DIVING IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

by Mike Bailey

I've been organising Club trips for many years and during this time we've travelled to many different places. As always, I try to involve as many members is the decision making process as possible, so I put together a brief questionnaire inviting feedback about location, duration, accommodation, board basis, shore-based or live-aboard and time of year.

From the results it was clear that there was no consensus and everyone wanted something different! So I made a decision to select a diving destination that gave each respondent something from his or her own personnel wish list, and hence, the Dominican Republic was chosen, for 7 nights with all-inclusive, shore-based accommodation during April 2002.

I did the usual trawl through dive magazines, viewed Teletext and used the Internet looking for suitable resorts with diving. (What a pity BSAC Travel Club was not up and running at the time, as it would have saved a great deal of time and effort.) Nothing struck me as the place we should visit, so off down the travel agent I went to see what they could offer me. As luck would have it, there were some great deals to resorts in the Dominican Republic, so I settled on the Bahia Principe complex on the North Western side of the island (the Atlantic side). My telephone was red hot as I rang around everyone to confirm his or her place on the trip. With everyone's agreement, I booked 22 places for 22nd to 30th April 2002. We had a mixed ability group consisting of newly qualified Sports divers through to very experienced Advanced divers, with a sprinkling of instructors thrown in for good measure.

I knew from my earlier investigations on the Internet that there were several dive centres along this stretch of the coast, so I contacted each by email to enquire about the diving they offered and the cost. Two out of three responded and each offered shore based and boat diving from a range of locations. From the information I received, it was clear that Northern Coast Aquasports in Sosua offered the most suitable package for us. They not only provided discounted prices, but also suggested an itinerary, which gave us a selection of dives from two different centres, Sosua and Rio San Juan. The basic package was 12 dives (air and weights) with transfers between our resort and the dive centre / dive sites / dive boats. Because of the number of divers we had, two boats were allocated exclusively for our party. The booking was made over the Internet with ease.

We travelled Economy class with Airtours International and had direct flights from Gatwick to Puerto Plata. We had the usual hassle of checking in overweight bags; even though we had written confirmation that an extra baggage allowance of 10kG each had been agreed beforehand with the airline. Legroom was at a premium as always and the food was edible but not spectacular. Still, this was a minor inconvenience. Onward transfer took another 60 minutes to the resort of Bahia Principe where we were greeted with smiling faces and a glass of local rum.

The resort was right on the beach and had plenty of planned activities if you wanted them. There are 4 swimming pools, various hot tubs, 4 restaurants and many bars. Even the minibar in the room was free as part of our all-inclusive package. Rooms had air conditioning and were cleaned each day. There was no shortage of sunbeds or seats on weekdays, but at weekends the resort was full to bursting point and space was limited. There is a dress code for the restaurants, so avoid sleeveless shirts or bikini tops. For dinner men need long trousers in certain restaurants. Otherwise it's a very relaxed and informal place.

Main roads are passable but full of potholes and the locals don't have to pass a driving test so the standard of driving leaves a lot to be desired. Whole families travel on small motorbikes, so it's not unusual to see Mum, Dad and 2 or 3 kids riding on a Honda 50 all stacked up one behind the other. There is extreme poverty in places, which you only see if you venture off the resort. Mobile phones (triband) will work in Bahia Principe resort, although the cost of calls to the UK is quite high, something like £1 a minute.

On the first morning we were collected by minibus as planned and taken to Northern Coast Aquasports in Sosua where log books were checked and paperwork was completed, prior to issuing cylinders and weights. It is not essential to have a medical for the Dominican Republic, but if you don't have one you will be required to self certify your fitness to dive.

Day 1 consisted of two checkout dives in Sosua Bay. Both were boat dives and the first was a 20m dive for 38 minutes at Paradise Reef, which had lots of coral and sponges but few fish. The second was a 17m dive for 48 minutes at the Canyon, which had loads of small fish. The dives were very easy in warm, clear water. The dive centre were more than happy with our competence and confidence in the water, so were more than willing to put us on any of the dive sites. Subsequent dives were arranged at the end of the preceding day, so we always knew what was planned for the next day.

The Divemaster's all spoke English, or should I say American English, and each day began with a briefing about the particular dive we were about to do. Safety was always considered and included in the brief prior to diving. The diving was generally 'follow the leader' in style, with a Divemaster leading and another trailing behind. However, as the week progressed this became more relaxed and we had more freedom to explore.

