11 minute read
Is it worth diving in the Caribbean Sea?
travels
Is it worth diving in the Caribbean Sea?
Text and photos KRZYSZTOF G. BRUDKOWSKI
Desirous of sunshine and warmth, we searched during the Polish winter of January for an interesting destination for leisure combined with diving. We wanted to visit a place which was different from the traditional destinations of diving trips such as Egypt, where we have been a few times recently. At first we chose Zanzibar, but eventually, due to the ratio of the price of the entire trip to the length of the planned stay, we opted for the Dominican Republic, located in the eastern part of the island of Haiti. However, we just assumed that diving would to be an addition to our leisure, not the main purpose of the trip.
From our perspective, the Dominican Republic seemed like a paradise with guaranteed weather, beautiful beaches with fine light sand and the stunningly blue and warm water of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other side of the island. The whole family was delighted with the pictures found on the Internet of fabulous coastal views of green forests and long beaches. But is it worth diving in the Dominican Republic? The available information showed that underwater life is not as abundant in the Caribbean Sea as in the Red Sea, but on the other hand, scuba diving videos, which can be found on the popular streaming service, showed that we will have something to watch.
On one of the Facebook groups, I found an offer of a Pole who lived for years in the Dominican Republic related to organising dives there. Leszek proposed to stay at the hotel of his choice in the Bayahibe/Punta Cana area, which was supposed to facilitate the transfer to the diving centre. By the time we left for the Caribbean, we had already set up about where we would be diving. The plan included reefs around the island of Catalina with the possibility of beaching on the island and wrecks of St. George and Atlantic Princess. We set prices for 3 diving days covering all the necessary equipment, which was convenient, taking into account the weight limits of the luggage.
We stayed in one of the resorts located on the side of the Atlantic Ocean in the area of Punta Cana hotels. Upon arrival the Dominican Republic delighted us not only with beautiful sunny weather and rich vegetation, but also with the open attitude of its inhabitants, who love music. The holiday was going to be great, and diving was supposed to be the icing on the cake.
The Dominican Republic offers many opportunities to spend free time in an interesting way. It does not have to be just beaching on wild beaches, that are often only described as such in adverts. Some beaches are famous for being shot in advertisements of a certain known rum. We can confirm that it is worth visiting the Samana Peninsula, considered the most pristine part of the country. Many attractions can be enjoyed during such a trip. You can visit the rainforest, admire the coastline, see the humpback whales emerging from the Samana Bay, "hunt" for the best shot of the water they release through their blowhole, or sunbathe on the so-called Backardi beach, sipping cold coconut milk or something stronger with a paper straw.
After a few days of blissful rest we started diving. Leszek took us from the very gate of our resort to the ScubaFun diving center in Bayahibe, a former fishing village, from where we were to set off on a motorised catamaran for the first day diving in the Caribbean Sea. We quickly chose the right sizes of short foams, fins and jackets, and the rest of the equipment was to wait for us on board. Most boats sail off from a small bay, to which you can walk from the nearby base. The entrances to the bay are guarded by a cannon taken from the vessel Cara Merchant, captured in the lagoon of Isla Catalina by the pirate Captain William Kidd, considered one of the cruelest and bloodiest pirates of the 17th century.
There are more than 10 officially accessible dive sites near Bayahibe that can be reached by boat in 20-30 minutes. The next ones are more distant, like Shark Point, and require an additional fuel charge and a group of divers to form. We started our diving adventure on that day from a place called the wall (in Spanish: la Pared Catalina) near the island Isla Catalina, which next to the aquarium (in Spanish: El Acuario) is considered to be one of the best places to dive in this area, and maybe even in the whole Dominican Republic.
We were fortunate enough to visit this place when the sky was not covered by clouds (passing clouds were every day during our stay), and the water was not disturbed by currents, so the reef appeared in the most intense colours and there was quite a lot of visibility underwater. Here we have access to an amazing reef covered with an impressive variety of corals of many colours, shapes and sizes and inhabited by various forms of marine life. We did not see before such funnel and tubular shapes of massive sponges and colours of marine creatures, from yellow to purple. We saw fish from the family of puffers and Aulostomidae (Caribbean trumpetfish, in Spanish: la corneta), shoals of Haemulidae and a beautiful crab. The entry in the logbook could therefore be ended with the note "superb diving". The second dive of the day was not very deep, and it was done in a place called the "aquarium". Also this time it was a very successful dive, one carried out among colourful reefs, in the water with fantastic visibility to a depth not exceeding 13 m. After we got out of the water, our impressions were as good as after the first descent. The immensity of aquatic life, the diversity and the range of colours made us feel fantastic. Summing up the dives, we concluded that despite the good temperature in the water reaching 27 degrees (even at a depth of 25 m), we did not feel comfortable diving in short sleeve wetsuits.
