Arguably the best all-around adventure vacation island in the Caribbean, with gorgeous reefs, plenty of tropicals (not much of eating size), lush rain forests, hiking, waterfalls, warm water springs, splendid fruits and vegetables (prepared by great local cooks), modest hotels, inexpensive. . . . no beaches; even seaside hotels affected by cloud cover, nothing happening but polite residents leading their lives; little tourism infrastructure; airport doesn't handle large jets. . . . Days in the 80 's, nights: 68 in winter, 73 in summer, but a few minutes up the mountain, into the cloud forest, it changes dramatically. . . . wet season July to November, but showers may occur anytime; at the edge of the hurricane belt. Thirteen mile round trip hike to Boiling Lake is worth getting in condition for. Operations offer two dives in the morning so you can tour the afternoons. . . .

Anchorage Divers/Anchorage Hotel, January 1997, Peter Hartlove, Longmont, CA. "Water: 78 to 81 degrees; Vis: 60 to 80 feet. Consistently good diving for Caribbean. Divemaster Miguel, Corney and Mikael were excellent, patient with our group, found the good stuff for us; they rinse all gear, inside of BCs and wash with soap! Food good and varied, hotel staff very nice, rooms comfortable. Bring current converter­­dive shop has one 110 volt out let so you'll probably use your rooms 220 volt. Minimal photo gear and one cooler on the boat for cameras. Corney found the first frog fish since the hurricane. Weather was overall nice with daily showers."

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort Lodge, January 1997, Gloria Davis, St. James MO. "Water 80 to 82 degrees, vis: 50 to 80 feet. Lodge friendly and clean but very small. If you are stuck in one of the back rooms noise from street will assure that you will get very little sleep; ask for ocean view room and hope one of the neighboring resorts aren't having a party when you want to sleep. For this reason I would probably stay at the Evergreen next door, larger and with a pool, better chance of getting room away from the street. Food was good but if you are a meat and potatoes kind of guy you will walk away unsatisfied from dinner: island fare with fish or one other choice, usually lamb or chicken. . . . First class dive operation, great boats, lost of room and working heads. From 3 to 12 divers on a boat, divemasters open to where you want to dive. Briefing good, separate rules for computer and tables divers; want you back on board in an hour. Boats are moored with some current on some dives but mostly easy diving with lots to look at but no fish over 6 feet long. Seahorses at Champagne dive site, orange ball anemone on shore dive in front of resort, lost of spotted drums, eels, stonefish, an octopus. . . . Whale watch with Dive Dominica a must, first day out saw no whales but were in a school of 300 to 400 dolphins who put on a show. Went out again saw a dozen sperm wales and got within 50 feet on one pair, they just popped up beside the boat. With them for over an hour and half and saw them breach, fluke and spout and listened to them communicate under water with the hydrophone, really awesome. . . . Staff from Derrick on down was great. Dive boats and tour buses left on time. Island tours are a must, spectacular terrain on land as under the sea. Island was clean and people were friendly. Take the bus to Scott's Head, a little fishing village with the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other. Beautiful. . . . No Biting Bugs!!! We were there 8 days, used no repellent and only had 3 very minor bites between the two of us."

Dive Dominica/Evergreen Hotel, February 1997, Claire Keyes, Pittsburgh, PA. "Diving pleasant and easy. Dive operation better than most. Organized, on time and able to accommodate us as well as cruise ships. Reefs are pristine and easily accessible by short boat ride. More fish than I've seen in a long time, but visibility not the greatest. vis: 60 ft. water: 79 degrees. Few divers, so not much competition for sites. Food expensive and well prepared, but limited for those spending even a week. Good hiking and lots of waterfalls on this mountainous island competing with cruise ships to get to the sites. Dominica is newly opened to these ships since some islands are still recovering from the hurricanes and the lines needed additional stops for their passengers."

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort/Fort Young Hotel, March 1997, Jim Urquhart, Phoenix, AZ. "Derek Perryman operates a great dive operation! Stayed at Fort Young Hotel. Nice place, but would stay at Anchorage Hotel next time. Anchorage has decent chow and a great barbecue on Thursday. Night life with locals at Club de Cave ok. Never felt threatened. Friendly folks, avoid downtown though when cruise ships in: too many hawkers and crowds. Rent a car and see the island! Great hiking, Emerald Pool, Trafalger Falls, Boiling Lake. (Take powerbars and water for Boiling Lake and hire a guide. Recommend Ken's Hinterland Tours). . . . Great macro opportunities: frogfish, sea horses, batfish, eels, scorpionfish. Rodneys Rock; Incredible macro's . Champagne interesting dive or snorkel. vis: 50-100 ft. water: 80-82 degrees. American Eagle has only one flight/day from SJU so don't show late to airport. Don't miss the marketplace on Saturday, very colorful."

