I have recently returned from a 2 week trip to the Dominican Republic
where my wife and I vacationed and I dove. I haven’t seen many trip
reports from there so I thought I would describe ours. The quick summary
is that it is a beautiful country with very friendly people. It is the
most third world place we have been, though. We stayed one week on the
north shore in the town of Cabrette at a time share exchange. I dove in
the next town over, Sosua, with North Shore Diving.
http://www.northerncoastdiving.com/ They were a very good operation. The
diving was so-so. The reefs are not in very good shape, fish life was
plentiful and varied, but all small fish. I saw lots of different kinds
of eels and lots of other fish, even squid, which I have never seen
before. I dove four days with them
We then drove to LaRomana on the south shore and stayed at Santana Beach
Resort, an all inclusive. It was our first time at an all inclusive. The
resort was very nice, but the food and beach were not so great. (I would
not advise anyone driving long distances in the Dominican Republic
unless you know Spanish.) I dove with Circe Divers for three days.
http://www.circewatersports.com/ They weren’t very busy- it was off
season so it was just me and the dive master who was one of the owners.
That is great when you want to take pictures. We dove Catalina Island
and Bayahebe. The diving was superb, the reefs as good as I have seen
anywhere. Lots of soft coral and anemones, huge hard corals and sponges
and plentiful fish life. I saw more high hats on the last dive of the
last day (at Catalina Island) than I have in my whole life and more
spotted drums than I have on any dive trip. I would highly recommend it
to anyone. I have my pictures up on the web at:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~elliotg/