Graeme Tolton
Contributor
I just spent 1 week at Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. I brought my dive gear down with me with the attitude of "Maybe I will, Maybe I won't, Diving season is in full swing at home". Well, Last wednesday I went to the beach and the water was crystal clear and very calm, a major contrast from the previous 4 days. I decided, if I was going to dive, now was the time. I went to the shop that was affiliated with the resort that I was staying at, Scuba Quatic. They told me that they only did single tank trips in the afternoon, but did 2 tank trips in the mornings. $44 for a single tank (with equip), $87 for 2 tank (with equip). Wanting to make 2 dives that afternoon, I decided to walk further up the beach and stopped at about 3 other shops to find out what they had planned. The prices were either the same or higher at the other shops. Also, none of them offered 2 tank trips in the afternoon. After my hour long walk down the beach, I decided to go with Scuba Quatic for Logistic reasons. When I arrived back at the shop at 1pm with my gear, I was told that I would be diving with open water students... Upset, but determined to get into the water, I decided to go for it. I began to gear up at the shop. After a short briefing from the instructor that was taking us out, we boarded the boat.
In Punta Cana, there is a shipwreck visible from the beach, directly in front of our resort. This is where they took us. It was a german boat, I think a freighter that hit the rocks and sank in 1978. It turns out that myself and 2 other certified divers, one who was doing his advanced course were diving with one instructor in addition to one person doing a "trust me dive".
Of the 2 certified divers in our group, one appeared to be very rusty in his skills and at first needed assistance from the instructor with boyancy, etc. The other certified diver was the one who was doing his advancd course and seemed to have no issues. The guy who was doing the trust me dive, was having his hand helt the entire time by the instructor. Overall the dive went well, we got to see a fair amount of the wreck, including a massive propeller, engines and many of the inner workings. The wreck was badly broken up, but made an interesting dive.
As far as diving conditions on this dive, the visibility was approx 50-60ft. There was a very heavy surge the entire dive. Water temperature was 78 degrees F. Max depth 41ft.
I don't think that this was an appropriate dive site for a trust me dive as the surge could be very hazardous, with many pieces of the wreck posing potential hazards. Although the shallow depths, I would say that this in not a novice dive at all.
After getting back to the shop, I was told that in the morning, the fellow doing his advanced course would be doing his deep dive, followed by a shallower dive for navigation, etc skills.
I decided that I would go on this dive the next morning. The first dive was supposed to be 30M, the second being 12M. Myself, the advanced student, instructor and captain boarded a small boat and headed out to what was supposed to be known as deep blue. When we got to the site, the Instructor hung a 63CF bottle with regs from the bow of the boat. We did our backwards roll entry into the water and began to descend. When we reached the bottom we realized that we were only at 65-70ft water, hardly sufficient depth for an advanced course deep dive.
The dive went smoothly, although there wasn't really a whole lot to see. At the end of the dive, I was approaching the NDL as per my computer. We ascended and did out 3 minute safety stop.
Back on the boat, the instructor switched out our tanks for us, giving us 63cf instead of the 80's that we had been using. After a 17 minute surface interval, we were back in the water at the second dive site, a nice coral reef. On this reef we saw many fish, one huge spiny lobster, a Big grumpy looking moray eel, lots of sea fans and a lot of nice coral formations. After about 40 minutes, the advanced student was low on air, so the instructor took him up to the boat, telling me to wait at the bottom of the mooring line for him. After bringing the student up, he came back down and we dove for another 10 minutes or so. We ascended and completed our safety stops.
I know this has been long winded, but I hope to be informative for anyone considering diving in this location. Overall, I would say the diving was good. However, NOTHING else is included. No water or food were provided at surface intervals, you need to be on top of this yourself here.
Also, if you are bringing your own gear, DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF IT!!. Of all things to be stolen, from my hotel room, my regulator necklace was stolen. Seems strange, but I know it was there when I arrived!
Hope this helps!
Graeme
In Punta Cana, there is a shipwreck visible from the beach, directly in front of our resort. This is where they took us. It was a german boat, I think a freighter that hit the rocks and sank in 1978. It turns out that myself and 2 other certified divers, one who was doing his advanced course were diving with one instructor in addition to one person doing a "trust me dive".
Of the 2 certified divers in our group, one appeared to be very rusty in his skills and at first needed assistance from the instructor with boyancy, etc. The other certified diver was the one who was doing his advancd course and seemed to have no issues. The guy who was doing the trust me dive, was having his hand helt the entire time by the instructor. Overall the dive went well, we got to see a fair amount of the wreck, including a massive propeller, engines and many of the inner workings. The wreck was badly broken up, but made an interesting dive.
As far as diving conditions on this dive, the visibility was approx 50-60ft. There was a very heavy surge the entire dive. Water temperature was 78 degrees F. Max depth 41ft.
I don't think that this was an appropriate dive site for a trust me dive as the surge could be very hazardous, with many pieces of the wreck posing potential hazards. Although the shallow depths, I would say that this in not a novice dive at all.
After getting back to the shop, I was told that in the morning, the fellow doing his advanced course would be doing his deep dive, followed by a shallower dive for navigation, etc skills.
I decided that I would go on this dive the next morning. The first dive was supposed to be 30M, the second being 12M. Myself, the advanced student, instructor and captain boarded a small boat and headed out to what was supposed to be known as deep blue. When we got to the site, the Instructor hung a 63CF bottle with regs from the bow of the boat. We did our backwards roll entry into the water and began to descend. When we reached the bottom we realized that we were only at 65-70ft water, hardly sufficient depth for an advanced course deep dive.
The dive went smoothly, although there wasn't really a whole lot to see. At the end of the dive, I was approaching the NDL as per my computer. We ascended and did out 3 minute safety stop.
Back on the boat, the instructor switched out our tanks for us, giving us 63cf instead of the 80's that we had been using. After a 17 minute surface interval, we were back in the water at the second dive site, a nice coral reef. On this reef we saw many fish, one huge spiny lobster, a Big grumpy looking moray eel, lots of sea fans and a lot of nice coral formations. After about 40 minutes, the advanced student was low on air, so the instructor took him up to the boat, telling me to wait at the bottom of the mooring line for him. After bringing the student up, he came back down and we dove for another 10 minutes or so. We ascended and completed our safety stops.
I know this has been long winded, but I hope to be informative for anyone considering diving in this location. Overall, I would say the diving was good. However, NOTHING else is included. No water or food were provided at surface intervals, you need to be on top of this yourself here.
Also, if you are bringing your own gear, DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF IT!!. Of all things to be stolen, from my hotel room, my regulator necklace was stolen. Seems strange, but I know it was there when I arrived!
Hope this helps!
Graeme
