You should have reference materials to peruse. To that end, Dominica Department of Tourism office in NY, NY (888-645-5637) puts out a great package. It covers the hiking (prodigious choices from easy to all day a**-kickers), dress, etc., situation quite well. Also see the official website at
http://www.dominica.dm/.
Airfare tends to be expensive as must take smaller plane in - no landing facilities for major commercial carriers. Probably easiest is American Eagle which flies in from San Juan. AE lands at Melville Hall, which is an hour and a half, mostly white knuckle, drive to Roseau where you will be staying if you are diving. Can get small plane into Canefield, which is 15-20 minutes to Roseau, perhaps from Nassau.
Island is in contention for most Edenic place on earth, although there are no beaches around Roseau where you will be. They are modest beaches in far NW & up from Roseau at the Castaway. Plenty of good hiking, though. Much is rain forest & can be damp at elevation, with drops in temp of about 10-15 degrees as you rise. Look for sea level air temps in March of low 80s during day & upper 60s/low 70 at night. Look for water temps in March of 80 plus/minus 2 degrees. Take something to throw on after dives & when it cools down at night. Island is family friendly, largely crime free (although there have been some ercent incidents involving tourists), and in contrast to some Caribbean locations, attitudes are most excellent. Cruise ships have started coming to Dominica since about '96 - just stay out of town when they are in. During a stay of any length, you are almost certain to see whales, although this is typically done on a whale watch rather than snorkelling/diving.
As I mentioned, there are no beaches around the Roseau/Soufriere area, however, if you go north up the west coast about 40 minutes from Roseau, there is beach around the Castaways Beach Hotel. This resort is located between two little villages, Mero & St. Joseph, I believe. While it will never threaten the best beaches of the wider Caribbean, it is decent. There also happens to be sand beach off the far NE of the island. If you want to dive another part of Dominica, one somewhat different from the Roseau/Soufriere area, go north to the Portsmouth area and dive off Cabrit's National Park. Check in with Cabrit's Diving - excellent op. Couple of cool wrecks to the north off the Guadeloupe Channel.
Best accommodations are Petit Coulibri - upscale (but not unreasonable) & worth it. Only drawback, and this is logistically minor, is no on-site dive operation (15 minute drive to marina, included in package deals). [Closed for renovations until about Jan of '03check to make sure]. Evergreen & Castle Comfort & Anchorage around Roseau are next to each other, midrange, in price & generally comfortable, although Evergreen larger & has pool. None is luxurious. Either way, BE SURE TO GET A ROOM AWAY FROM THE STREET. Castle Comfort fronts on marina (has room on water, also Jacuzzi & hammocks), Evergreen a short walk. Fort Young is also a nice hotel but is right in town & a schelp to the marina. Both use Dive Dominica, which is the largest, but nonetheless a good operator. Anchorage uses Anchorage Divers. I recommend Nature Island Dive for small, flexible, very friendly shop that can accommodate more advanced divers. Their cottages are water's edge with decks on upper units. Order the food starter kit from the dive shop & they'll stock your kitchen with fruit, vegetables, crackers, cheese, pasta, eggs, and chicken. Whomever you dive with, you will see all the usual sites. Most diving is on very healthy reefs only 10-20 minutes from shore. Boats come back in between dives, which is nice. For something less usual, try to get to more distant pinnacles (past Scott's Head) on the Atlantic side if weather permits (it is often iffy in this area). I am not aware of any bad dive shops on the island. All can be accessed through the above web site.
Limited night life, although hotels have some party nights (either hotel or patron initiated). Try Club de Cave.
Also might want to see the following articles from "Sport Diver" for ideas about the diving & island touring:
http://www.sportdiver.com/article_search.jsp?keyword=dominica
This should get you started.
Best regards,
DocVikingo
