Dominica is reputed to have some of the best diving in the world, owing to its clear waters, vertical drop-offs, diverse marine life and the pristine state of its underwater environment.
I got a taster of this when snorkelling off the beach at Scott's Head and Soufriere. Swimming out from the beach, I saw corals and vase sponges on volcanic boulders, attracting schools of small luminiscent blue and yellow fish. And then a few yards further out, I was suddenly floating above a vertical drop-off which I later heard was the edge of an underwater volcanic crater whose depth is several thousand feet.
So, going from snorkeling above to diving along these drop-offs remained firmly on my to-do list whilst in Dominica.
I decided to go scuba diving with the team at the Anchorage Hotel, who also run excellent whale watching excursions (see the featured Whale Watch article).
With scuba gear in hand and walking down the pier from the Anchorage to the dive boat, the calm conditions, blue sky and crystal-clear waters foretold a good day of undersea exploration.
The Anchorage Hotel has several boats used for diving, whale watching and other marine excursions. This includes the Passion catamaran, seen here with the village of Soufriere in the background on a day of sailing.
There is also a large motorboat and a couple of smaller ones, the use of which depends on group size and other excursions going out.
As our group was just me plus a Belgian family of a husband who was diving and wife and children snorkelling, we headed out on one of the small open motor boats. This for me is the fun way to dive.
We headed south along the mountainous coast, to the Soufriere Scott's Head marine reserve, on the southern tip of the island.
It is one of three main areas for diving in Dominica, all being on the sheltered western Caribbean side (the other two being near the coastal communities of Salisbury in the centre and Portsmouth in the north). Soufriere Bay, with its sunken crater, deep walls and pinnacles was the area that I was most interested in exploring.
Our first dive was at a site called Coral Gardens. Anchoring close to shore, we were on a shelf twenty feet deep, with patches of sand and reef that we could see through aquamarine waters from above. Our dive took us from this shelf onto the wall and then down to eighty feet. The massive rock structure was covered in encrusting corals, waving fan corals, huge vase sponges and anemones.
The best way to see marine life was to swim slowly close to the wall and to peer into crevices and overhangs, which hid moray eels, amusing file fish with their disproportionately large head and delicate banded coral shrimp.
To make this dive magical, a hawksbill turtle glided past us on the way to the surface, a few minutes before we reached the boat.
After staying on the surface for our recommended time of about an hour (which was a good chance to sit on the boat in the sun and go snorkeling), we started our second and shallower dive, just up the coast at Champagne. Following the top of the drop-off, the wall here was more indented, with gullies of sand interrupting massive rock formations. Highlights of the dive were a huge spiky crab hiding within a vase sponge, a green moray out of its cave and swimming along a sandy bank, two seahorses amongst branching sponges and small rays camouflaged in sandy areas. Of course, I cannot forget to mention the unique experience, at the end of our dive, of swimming amongst streams of bubbles and patches of hot water, escaping through rocks from an undersea fumarole.
The Anchorage Hotel offers single tank dives for US$55 and double tank dives for US$75. There are also options for snorkeling (US$30), night dives (US$60) and a range of dive courses up to becoming a dive master. All rates are exclusive of taxes and marine park fees. Further information on diving, whale-watching and accommodation on www.anchoragehotel.dm The Anchorage can also offer dives in the centre and north of the island through partner dive operators, and via its sister hotel near Portsmouth, Picard Beach Cottages www.picardbeachcottages.dm
