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Dive Review of Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort in
Dominica/South

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, Jul, 2006,

by Janine Davis, TX, United States . Report 2593.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 1 stars
Service and Attitude 1 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments The Dominicans were sometimes friendly, sometimes downright surly in their attitudes. There is a 15% VAT on EVERYTHING you buy. Also a 10% service charge at all restaurants. So a Sandwich that costs $10 EC (about $3.85 US) will end up costing $ 12.50 EC - add $1.00.
THe restaurant at Castle Comfort was appalling. Food was mediocre and the service abominable. Breakfast was included in our package, and one could select from a limited menu. Fruit and toast as wellas juice and coffee were part of the breakfast. If you had already eaten your allotted fruit and requested a banana (one of our group did just that) the response was NO!

You were requested to order lunch during breakfast, so "it would be ready when you got back from diving) which I did on the first dive day - a tuna sandwich, which was unrefrigerated, and the bread so stale and crusty it had to have been prepared at breakfast time! When I requested wheat bread instead of the stale white, I got the same wilted lettuce and wrm tuna on new bread.

When we asked staff people where else we could eat, we were told that they were not allowed to suggest alternative places. We found a couple anyway - the Green Flash, just south of the lodge about 1/2 mile walk was wonderful.

The dive operation was somewhat better, and the dive crew took care to only take us where there was good visibility and no current. They were courteous, and helped out when asked, but no more than that. They were not all trained, and one poor soul tried to take a BC off a tank by lifting the tank and pulling the BC off from the bottom!

The offered boat night dive is extra, and so is nitrox. Shore diving is free, if you stay at the resort and dive with Dive Dominica.

The island has fabulous waterfalls and rain forests, and on the day prior to departure, we did a tour called Waterfall Mania ($80 US including VAT - not including tip). Saw 8 waterfalls at 3 locations, but some of them were challenging to get to. Wear waterproof shoes (preferably not slip ons). Also, some of the climbing is slippery, but safe enough. Shopping was nonexistent - and expensive, compared to the same items anywhere else I in the Caribbean.

The diving was very good, including the shore dives. My buddy and I opted to skip a day of boat diving when the previous day the boat had gone out with 16 divers and 3 crew - (management response was that the craft was coast guard rated to 24 people) - too many divers for the boat and for me - the first several days there were between 7 - 10 divers.

I am glad I went, but the experience could have been made MUCH better by a little bit of courtesy and had I not had the feeling I was being squeezed for every dime I could afford to give.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Maldives, Wakatobi, KBR, Tasik Ria, (Indonesia), Truk, Palau, Yap, Tahiti, Belize, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, Catalina, Monterey CA, FL, TX, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Costa Rica
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy, cloudy Seas calm, noCurrents
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions 100 foot max depth (Dominican restriction)
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 1 stars
UW Photo Comments Fresh water rinse tank - covered on boat. Adequate area for cameras on one dive boat, minimal on the other. Good macro and healthy corals, but fished out - the largest grouper I saw was about 12".

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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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