|
The Dominican Republic has had a lot of changes over the years. I was last there in 1994 diving with the Humpback Whales. The island was dirty and very unfriendly to tourists. It was dangerous to venture out into the city and most places didn’t seem to care if you were there or not. I had my luggage held for ransom at the airport by a baggage handler and when I tried to get help from the policeman on duty he sided with the thief. HOWEVER, all that has made a serious 180 now. You won’t find a more accomodating and friendly place in the Caribbean. The locals go out of their way to help in any way they can and the hotels/ resorts are superbs both in amenities and service. The water is clear and the beaches are spectacular and you couldn’t find a better place to spend a vacation for a landlubber. I can’t recommend it too highly - you can’t beat it.
Unfortunately, for the diver there’s a dark side. The diving is at best mediocre. It can only appeal to the very inexperienced divers with extremely few open water dives. I admit that with over 4000 dives I am a bit jaded but most anytime I am under water I will find something to entertain me and photograph. For the first time I will have to say that was a difficult goal on this trip. There are small pockets of life on the south side around Catalina Island especially around the wrecks but even the wall was sparse in both coral and life. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to go to Soana which is a little more southeast from Catalina along the wall and claims better. The north shore is desolate as far as life and no coral. You can find a few sea fans and some though very sparse fire coral but mostly it’s just rocks and boulders. The water is dirty and low vis because it is on the windward side and quite shallow. Most dives are in the 30 to 40 foot range with surge which keeps the visibility churned up. The only coral you find is very old dead pieces laying on the bottom and obviously killed many years ago.
|
