finbob
Contributor
Bayahibe is reported to be the best dive area in the Dominican Republic
(DR). Samana and Punta Cana being acknowledged as other dive sites. We
stayed at the Iberostar hotel, I had a total of 14-dives over a 2-week
period with Dressel Divers an on-site, Belgium company. The instructors
were young, multi-lingual and enthusiastic. Generally I found Dressel to be
a professional operation with training offered at both the OW & AOW
level, but limited in PADI specialty. The dive briefings were informative,
the staff helpful with safety a priority. You dived to their profile and
the dive ended at 750psi. You carried your own gear (50 yards) to the boat
were tanks were waiting. The boats accommodated around 16-divers with a DM
for every 6-8 divers. The dive day was morning 8:30AM and afternoon 1:30PM.
I preferred a double tank morning dive but this was not an option. However,
a night dive was offered once/week. Island excursions were available to:
Catalina and Catalinita with lunch on the beautiful Saona Island.
The coral was decent, as was the fish: stingrays, trumpets, puffers,
lions, box, trunk, pipe & a large Jack fish. However the visibility was
not as good as hoped for. The highlights for me were the two wrecks: St
George (105')& Atlantic Princess (42'), along with an exciting first
night dive: Octopus, cuttlefish and moray eels! If you do go, the best DM
is Julie!
(DR). Samana and Punta Cana being acknowledged as other dive sites. We
stayed at the Iberostar hotel, I had a total of 14-dives over a 2-week
period with Dressel Divers an on-site, Belgium company. The instructors
were young, multi-lingual and enthusiastic. Generally I found Dressel to be
a professional operation with training offered at both the OW & AOW
level, but limited in PADI specialty. The dive briefings were informative,
the staff helpful with safety a priority. You dived to their profile and
the dive ended at 750psi. You carried your own gear (50 yards) to the boat
were tanks were waiting. The boats accommodated around 16-divers with a DM
for every 6-8 divers. The dive day was morning 8:30AM and afternoon 1:30PM.
I preferred a double tank morning dive but this was not an option. However,
a night dive was offered once/week. Island excursions were available to:
Catalina and Catalinita with lunch on the beautiful Saona Island.
The coral was decent, as was the fish: stingrays, trumpets, puffers,
lions, box, trunk, pipe & a large Jack fish. However the visibility was
not as good as hoped for. The highlights for me were the two wrecks: St
George (105')& Atlantic Princess (42'), along with an exciting first
night dive: Octopus, cuttlefish and moray eels! If you do go, the best DM
is Julie!
