bit shabby in developed areas, since it's poorer than any nation in the Western Hemisphere, except for Haiti.

It a pretty safe place, though. People tend to leave you alone. Arrange as much as possible before you go, bring everything you absolutely need in the way of personal things. Don't expect to pick up sun tan lotion or asprin at a corner store. The electricity is 220v 50cycle. You can use US money just about everywhere. Read Trask's book. On line info is next to useless.

My experience a few years ago with the dive fest was that it's no big deal. Not a huge number of visiting divers. A lot of what goes on is local divers, fisherman, students, dive shop employees, etc. doing site maintenance, cleaning up after the high season, educational activities for local people emphasizing the importance of tourism, the value of the reefs, etc. this may have changed, but except for the cruise ships Dominica is hard to get to, with high air fares. Things on the island are usually pretty cheap unless they see you coming. I rent a large property, 4 bedroom house with a pool, a small staff, all modern appliances, A/C, washer dryer, for about $170 a day.