Dominica

[Zebra mussel]

Im contemplating a trip to Dominica in a couple of months and was wondering about the quality of the diving. How does it compare to other destinations such as Bay Islands,Belize,Turks and Caicos,Bahamas or Bonaire. The primary reason for the trip is diving. Topside diversions are nice,but not necessary. I can put up with just about any quality of accomidations as long as the diving warrants it.....and of course is safe. Im looking for good diversity of dive sites and marine life. Id appreciate any objective input you can give. ....Thanks

 

[OceanusDC]

I lived in Dominica for 3 years. Dominica has some great diving. I would recomend "Dive Dominica" they have a good rep and have access to some of the best sites in the southern area of the island. Topside, well the nature is awesome...the nightlife....what nightlife? Dominica is a bit high priced. Not the diving itself but the cost of air fare to get there makes it one of the highest priced locals. If your interested in more info just drop me a note.

 

[peterjmaerz]

Im contemplating a trip to Dominica in a couple of months and was wondering about the quality of the diving. How does it compare to other destinations such as Bay Islands,Belize,Turks and Caicos,Bahamas or Bonaire.


Hi Zebra mussel,

Have visited Dominica twice (detailed reports elsewhere on the board--you may want to do a search) Have also dived Bonaire, the Bahamas and the Bay Islands. Dominica's sites are very impressive: very good walls, lots of sponges and healthy corals, small stuff like seahorses and frogfish and reef fish. Very little in the way of bigger fish.

I'd say Dominica compares very favorably with the other islands I visited, with the exception of the number of sites: the best are barely enough to occupy a typical week's 2-tank-a-day dive trip and are concentrated in a realatively small area along the southeast coast of the island. The walls are not as impressive as some of those in Bonaire, in my opionion and there's only one site that I know of that's shore-diveable, though I could be wrong there.

It would be a shame to miss the topside scenery. It's absolutely mind-blowing--by far the best I've seen at *any* of the Caribbean islands I've visited.

Hope this helps,


Regards,

 

[donacheson]

Im contemplating a trip to Dominica in a couple of months and was wondering about the quality of the diving. How does it compare to other destinations such as Bay Islands,Belize,Turks and Caicos,Bahamas or Bonaire. The primary reason for the trip is diving. Topside diversions are nice,but not necessary. I can put up with just about any quality of accomidations as long as the diving warrants it.....and of course is safe. Im looking for good diversity of dive sites and marine life. Id appreciate any objective input you can give. ....Thanks

Just don't expect to find many large, adult fish - the fishing pressure, especially the use of fish traps ensures that. However, there are lots of juveniles and little critters on the bottom.

 

[peterjmaerz]

Oops,

Just so you don't toally discount my earlier posting, I miswrote the description of the location of divesites in Dom. Most are in an area near the southern tip of the island on the west coast. And yes, as Greybeard mentions, don't expect a lot of large fish.

Best,