Dive Review of Nature Island Dive/Galette Cottage in
Dominica/Scotts Head Area

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Nature Island Dive/Galette Cottage, Mar, 2005, by Darren Dawson, SC, USA . Report 1645.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	You can download a slideshow and a longer pdf version of the trip report with blow by blow accounts of the diving at web page. Search for Darren Dawson on Yahoo. Overview: We took our first trip to Dominica in March 2005, and Darren and I agreed that the diving here was the best diving we have done to date in comparison to Grand Cayman (North and East End), Little Cayman, Belize (Lighthouse Atoll), Hawaii (Kona), Bonaire, Cozumel, Utila and the Bahamas. The most outstanding feature of diving here is the breath-taking color on the reefs, which are literally covered with large sponges and corals of every color imaginable, most with crinoids growing in and around them. A wide angle lens is a must here for photographers. The visibility was not great while we were there; while you could see about 50 feet on most dives, it was not extremely clear as there seemed to be a good bit of particulate floating in the water. Despite this, we still were awestruck by the breathtaking colors here. We dove with Nature Island Divers (NID) in the southern village of Soufriere and stayed at a nearby cottage owned by the dive shop. We found NID to be among the most accommodating dive operations we have experienced (they tried to go to the sites we requested each day and they took us out on multiple night boat dives, even with just the two of us as customers). Also, NID is located on the Soufriere/ScottsHead Bay, which offers the best diving on the island. All of our dives were conducted in and around the bay, so boat rides were usually between 5-15 minutes and we always returned to the shop between dives for our surface interval. Our stay was limited to one week, so we did not explore the interior of the island, which is known for great hiking and beautiful waterfalls. Town/Lodging/Dining: Soufriere is a small fishing village without much in the way of accommodations or restaurants. It is located near the southwestern end of the island, about a mile from the last village on the island, ScottsHead. The town itself is not particularly attractive, with make-shift shacks and abandoned or neglected buildings on every street, and chickens and dogs freely roaming around town. There are no sandy beaches as the shoreline is composed of smooth stones. The closest town within walking biking distance is ScottsHead, and it was very similar. By and large, we did not find the indigenous people in this area to be overly friendly to tourists, though there were some exceptions. This part of the island is not known is not a tourist destination, and many people stay in hotels in the larger city of Rousseau about 20 minutes north of Soufriere. However, since we were here to dive, we chose to stay in Soufriere and would definitely do so again. We stayed in the upper apartment at NID’s Gallette Cottage on the bay. The cottage was nice, similar to a small lake cabin here in the States, with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and den, and a covered porch overlooking the ocean. There is no A/C, but we never needed it. The windows and the louvered panels in the bedroom and den allowed for plenty of cool air. Photos are included in the slideshow and are also available on the NID website. The only downside is that the road between Soufriere and ScottsHead runs about 5 feet behind the cottage, so you do get some traffic noise and the waves at night can also be quite loud, so you may want to bring earplugs (we used them). The dive shop provided us with bicycles to travel back and forth from the shop to the cottage, a trip of about 4-5 minutes. Diving: We were most impressed by the color on the reefs and the large sponges and corals. The dive sites consisted of walls and pinnacles for the deeper dives, and scattered coral heads in the shallower areas. There were some macro critters, but not as many here as other places like Bonaire. We found one juvenile seahorse and one adult, but the frogfish were nowhere to be seen on this trip – they seem to be in hiding at this time. We didn’t see any large animals (no turtles or sharks, etc.) but there were schools of small fish, and always large schools of blackbar soldierfish in the swim-throughs at ScottsHead Pinnacle. Among the most common fish we saw during the day were parrotfish, damselfish, drums, chromis, longsnout butterflyfish, trumpetfish, trunkfish, scorpionfish, grunts and squirrelfish. We saw very few angelfish, and only occasional butterflyfish other than the longsnout. On the night dives, we saw numerous lobsters and crabs of many varieties and occasionally squid; no octopus. Our favorite divesites included ScottsHead Pinnacle, Condo, Crater’s Edge and the Abyss. NID has 3 covered pontoon boats (1 large and two medium-sized), allowing for very smooth rides to the dive sites, most of which are between 5 and 15 minutes from the dock. The divemasters set up our gear each day and took our gear between the boat and the dive shop, which is located just a short walk across the street from the dock. Our main divemasters during the week were Wefee and Oscar. Tony took us on one night dive and Simon dove with us on our last day. Selwyn served as our boat captain most days. All of these guys were great – they let us go at our own pace but also pointed out interesting fish, critters, etc.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman (North and East End), Little Cayman, Belize (Lighthouse Atoll), Hawaii (Kona), Bonaire, Cozumel, Utila and the Bahamas.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas
Water Temp	77-79°F / 25-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	none
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
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Nature Island Dive/Galette Cottage in Dominica/Scotts Head Area

Nature Island Dive/Galette Cottage, Mar, 2005,

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 Nature Island Dive/Galette Cottage in
Dominica/Scotts Head Area