Dive Review of Dive Dominica/Fort Young in
Dominica

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Dive Dominica/Fort Young, Feb, 2008, by Henry & Carol Ziller, CO, USA ( Top Contributor 38 reports with 21 Helpful votes). Report 4395.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Dominica is not so easy to get to but is well worth the extra trouble. Coming from Colorado we always have to spend an extra night going and returning. We have always opted for spending the nights in San Juan, but hotels are not cheap there so staying in Florida is more reasonable. But San Juan is such a great place to visit! Our last visit to Dominica was in 2002 and we stayed at Castle Comfort. This time we thought we would try Fort Young since it is right down town close to shops and restaurants. This may have been a mistake since there are now two cruise ships per day docking in front of the Fort Young Hotel. It is a good thing they leave before sunset. If you want to do some shore diving the only option is to stay at the Castle Comfort, and the shore diving is really good there. The Fort Young Hotel has a nice pool and three Jacuzzi’s, although only one Jacuzzi worked during our stay. Some of the time we had little water pressure and the temperature would go from hot to only warm bordering on cool in our room. Our friends reported the same in their room. There is a rinse tank at the Ft. Young, and drying racks, and they will store your equipment overnight in the dive shop. When the ships are in Roseau gets really crowded and some of the tours are hard to get signed up for. Tour prices have increased four fold since 2002. Part of the reason to go to Dominica is the above water attractions. In 2002 you could put one to four people on a tour for $50.00 US, and now it is $50.00 US per person. You can do better by bartering with a cab to take you to the sites especially if you know the sites you want to see and don’t need a guide. For $100.00 EC ($2.68 EC = $1.00 US) = ($38.00 US) the four of us were taken to Ti Tou Gorge and Trafalger Falls and back to the Fort Young. That was a good deal. Of course you lose the benefit of a guide that way. Food is still inexpensive. The most we paid for dinner with drinks for two was $108.00 EC ($40.00 US). Kabuli beers (8 ounces) are still $1.50 US. When compared to the rest of the Caribbean, Dominica is very inexpensive. Dive Dominica services the Fort Young Hotel and has some nice large boats with lots of room and all the necessary safety equipment. There was always two buckets, one strictly for cameras. There is a head on the boat, though it is down below deck. Water is available, but we always take a couple bottles of water with us. Water throughout Dominica is safe to drink, even right from any stream. Dive sites served are along the south portion of the island and are at most a half-hour from the hotel. Most have light to no current and lots of small fish. The usual suspects showed up such as frog fish, sea horse, turtles, squid, flat tail eels, etc. Next trip we will probably try the northwest dive sites. The 10 best sites are split five to the north and five to the south, although there was only one dive site we will skip, Coral Garden only had piles of rubble obviously the result of Hurricane Dean 2007.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Micronesia, Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Caymans, Curacao, Tobago, Bahamas, and Florida
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	77-78°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth, time, follow the divemaster, and surface with 500 psi
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	A separate rinse bucket for cameras is provided, but not all divers were aware. The boat we were on is covered so there is a noce dry area for working, but no table or work area provided.

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Dive Review of Dive Dominica/Fort Young in Dominica

Dive Dominica/Fort Young, Feb, 2008,

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 Dive Dominica/Fort Young in
Dominica