Dominica Trip Report and Slideshow

[OH2OD]

Arcodog,
Thanks for your trip summary.
We will be going in a few weeks, and I have a few questions.
Do you remember names of those three places to eat?
Were you in a group?
Did you take any hikes or other land trips?
Thank you for info.

 

[Acrodog]

1. CocoRico: From the Ft Young hotel, go north on the main street along the ocean for about two blocks. Its on the right (east) - blue and yellow exterior - can't miss it. We like this place the best.

2. Forgot Name of Resturant: Take the street heading east after CocoRico's and it is 100 feet ahead on the left.

3. "The Creole Place": Go out the front entrance of the hotel and go left for 100 yds. This place is on the right - again - you can't miss it.

We we're not in a group, although we met a bunch of other vacationers and pooled out "local knowledge."

Re non-diving activities:
We went on the whale watching trip organized by Fort Young through Dive Dominica. This trip is regularly scheduled (twice a week). See the Activities Desk at the hotel.

We went deep sea fishing - ask the Dive Masters from Dive Dominica and they will hook you up. We wnt with "Gerry" - but apparently there is a better boat we could have gone out on had we done a bit more homework.

We had planned on going to Te Tu Gorge (spelling?) and Trafalger Falls (spelling) but got rained out.

Do some asking around when you get down there - you can hook up with a local guide easily and save money over the (same) trips the hotel offers.

 

[Acrodog]

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier report re my trip:

When we first reported to the dive shop the first day, they had the obligatory form for us to sign: I realize diving is dangerous, I won't exceed safe limits, blah, blah, blah. Nothing unusual, EXECPT -

There was a clause late in the 2 page form saying that "I agree to indemnify/hold harmless Dive Dominica for anything and everything, including problems caused by the negligence of Dive Dominica."

Hmm says I. I read a lot of contracts at work, and in every one of them there is a similar clause about holding someone harmless, but it ALWAYS EXLUDES NEGLIGENCE.

We reluctantly signed the forms - we were told we couldn't dive unless we did.
I probably would have not selected Dive Dominica had I known this when I organized the trip.

Bottomline - Dive Dominica could send you out with an unqualified boat captain who is drunk, on a boat taking on water, with tanks containing contaminated air, with a nearly empty gas tank, and a "Dive Master" who's not certified who doesn't know what no-deco limits are, and if you signed the paper then you've agreed to hold them harmless if it hits the fan on a dive through no fault of your own.

Now I am strongly in favor of personal responsibility - and I'll own up for my mistakes - but agreeing to hold a professional who I am paying big bucks harmless for their own negligence is ridiculous.

In the long run, if DD were to have an ongoing problem with negligence, word would spread and they'd be out of business. In the short run - if you are the unfortunate victim of Dive Dominica negligence, you are SOL.