Dive Dominica

One morning, I caught the local minibus to Roseau and then along the Castle Comfort seafront to Dive Dominica at the Castle Comfort Lodge.

The sea was flat and, before diving, I went for a quick snorkel in the clear waters just off the pier.

On volcanic rock boulders were sponges and sea whips and under the pier large schools of striped sergeant majors and shiny blue wrasse.

Castle Comfort Lodge, with its 14 rooms, gardens and plunge pool on the waterfront, was one of the first hotels in Dominica, and is still owned and managed by the third generation of the Perryman family. They were also the first dive operators, starting up Dive Dominica in the mid 1980s.

Nowadays, Castle Comfort Lodge is very much a dive lodge. When I was getting ready to go out, Daniel Perryman was speaking to a group of divers who had flown in from the US for a week-long dive package.

I was impressed with their set-up and efficient, professional, friendly approach.

The US dive group headed off on the Arienne, a 36ft power catamaran for up to 20 divers, while on the Yan Yan, a 30 ft sedan for ten people, I joined a couple of divers who had been picked up from the Fort Young Hotel, along with the friendly crew made up of Captain Stinger and the dive masters Benton and Odell.

We headed along the coast towards the Soufriere Scott's Head marine reserve.  

High above, flew frigatebirds, which can spend days in the air, riding the thermals over the sea.

We anchored just off the rock pinnacle of Scott’s Head, on the southwestern tip of Dominica, where the Atlantic ocean and Caribbean sea meet.

Here, there was a fisherman on a rock surrounded by sea, casting off into waters above the drop-off.

Odell and Benton, after our briefing, were ready to go in.

We jumped into waters of the Scott’s Head Point dive site. Looking down, I saw that we were half over a flat rock ledge 15 feet deep and half over the deep blue sea, dropping to several thousand.

Expelling the air from our buoyancy control devices, we descended down the side of the wall to 60 feet.

What caught my attention on this gentle drift dive were colonies of five-foot-tall black sea fans, shaped like a flat branching tree and covered by individual white polyps, each with eight tentacles filtering microscopic organisms from the sea. All over the rocks were feathery white bryozoans, busily filtering water through their feathery gills and then quickly retreating back into their protective casing, when I swam close. Huge yellow, green and orange vase and barrel sponges protruded from the vertical rock face, and typical of Dominica were the feathery prehistoric Crinoids.

All over the place were colourful reef fish: clown-like triggerfish crushing coral in their mouth, miniscule gobys clinging onto rocks, yellow and blue chromis flitting like confetti above a coral-head, four-eye butterflyfish couples keeping in touch as they explored the reef for food. Then there was a green moray spotted by another diver, which had retreated into its cave by the time I got there. Further on, I spent time looking at delicate white and red banded coral shrimp, standing proud at the entrance of their home.

Our second dive was across the bay, below the cliffs near Soufriere.

At the base of the grey volcanic cliffs were calm green waters.

The site is called Witches Point (also known as La Sorciere), named after a local legend that speaks of witches who lived in the forests above the cliffs.

Again, we followed a wall, this time shallower, at 45 feet. In places, the wall turned into areas of pinnacles, sand gullies and rubble. Of note here were three hawksbill turtles. Two had wedged themselves under corals and seemed to be resting- one had its mouth half open, with a cleaner fish pecking at the corners. Another hawksbill swam alongside me, just fifteen feet away, for a good couple of minutes before it went up for some air.

I also noticed numerous round patches of intense purple on flat rocks. Inspecting closely, I saw that they were fish eggs, and later on I saw that they were providing a feast for groups of hungry fish. 

Just before ascending, we gathered below the boat. In the sandy bottom, we spotted the outline and two protruding black eyes of an electric ray, a memorable end to a great dive. 

Dive Dominica offers the whole range of dive options, from a single tank dive up to dive courses, Nitrox diving and 7 night dive and accommodation packages. All details on www.castlecomfortdivelodge.com 

Anchorage Dive

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

Champagne Beach

A fifteen minute drive south of Roseau on the way to Soufriere is a place called Champagne Beach.

It has a rocky shoreline and steep slopes, on which large green iguanas live.

The clue to the attraction here is in the name. In shallow waters, streams of bubbles rise to the surface from the seabed. Produced by the geothermal activity underground, these bubbles create a unique and fun experience of snorkelling amongst corals, sponges and schools of colourful reef fish in a champagne environment. 

Underwater Champagne, Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée Dominica.

Northwest coast

It's easy to get around the island by minivan buses (although for some smaller and more remote locations you have to wait longer for the minivan to fill up in Roseau- and occasionally there are only one or two a day to the smallest of places). 

One day I caught a bus at the new market in town, heading up the west coast. Swerving around corners and jolting along to reggae music, every so often we'd pass through a fishing village on the narrow strip of land below steep mountains, or cross over a river meeting the sea. 

This is Salisbury beach, one of several on the island which is sandy (most are formed of round rock boulders), where the first bus ended its route.

Nearby and walking towards Mero beach, I passed a rum distillery. Piles of pressed sugar canes were outside and steam rose from the distillery building. I was interested by this one- there was a Shillingford from Dominica in my MBA class.

Prince Rupert Bay in the northwest, a favourite for yachties setting anchor for a few days whilst sailing around the islands. In the background is the small town of Portsmouth (originally intended by the British to be the capital of Dominica, but halted by the high incidence of malaria).

Old fish trap washed onshore.

The cannons at 18th century Fort Shirley, built on a strategically important peninsula jutting out to sea, and with a view of Guadeloupe where the French were (and still are) based. The fort has recently been restored and it forms part of the Cabrits National Park, which also holds some good diving spots.

The officer's house and an old mango tree (possibly a couple of hundred years old), planted by British soldiers while the fort was still being used. School-children on a visit to the fort were jumping up to try to get almost ripe mangos on low branches.

In Portsmouth, there is a great fruit service.

Fisherman's house behind the beach.

A clever sign.

Yachts in the bay.

A rusting ship.

Rope on a palm.

Scott's Head

Scott's Head, reached by minivan bus from town (twenty minutes, 4 East Caribbean dollars) is at Dominica's extreme southwest tip. 

A remnant of an old volcano and its crater, it has an old fort on the hill once used by the British to fight off the French, a fishing village (and lots of Tuna, Kingfish and Mahi Mahi being brought in), a rocky beach, incredible snorkelling in clear waters with a vertical drop-off to 2000 metres just offshore, and a couple of small beach-side restaurants selling fried fish. 

You can see why I came back here several times.