Dive Dominica/Evergreen Hotel, August 1997, Alan & Barbara Fischl, Great Neck, NY. "Island spectacular. Rain forest and waterfalls, wonderful hikes to Trafalgar Falls. People are lovely, friendly and helpful. 3 or 4 very nice dive sites off the southwestern side in the marine park. Other sites just OK, certainly not the greatest in the Caribbean. Divemasters helpful in pointing out sea horses, frog fish and scorpion fish, big hawksbill turtles. Current on some sites. The Castle Comfort dive operation is well run and concerned about protecting the marine park reefs, as well they should. vis: 50-60 ft. water: 84-85 degrees. Dive restrictions enforced were 100 ft. and one hour for the first dive and 50 feet for one hour for the second dive. . . . Evergreen pretty nice, although our shower in our room was usually a trickle and couldn't be fixed. Service at the restaurant is a bit uneven and the food was excellent at breakfast, fair at dinner and awful at lunch. Don't miss the hikes in the rain forest. They are truly great."

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, June 1997, Alan Mack, Marina Del Rey, CA. "Water 79 degrees, depth limits 80 feet and 90 feet. Pristine gorgeous coral. Large turtles, sea horse. Similar to Bonaire but more fish and walls just off the shore. Lovely people; excellent dive boats and operation. "Scotts Head Pinnacle" sensational dive - tons of fish over the abyss."

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, July 1997, Bill, Charlene, Matt & Steven Wheeler, Richmond, VA. "Castle Comfort Lodge is owned by Derek Perryman and his family. We four were the only guests and the Perrymans made us feel like family. Took all our meals in the dining room which overlooks the water. The lodge has ten rooms with five more under construction. Our rooms were ocean view and shared a wall with the dining room. Each morning we rolled out of bed, walked around the corner for breakfast. Boat goes at 9 am for a two tank dive on the leeward side, usually to the north end of the island. Big fish are scarce, however, the abundance of coral and macro critters was overwhelming. Photographed 6 to 8 different types of nudibranchs on each dive. Found 2 sea horses and 3 to 5 frogfish on every dive. Coral pristine and varied. Saw only two other divers the entire week, and the reef reflected the minimal intrusion. Night dives once a week, but when we asked for extra night dives, Derek arranged a boat for the three of us. . . . Champagne is a volcanically active area where hot water and bubbles of steam come through the coral and sand, like diving in a hot tub. On a cold night dive we wanted to stay in the bubbles. Scott's Head Pinnacle spectacular; waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean mix to provide a rich nutrient broth for a vast variety of corals and fish. There were ripples in the water where the differing salinity of the sea and ocean mixed, so that the area looked like a desert mirage on a hot day. The dive boat returned at 1 pm each day, and the Perrymans had lunch ready. At 2 pm Ken's Hinterland Adventure Tours picked us up and took us over tiny mountain roads and into the rain forest. The center of the island is a mile high, minimally active volcano. It rains on the mountain top all the time. There are 365 named rivers on this 20 mile long island. We were guided on 3 to 5 mile hikes to waterfalls, gorges and pools where we could swim with the locals, the crabs and the crayfish. Some pools were hot and some were cold."

Dive Dominica, July 1997, John and Betsy Robinson, New Vernon, NJ. "Personalized operation. Take your gear, store it, bring it to boat, set it up, take it off, rinse it, store it. Boats leave at 9:00 A.M., allowing leisurely breakfast. Dive sites 15-20 minutes. Profiles 60-80 feet for 60 minutes, 60 minute surface interval, 60 for 60 second dive. Boat anchors in 15-20 feet of water, allowing for safety stop. DM's outstanding. Briefings comprehensive, dives loosely guided, with divemasters finding frog fish to sea horses to brittle stars to slipper lobsters. Extensive knowledge of marine biology, range of PADI courses. vis: 50-75 ft. water 78 degrees. Soft coral reefs are rich and varied. Scotts Head Pinnacles: majesty of cliffs, reefs and drop-offs of biblical proportions. Schools of rainbow runners provided the curtain for two gigantic swim-through. I expected to hear a cathedral organ at any minute."

