Dominica is arguably the best all-around adventure vacation island in the Caribbean, with gorgeous reefs, plenty of tropicals (though few of eating size), lush rain forests, hiking, waterfalls, warm water springs, splendid fruits and vegetables (prepared by great local cooks), modest hotels and it's inexpensive to boot.... On the other hand, go forewarned that there are no beaches, that even seaside hotels are affected by cloud cover, and there's not much happening beyond polite residents leading their lives. The airport doesn't handle large jets, and there's little tourism infrastructure.... Expect daytime temperatures in the 80s and night lows around 68 in winter and 73 in summer, although a few minutes up the mountain and into the cloud forest can change all that dramatically.... July to November is the wet season, but showers may occur anytime. Dominica's at the edge of the hurricane belt.... The thirteen-mile round-trip hike to Boiling Lake is worth getting in condition for. Dive operations usually offer two dives in the morning to allow time to tour in the afternoons....

For full reviews of the following Dominica destinations, see:

Castle Comfort Lodge - Dominica, Undercurrent- February 1999

Petit Coulibri Cottages/Nature Island Dive/Castle Comfort/Dive Dominica, Undercurrent- April 1997

Anchorage Dive Ceneter, November 1997, Jean & Bob Kirkpatrick, Russellvile, KY. Our 3rd trip to Dominica, out favorite Caribbean diving. Reefs healthy and colorful, bright sponges swarms of reef fish. Did fish surveys for REEF and Abundant is not adequate to describe the number of fish. Swiss Cheese is one of the best sites, as you swim under a bridge or coral, you swim through a wall of black-bar soldierfish, a breath taking experience. Our guides showed us seahorses and frogfish, spotted snake eels, viper morays and other unusual fish and carters. Vis: 50-150ft. Wtr: 84 degrees. . . . Small and personal dive operation, with excellent service. Anchorage Hotel is a 2-story building on a rocky shore. Rooms are large and clean. Food is good and 2nd floor open air restaurant has beautiful seaview. Staff friendly and caring. Dive packages excellent value. Hard to get to Dominica in one day because of flight schedules. (Ph: 800-223-9815, Fax 011-599-9614131)

Anchorage Dive Center/Anchorage Hotel, January 1998, Michele Goldman, New York, NY. Service was unbelievable. You set up your gear first and never touch it again. They clean it and store it for you till the next morning. Food very good. Went on whale watch and saw 50-100 dolphins, no whales. Andrew, the manager, said we could go again, no charge. Saw 6-8 sperm whales then. Took hike to Middleham Falls. They say 45 mins. each way. No way: 1.5 hrs each way, muddy, not easy, but worth it. . . . No fish bigger than 12 in., lots in schools. Coral healthy and colorful. Lots of hard and soft corals, frog fish, seahorses, morays. Best dive was Point Guignard. Did it day and night' one of the best night dives, frogfish, seahorses, octopus (2), squid, morays, lobsters etc. . . . Fly NY to San Juan to Dominica. Great all round active vacation. The island is similar in looks to Hawaii. Only complaint was to sleep with the noisy air conditional or the loud surf?

Dive Castaways/Castaways Hotel, January 1998, Carol Fisher, Santa Rosa, CA. Some reefs covered with silt from recent landslide in river. Water: 78-80 degrees. Vis: 30-90 feet. Currents were unpredictable. Great critter and rare sightings. Wonderful corals. A photographer's dream. Nice hotel with lovely beach, very nice staff. (Ph: 809-449-6244, Fax: 809-449-6246)

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, December 1997, Mel McCombie, New Haven, CT. Not for hard-core diver but for those who want a little diving and a lot of nature. Island is gorgeous, but near-extinction of the fish population is grim. So grossly over-fished as to be depressing. Saw fish traps filled with tiny butterfly fish and similar species. Frogfish and seahorses stand out partly because there are so few other fishes. Underwater, Dominica is an ecological disaster. Castle Comfort is rather down-at-the -heels and the food okay at best. Dive Dominica runs a good operation. (Ph: 809-448-2188, Fax: 809-448-6088)

Dive Dominica/Evergreen/Red Rock Haven, February 1998, Lounell Ross, Allentown, PA. Evergreen quite comfortable; met a couple who had also come to Evergreen from your recommendations. Take time to explore rain forest, hot mineral springs, etc. Beautiful island. . . . Saw loads of frogfish, many sea horses, coral was the most spectacular. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 79 degrees. Even at 80 ft still very bright. Great pictures. Beaches at the north end are pristine. Stayed with friends at Red Rock Haven, last cottage overlooking cliffs to beach, tons of orchids. Point Baptist is where Mick Jagger stays next to Red Rock Haven. Keep up the good work.