The day was supposed to end on a beach, on the very island of Catalina, advertised as a place famous for beautiful beaches, full of dazzling white, fine sand and palm trees. My family members who did not dive went there in a zodiac at the very beginning. Unfortunately, the tour advertised as an opportunity to combine relaxation, all-inclusive beaching and snorkelling on a fantastic coral reef turned out to be a partial misunderstanding. The number of people arriving by various boats from Bayahibe and La Romana, gathered on the narrow shore of the island, deprives this place of any magic and the opportunity to relax, and snorkelling in the nearby waters did not provide an experience similar to those known to us from Egypt.
The next day of diving we changed the wetsuits with short sleeves to the ones with long sleeves (my partner even put on two ones). Unfortunately, this procedure, as it was to turn out later, did not prevent the development of a minor infection, which had to be caused by cooling down the body the previous day and winding on the boat that happened during the return from diving. The rain that fell us on the way back to Bayahibe did not remain without any impact on our health condition either. When planning dives in the Dominican Republic, you should take into account periodic cloudiness and fleeting, short-term precipitation, even if they are to take place in the dry season, which prevails at the beginning of the calendar year.
Two more dives were to take place on the reefs closer to Bayahibe. We jumped into the water at a place called Coco Reef and couldn't believe it was a reef in the Caribbean Sea.
Unfortunately, we came across such turbid water and a cloudy day that nothing had any charm for us. The dive was "saved" by a beautiful octopus, which thanked us, spreading its body like an umbrella and letting itself be admired for a long time, before escaping in the gray-brown corners of corals. After getting out of the water, we decided that diving in such conditions did not make sense. Fortunately, the dive site can be changed, Leszek accompanying us all the time offered us to dive on the shallow Atlantic Princess wreck, which is available even for novice divers.
Diving on this wreck should not be difficult. The wreck itself offers the opportunity to watch colourful life at shallow depths. The ship was intentionally sunk in 2008, and it has now grown soft and hard corals covering all the elements. It is home to shoals of fish from the snapper family, groupers and all underwater tiny creatures that love al the nooks and crannies. The wreck is well lit, it is also a fantastic place for underwater photographers. With a bit of luck, you can see reef sharks here, which unfortunately did not happen to us.
Due to my partner's rhinitis, we had to take a few days break from diving, which we spent resting in the resort, walks along the stretching beach and exploring the nearby part of the island – the aforementioned Saona Peninsula. To postpone dives was not a problem for our guardian.
During the last day of diving, we decided to visit the Atlantic Princess wreck again, but we started diving from the wreck of Saint Gorge, requiring a deeper descent to around 40 meters. We were recommended diving on this wreck as one of the best dive sites in the area. The wreck Saint George, like the Atlantic Princess, was also deliberately sunk, only earlier, in 1999, for the purpose of making it an attraction and habitat for marine life near Bayahibe. It is an impressive wreck measuring 240 meters, lying at 44 meters and the peak reaching around 15 meters. The wreck has become home to many organisms that can be easily observed. We saw there a big crab, and it is probably not the only one we noticed. You can often encounter barracudas near it, shrimp hide in the nooks and crannies, and sponges and corals overgrow it. In many places you can no longer see almost the original metal.
You can easily penetrate the wreck, swim inside and get out through numerous holes. In the open parts of the wreck there was good visibility, but in the corners floating particles did not allow the torch light that we used to photograph and record. Due to the depth, careful monitoring of the air supply and non-decompression time during diving is essential. One dive on this wreck is definitely not enough to be able to get to know it well. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford more time.
The Dominican Republic is a great place to look for the sun and warm water, a mixture of cultures, natural beauty, and at the same time gain new diving experiences. You have to have some luck to appreciate the difference in marine life on the Caribbean reefs, but wrecks can even stun with how they have merged into the ecosystem, giving a good example of how nature can use for its own purposes what we have left. An undeniable added value for divers are wonderful landscapes, which, preserved in the photos, will allow the memories to last until the next trip.
PERFECTDIVER No. 2(20)/2022