Both boats carried oxygen and had radios. There was also an ample supply of fresh bottled water in the icebox. The deck was partly open and partly shaded, so you could sit in or out of the sun. Kit was generally removed in the water and passed up to the crew and a short ladder was available for those who were unable to haul themselves back into the boat. The Divemasters preferred to dump there kit over the side of the boat, jump in, and then kit up in the water, rather than do what we did, which was to kit up first and then jump in. I'm sure our method was much safer.

The Dominican Republic can be affected by hurricanes during the summer and autumn months, so we chose to go in April to avoid any such problems. The daytime weather was generally warm (30°C) and dry with occasional light rain. Most rain came at night, but not every night. We had one day when the wind picked up and the swell came up with it, but it didn't stop us diving, we simply dived in a more sheltered spot.

The sea life around the Dominican Republic is generally very safe with the occasional Scorpion fish perched on a rock, so nothing really to worry about, just stick to the usual rules - get your buoyancy right and don't touch anything and you'll be OK. The biggest hazard was the fact that we were at an all-inclusive resort and all the drinks were free, so there was a very high risk of over indulgence. Combined with the very warm weather there was a great risk of dehydration and as we all know, you don't want to be diving in this condition. A couple of our group succumbed to the demon drink, and as a result, didn't dive the next day.

Because the resort was big and catered for all nationalities, there was always a choice of food available and plenty of it. European food was widely available. Drinks tended to be local varieties, so none of the major brands will be found here.

We did 12 dives altogether (all on air, as nitrox is not available) ranging in depth from 13m to 35m with horizontal visibility averaging about 40m. Sea temperature was 26°C, so a shortie was all that was needed. Every dive had corals, sponges and small fish, but very few large fish were to be seen, however, I saw my very first seahorse in the wild. It was about 4" tall, orange in colour and clinging to a coral stem at about 10m.

Of all the dives we did, 3 stood out for me. In third place was the wreck of the Zingara. She is only 45m long but access to all areas is possible, so you can enter the engine room, the hold, the bridge etc. There was plenty of fish life inside her too. At 35m this was the deepest dive we did, but with visibility being 40m plus you could see the whole wreck as you descended upon her. In second place was the Arches at Rio San Juan. Spectacular scenery with lots of fish, caves, overhangs, arches and many different corals and sponges. At an average depth of 25m we managed a 40 minute dive here.

However the best dive of all was the Pescina, where the maximum depth was a mere 14m but the proliferation of fish was amazing. This site certainly rivals some Red Sea locations for its variety and quantity of life and it's so shallow. We dived for over 50 minutes here and never got bored. For this dive we launched the boat at Gri Gri Lagoon, which for me was the best launch site I've ever encountered. We were picked up by boat from the El Mangle restaurant in the middle of a mangrove forest, with vultures drying their wings up in the treetops, with piranha fish in the lagoon and tree frogs on every tree root, with the sun picking its way through the trees causing the lagoon to shimmer. Our boats weaved their way through the trees and out into open water. It really was something special. This was a spectacular launch site and, guess what, we had it all to do again on the way back in. So with a great dive and a great launch site, this was without doubt my favourite days diving in the Dominican republic, but also one of my favourites of all time.

Mike Bailey.
Photographs by Geoff Bayley.

Mike Bailey
BSAC Advanced Diver / Advanced Instructor, Training Officer, Hereford Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC Branch 0633). Tel: 01432 272526. Email: mike.bailey2@ukonline.co.uk.

Geoff Bayley
BSAC Advanced Diver / Open Water Instructor, Diving Officer, Hereford Sub-Aqua Club. Tel: 01432 272900. Email bayleyelectrical@btconnect.com.

Cost
The cost of the trip was £890 each, which included UK travel, insurance, flights, accommodation, entry visa, departure tax, resort transfers and all diving. There were no extras to pay.

Travel
Travel was arranged through Going Places in Hereford and we were able to get good discounts because of the number in the group. The tour operator was Airtours.

Resort
Bahia Principe, San Juan, Dominican Republic

Insurance
Diving and travel insurance was booked direct with Holman Insurance Brokers Ltd (Buddy). Tel: 0870 905 6569. Fax: 01628 730490. Email: info@buddyindepth.co.uk.

Diving
Diving was booked direct with Northern Coast Aquasports, 8 Pedro Clisante, Sosua, Dominican Republic. Tel: (809) 571-1028. Fax: (809) 571-3883. Email: northern@codetel.net.do. We got 2 free dive packages and a 20% discount off the normal dive package price for everyone else, simply by booking direct and having a large group.