Capt Doug
Contributor
Spent a few days in the Dominican. Dreams Palm Beach is an excellent all-inclusive resort. They were very customer friendly and extremely pleasant.
SeaPro Divers was the "house" dive shop offering classes, local dives, and trips to La Romana (Catalina Island). My wife (snorkler) and I did the Catalina trip last Monday. Bus trip across the Island took almost 3 hours because of stops at other hotels and the dive catamaran was absolutely packed. The wall dive was 30' to 100' and there was a mix from beginners to advanced divers. Very painful getting into the water. Extremely clear water, viz was 100+. Wall dive was very mediocre having been the apparent target of too much activity. Reef needs to be closed in sections to recover from the daily mass of divers that have killed most of the coral, etc. Second dive was in 30' to 40' and was pretty but nothing notable was seen in either dive.
Lunch and drinks on Catalina were good and the entertainment crew worked hard to make everyone enjoy the trip. Our tour guide, Alex, was great.
Overall, not worth the bus trip or hauling my gear to the Dominican. I know there are wreck trips out of La Romana which may be more focued on advanced divers, but in my opinion, the SeaPro should focus on new divers.
Dug
SeaPro Divers was the "house" dive shop offering classes, local dives, and trips to La Romana (Catalina Island). My wife (snorkler) and I did the Catalina trip last Monday. Bus trip across the Island took almost 3 hours because of stops at other hotels and the dive catamaran was absolutely packed. The wall dive was 30' to 100' and there was a mix from beginners to advanced divers. Very painful getting into the water. Extremely clear water, viz was 100+. Wall dive was very mediocre having been the apparent target of too much activity. Reef needs to be closed in sections to recover from the daily mass of divers that have killed most of the coral, etc. Second dive was in 30' to 40' and was pretty but nothing notable was seen in either dive.
Lunch and drinks on Catalina were good and the entertainment crew worked hard to make everyone enjoy the trip. Our tour guide, Alex, was great.
Overall, not worth the bus trip or hauling my gear to the Dominican. I know there are wreck trips out of La Romana which may be more focued on advanced divers, but in my opinion, the SeaPro should focus on new divers.
Dug