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, July 1997, Marsha Goldstein, Farmington, NM. "After years of Caribbean diving, I was bored. Dominica resparked my enthusiasm. No huge fish nor pelagics (although watched a huge turtle for 5 minutes. Coral, sponges, tropical fish, and macro critters kept me happy. . . . Derek Perryman runs a good operation. Gave the orientation, was around to ask how you were doing. Rental equipment good. American Airlines, in combination with Cardinal Air, lost my bag for the week, but Derek set me up with everything, including a shortie suit that fit. Check-out dive off the pier was interesting with lots of arrow crabs and sea urchins. Huge school of brown chromis, several small peacock flounders, garden eels. Several fish traps contained moray eels and other fishes. . . . Two dives in the morning with afternoons free to explore the island (did the 13 mile hike to Boiling Lake with Ken's Hinterland Tours). Between dives the boat motors to another location. (All sites have moorings.) Guides good at finding frogfish and sea horses. Underwater topography interesting with huge boulders in places and the edges of an undersea caldera; at Soufriere Pinnacle we swam among canyons formed by huge blocks; 3 frogfish, spotted drums, 2 scorpionfish, 2 spotted morays, snake eel. Dinglebert's North: large barrel sponge covered with brittle stars, candy stripe shrimp and arrow crabs. Champagne an original dive with bubbles formed by volcanic venting; remains of a shipwreck with 6 cannons. Regularly scheduled night boat dive on Wednesday. . . . Food excellent. Breakfast: eggs, pancakes, or French toast with sausage or bacon. Every morning a different island juice, the most interesting soursop. Lunch hot or cold sandwiches. Dinner a choice of two entrees, accompanied by 2-3 vegetables, a salad, fresh rolls or bread, a delicious dessert: e.g., fish pie, dasheene, fried plantains with cinnamon, beet and carrot salad, stuffed cabbage, pineapple tart. . . . Rooms basic, comfortable, clean; fresh linen and flowers every day. AC. Rooms facing the ocean have porches where we enjoyed rum and coke, read our novels and watched the sunset. Grounds have Jacuzzi, hammock, tables and chairs. Music from adjacent hotels on party nights not obnoxiously loud and ended before we went to bed at 10 p.m."

Dive Dominica/Evergreen Hotel, August 1997, Alan and Barbara Fischl, Great Neck, NY. "Water 85 degrees; 50-60 feet visibility. First dive 100 feet for hour, second 50 feet for hour. Three or four nice sites off southwestern side in the marine park. Other sites just ok. . . . Spectacular rain forests and waterfalls and wonderful hikes. People are friendly and helpful. Divemasters point out sea horses, frog fish and scorpion fish - quite a few - and several loggerhead turtles. Moderately strong current on some sites. Dive operation concerned about protecting reefs. . . . Evergreen nice, service at the restaurant uneven, food excellent at breakfast, fair at dinner and awful at lunch (Don't order their sandwiches)."

East Caribe Dive/Lauro Club, February 1997, William S. Ritter, M.D., Kansas City, MO. "Gunther Glatz runs a first rate dive operation. Divers receive personalized service. Care is taken to find the best dive sites. Dive profiles are flexible, done by computer and tailored to individual divers. Diving is varied and includes walls and drop offs. A few large fish, but many schools of smaller fish and excellent large sponges. Coral is healthy and undisturbed. Many unusual species such as frogfish and seahorses. . . . Lauro Club offers comfortable cabins all with kitchens. Suggest cooking some meals since Lauro Club and many island restaurants are only mediocre. Dominica is a beautiful unspoiled island with friendly people and well worth the trip for both diving as well as exploring the beauties of nature."

Nature Island, September 1997, Philip & Julie Rosenfeld, Key Biscayne, FL. "Chose Nature Island due to recent Undercurrent review. We were the only divers. Outstanding service - loaded gear on boat, set up regs, washed gear. Knowledgeable divemasters. Some current on second dive, had to abort one, but the rest were calm with manageable currents. vis: 60+ft. Water: 80 degrees. Marine Reserve has a terrific diversity of fish, lot of juvenile, schools of blackbarred soldierfish. Varieties of moray - many free swimming. Black corals, crinoids spectacular. Pristine. Stayed in Nature Island Dive's cottage at Gallette. Charming-on the water-1 bedroom, living room with sleeper sofa, complete kitchen. Did own cooking (had to bus for groceries, an adventure). No air conditioning - usually trade winds, but a few nights were hot. No TV. Hiked to Victoria Falls and Sari-San Falls with Rastouis. Very rugged and not to be missed."

Copyright 1998 by DSDL, Inc., publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.