Punta Cana But Dive Elsewhere??

[bdklein]

Will be going to AI in April in Punta Cana I am an infrequent certified diver but am comtemplating diving and/or snorkeling one day elsewhere. I think I would need to go south to
Bayahibe or somewhere else? I won't have a car and if a major hassle won't bother either. Any insight to what are my options? Changing where we stay is not an option.

 

[Dhboner]

You can dive in Punta Cana but the reef is pretty beat up and there is a lot of surge most days, but if you can't make it to Bayahibe and you want to get wet it is better than nothing. Most of the Punta Cana hotel dive ops offer a day trip to Catalina Island (near Bayahibe) where you get two dives (a wall dive and a shallow reef) and buffet lunch. They generally take snorkelers too and it is definitely a cattle boat experience. If you can make it down to Bayahibe do yourself a favour and book your diving with ScubaFun. John runs the best shop on the island.

 

[divezonescuba]

If you are staying somewhere on Bavarro Beach in Punta Cana, Pelicano divers will send a power boat to get you from the beach at your hotel and take you back to their shop. They then have a bus that they take everyone on to Bayahibe or Catalina Island. So you don't really need a car. If you buy on their website before the trip you can use a credit card and get a discount.

They only do those trips on certain days. On the other days, shops like Dressel do the same thing, so you may have to go with whatever diveshop is doing it on the day you are available.

In the case of Catalina Island they actually use a third party for the boat. It is a catamaran which is kind of interesting because the tanks are on the outside of the boat. You stand on the outside ledge and put your gear on. The lunch on the island was much better than I would have suspected. Overall, it was well worth the money for the trip. Lastly, you have to go down many steps on the side of a mountain to get down to the boat. We hired a guy to take some of our gear back up for $5.

 

[Jack Hammer]

VIP Divers is also a good choice in the Bavarro Beach area of Punta Cana.

 

[divezonescuba]

On the subject of the strong surge at Bavarro beach.

One moment you are swimming along. About 10 seconds later you are 20 feet somewhere else. In another 10 seconds, you are back were you started. It was the first time I had ever seen anything like that. I always tried swimming in the middle of the troughs in the reef, so I was not thrown against any coral. I ended up finning between surges or during the surge when it was in the direction that I wanted to go.

One day the dive guide saw a pair of grey angle fish. You'd have thought he won the lottery.

Here is a funny story:

While we were on the catamaran going to Catalina Island, I found out that the guy sitting next to me was from the same area of Texas. We struck up a conversation. During the course of that, I asked him how he ended up in the DR. He said that he had asked all of his co-workers, if they could only go to one place in the Caribbean, where would it be. He said that they all responded Punta Cana in the DR. So he then booked his vacation to the DR..

I replied, your co-workers must not like you very much.

 

[Maros]

Bayahibe area is much better for diving than Punta Cana. Is on the southern part of the island where is just Caribbean sea. Current is weaker, visibility is better and much more healthy corals and marine life.

In Bayahibe you will find dive centres that will arrange a transportation for you. If you would come for one day, ask dive centres about their schedule of diving day trips to Catalina Island or Saona Island. The islands are really nice and worth to visit.

In the area is Casa Daniel, ScubaFun, Gri Gri, Coral Point, Uwe Scuba, Dressel and Diving Dominican Republic (Sharky´s Shop). You can find them on TripAdvisor and check the reviews that should help you to choose.