Hi Rob,
I visited Dominica in November. Loved it! It is a gorgeous island - lush and green, mountains and rainforests.
We stayed w/ Anchorage and dove with them as well. I would highly recommend this hotel/dive center and would return to them again. Why? The facility was lovely (brightly colored building, dining area, common areas), the water-front rooms all have balconies and you can listen to the water crashing on the rocks all day, it was very convenient. The staff was friendly and helpful. The dining areas were right on the water - casual and relaxing.
The dive center at Anchorage was quite personal/intimate. Each day, there were 4-5 divers total on our boat (including us). (Granted - this was the tail end of the off-season - last week of November). Whereas when we looked over at the Castle Comfort/Dive Dominica boats, they were loaded with 20-35 passengers! I'm sure they had high safety standards (appropriate ratio of dive masters to divers), but it still seemed like a cattle boat.
The diving itself was lovely. Lots of gorgeous coral reef formations, steep wall dives. Lovely small critters and pretty fish, lobsters, crabs - but no large fish/sharks/etc.
The vis was "okay". Not nearly as clear as Cozumel or the ABC islands. But that's okay - because most of what you'll be looking at is just 2 feet in front of you - the small critters and coral formations. Great for macro photography. We didn't bother with shore diving nor night diving -- got our fill with the day dives. Though we did see a few folks do some twilight/night dives right off the hotel dock of Castle Comfort. I heard that batfish are a neat local sighting in the waters there. The water, btw - is very warm - we used a 3M, but most folks stuck with swimsuits.
We dove only in the south part of the island - Scotts Head/Soffriere. Very convenient from Anchorage Hotel - just a 5-10 minute boat ride. There are also dive centers/sites in the middle and north parts of the island. By chance, we met the owner of Cabrit's Dive Center (in the north part of the island - Portsmouth) and he was a pretty nice guy, so I imagine the dive shop there is also pretty good.
Note of advice: Dominica is amazing - one of my favorite islands -- but it's not for everyone. More geared to the road-less-travelled folks, off-the-beaten-path, etc. Why?:
- no major hotel chains. Mostly small mom&pop inns. Not luxurious - but still personal and intimate. THe beds were rather uncomfortable, and the rooms rather stark -- but clean and convenient. THe hot water was more like room temperature. But all of this was okay for us to compromise on because of everything else the island offers - especially solitude!
- driving is treacherous! we rented a 4X4 Suzuki Escudo (the small one) -- a MUST for the island. Most of the roads are one-lane (not one-lane per direction, but one-lane period), twisty turny curvey hilly, with sheer dropoffs on one side and mountainside on the other, with fast crazy drivers aiming right at you. It's scary as heck, but quite an adventure! If you have been to Maui -- think of this like the Road to Hana - only 100 times worse.
- no nightlife. bring a book, a scrabble board, or checkers and relax and have fun! chill out by the pool or lounge area, have a Kabuli beer and kick back.
- Plan to stay at the hotel for dinner. Why? The driving! Unless you are courageous enough to brave the scary roads in the dark. Then again...in February it might be lighter around dinner time.
There are endless opportunities for exploring, hiking, etc. I'm sure you'll figure out the more common spots (i.e. touristy/well-known) - but there's also a lot of off-the-beaten path, not so well marked spots.
If you go to Scott's Head to visit -- be sure to eat at Chez Wen. She is a wonderful, cheerful local woman who runs her own tiny food shop - the place has about 6 tables - is intimate and small - but fantastic.
In Portsmouth, the Purple Turtle Beach something is great too - a bit bigger and right on the water. The tuna and plaintains were really good.