Dive Review of ALDive/Cruise ship in
Dominica

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ALDive/Cruise ship, Dec, 2011, by Robert Smithson, CA, US ( 1 report). Report 6377.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I was on a two-week cruise with my girlfriend and I wanted to dive at a few locations. I was finding that the cruise lines padded the cost of the excursions a bit, so I decided to find a dive operator on my own. I read a lot of good things here about Dive Dominica, but quickly found out after contacting them that they would not allow me to dive with them since they contract out to the cruise line. I read a couple of reviews here for ALDive and chose them. It was a good choice as the experience was great. Turns out I met my dive buddy on the ship and the other three that joined us were also from the ship. Billy (the owner) was great as well and got everyone set up with rental gear (I had my gear with the exception of tanks, weights and wetsuit). The gear looked used, but not overly so--everyone commented that the rental worked well, with one exception--our one female diver's BCD had a very slow leak, but she was fine with it and didn't bother her at all. One diver had dived with ALDive before and noticed a new dock--a huge improvement from before where boarding the boat was a bit treacherous on the rocky shore. Bobby and Alan were our crew and they took us out in a small boat, but we could have squeezed a couple more on board if needed. A very comfortable ride out to the marine reserve at Scott's Head Point at the southmost part of the island with a total of seven passengers and crew. There were some pretty major currents there and a safety line was put to good use. We could have used a better weight check as a couple of us weren't properly weighted, but we got it under control quickly. After a descent to about 20 feet, the drop off took us down to about 95 feet. I burned through my tank in about 40 minutes since I was preoccupied with all of the things to photograph. Lots of fantastic coral and sponges with small schools of snapper, trumpets and various tropicals swirling around us. During the surface interval, we were treated to fresh fruit from Bobby's own trees. The second dive brought us to the Champagne Reef. That was the best dive of the day for me, maxing out under 70 feet for close to an hour of bottom time. I added a bit more weight and that made it perfect for controlling my movements better while taking photos. We made our way along a shear cliff face covered with amazing coral and sponges. All kinds of fish here...parrots, snapper, angels, etc. Found a huge crab jammed back in a little cave. Some puffers, morays, shrimp, and trumpet fish zooming around. Then we made our way to Chamagne Reef...amazing watching the bubbles rising from the underground hot springs. A fun day of diving was had by all. If you want a more intimate experience, I'd recommend ALDive in Dominica.
Websites	ALDive
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	26-50 dives
Where else diving	Bahamas, Aruba, Virgin Islands, Catalina
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, surge, currents
Water Temp	81-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No diving below 100 ft.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	They didn't have any rinse tanks for my camera on board, but the guys were nice enough to rinse my case with a large bottle of drinking water--all was good.

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Dive Review of ALDive/Cruise ship in Dominica

ALDive/Cruise ship, Dec, 2011,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of ALDive/Cruise ship in
Dominica