Dominica / Special Interests / Diving

By Stephen Thorpe

Dominica is forging an enviable reputation for the quality of its dive sites and hosts an annual, long running Dive Fest every July. As all the underwater people attest here “ the wonders below are just as grand as those above”. The three west coast marine reserves are testament to the value of its underwater heritage while Scuba Diving magazine awarded it No 1 status for Healthiest Marine Environment and third globally for the Top Dive destination recently. Regularly in the top ten and the undisputed dive capital of the eastern Caribbean with over forty sites, the sea life is staggering, and reefs are in spectacular condition at a time when others worldwide are severely degraded, even around the Caribbean.

During Dive Fest, the Dominica Watersports Association (DWA) run photographic seminars and workshops as part of some very reasonable priced packages, including use of state-of-the-art ‘sealife cameras’ to capture incredible images quite close to shore, on walls dropping sheer to 1500 feet.

Dive Sites

The prime sites are all on the west side of the island:

Soufriere-Scotts Head Marine Reserve, embracing the stunning Champagne Reef and its submerged volcanic vents or fumaroles, “where the sea sings” as one observer had it, also has separate fishing priority, recreation and nursery zones. At Scotts Head, staghorn and brain coral reefs overlook dramatic drop-offs and walls with caves, the Pinnacle, Swiss Cheese Archway and volcanic crater formations offering tremendous scope for novice and experts alike. At L’Abym across the bay an eroded volcanic cone provides another exceptional wall dive and everywhere on the island visibility is classed as ‘windowpane’ which translates as very good and normally over fifty feet, with limited drift or currents. Water temperatures are around 27 degrees Celsius.

Cabrits Marine Reserve in the north-west at Portsmouth surrounds the historic Fort Shirley National Park and has several sites like Douglas Point, the Cannon Wreck, Five Finger Rock, Rose Garden, Point Break and the hot submarine springs at Plume Plateau; Secret Beach at Ti Baye and Toucari Bay to the north are good snorkelling spots.

The Salisbury Marine Reserve on the mid west coast contains several highly regarded dives like Whale Shark Reef, Mero, Rena’s Hole, and Nose Reef with Barry’s Dream and Brain Coral Reef nearby at Castaways. Rodney’s Rock is further south.