Hi All: I did end up diving with CDL from Aug. 22-26, and they were everything promised and more! I don't know if my experience was unusual for late August, but the diving and weather were both fantastic. Unfortunately for CDL there were never more than 6 guests diving while I was there
Luckily Continental flies direct from Newark, and leaving on a Thursday my flight was on $360 r/t...that and a summer discount from CDL made it a very economical trip...a lot of diving for the dollar.
The lodge provided excellent food and the DMs were superb, giving detailed profiles and showing excellent familiarity with the sites. The rooms are nothing to write home about, but you don't spend much time in them...I would have liked a phone in my room, but perhaps I was better off isolated from New York
It rained a little each morning, usually clearing up by the time we were in gear, and it was cloudy a few afternoons, but the water was a jacuzzi-like 87 degrees.
We were never more than 20 minutes from a dive site, and rarely saw any other boats except for Ocean Frontiers once or twice. Most of the time you're within eyesight of the lodge, although you have to take a 10-minute detour each time up the lagoon to the channel through the barrier reef...small price to pay.
Tremendously varied macro stuff on all the walls...Three Sisters and Pat's Wall were standout morning dives, and int he afternoon Ironshore Gardens was a packed aquarium...I never saw schools of hundreds of Black Durgon before, and the Rainbow and Stoplight Parrotfish were larger and less-intimidated than anywhere else I've been. The Barracuda and Tarpon in Grouper Grotto were startling. Not as many sharks as I would have liked but you can't have everything...at least we saw a few turtles.
[a few pics are posted on
http://www.enigmedia.com/scuba.htm]
There are a lot of swim-throughs and labyrinths to entertain the adventurous, but you generally want to get to the outside of the walls as quickly as possible, or stay on top where the action is.
Night-diving the CDL dock was terrific...lots of squid, lobsters, yellow rays, puffers and scorpionfish.
You ARE isolated on the East End...there's literally nothing within walking distance worth exploring. Having been to GC before and toured the island I didn't mind the isolation, but you literally sleep, eat and dive on this trip.
GSM and TDMA phones work there, so some US-only phones will work fine there (my Nextel service didn't). You can't use an MCI calling card there, and Cable&Wireless's rates are excessive.
After 14 dives I started to get a sense of deja vu, although I'm sure if I stayed longer the staff would've found some unique sights for me. If I HAD to go back to the same location twice it would either be CDL or Saba. Highly recommended!