Dive Dominica/Exotica, February 1998, Gabriel Penagaricano, San Juan, PR. Arranged directly with Dive Dominica. Ginnette Perryman found us lodging since Castle Comfort was booked. Exotica a lovely mountain resort with temperatures requiring sweater at night. 15-20 minute drive to the dive shop. The owners, Athie and Fae Martin make your stay memorable. Beautifully appointed individual cabins with full kitchen, telephone and cable TV. Breakfast excellent and dinner is as good as elsewhere on the island. . . . Boats are first-class, staff is local, friendly and helpful. Sites great and only a short distance from the dock. Water 78-80, vis 60 feet. First-class operation. Only improvement in facilities would be a better place to store your equipment from one day to the other-now tanks and sundry items and almost no hangers for the wet suits.

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, March 1998, Joe and Melisa Hancock, Manhattan, KS. LIAT lost our dive gear between St. Martin and Dominica and we missed the a.m. dives on our first day. Derrick lent me gear for an a.m. shore dive and, when our gear arrived at the hotel, he sent a boat out with just Melisa and me for afternoon diving. Top notch people. The dive crew picked up on the fact that I had back surgery 2.5 months before our trip and they were careful to help me in and out of the water with my weight belt and BC/tank/regulator. Also, they changed an O-ring in my leaky first stage. Thanks, guys. Good folk at this place from top to bottom! . . . Dives were OK (water 78 to 82 F) but not remarkable. No large fish, mediocre vis (40 to 70 ft typical). Mild to moderate current on several dives. Would like nice, long, leisurely drift dives but we used permanent moorings so we had to swim against the current a good bit to leave or return to the boat. Ugh! . . . Small stuff: sea horses most days, frog fish the last day, anemone, shrimp, crab, lobster, stone fish, and spotted drum. Seemed like there was an eel under every rock. A couple dives with very good sponge and coral growth, black coral abundant in 50 to 70 feet of water. . . . Lodging was quite adequate (A/C, ceiling fan, clean) and Ginette and Derrick Perryman ran a tight ship. Food unusual, varied, and good. When we departed for St. Martin, LIAT hit us with a $50 excess baggage charge (20 kg/person restriction) and, to add insult to injury, they lost my dive gear again-I hope to see it again someday. They exceeded their incompetence only by their apathy and indifference toward recovery of my gear.

Dive Dominica/Ft. Young Hotel, June 1998, Anthony Noguera, Lutz, FL. Ft. Young. Staff from reception desk to the chef were great. Food excellent, Dive Dominica tops! One day I wanted to skip my dives so I could tour the island, so they allowed me to do four dives the following day. Derek Perryman runs a top notch operation. No cattle boats! First day 7 divers. Then no more than three or just the divemaster and me. Jerry and Pat outstanding divemasters. Vis: 60-80 feet, water: 78-80 degrees. Tell them what you want a picture of and they would find it. No large marine life but schools of small fish and macro abundant. Reefs among the best in the Caribbean. Divemasters take good care of it. Take time to see the whole island.

Dive Dominica/Castle Comfort, July 1998. Phyllis Robinson, Silver Spring, MD. Vis: 50-69 feet, water 79-83 F. Wonderful Trip! Derek and Ginette Perryman took good care of us. Few large fish, but the sheer number of smaller tropicals and juveniles, as well as seahorses, frogfish, basket stars, and tons of invertebrates make up for it. Colors on the reefs outstanding. Depth limit 100 feet, but the good stuff is 60-70 feet or above; easy to get an hour on a dive with a computer. Staff carried all gear (except wetsuits) to and from the boat, but you're responsible for you set-up. Staff did a nice job, but some of their best people weren't there. Aaron and Woody don't have the experience and background yet. Went on a couple hikes arranged through Ken's Hinterland Tours-excellent!

Nature Island Dive/Chez Ophelia, December 1997, Susan Beck, Dover, DE. One needs to be fit, especially aerobically, to hike here. Poor island (looks like East Africa), but friendly smiling people. Facilities at Chez Ophelia (an eco cottage) were poor; no linen change in 2 weeks, leaking H20. Driving impossibly slow. . . . Diving was a pleasure and saved the trip from hotel disaster. Champagne night dive was spectacular (2 octopi, turtle, nice corals); Water: 78 degrees. (Ph: 809-449-8181, Fax: 809-449-8182)

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