2004
Dominica Dive Trip
June 19th - June 26th
Fast link to pictures, click here
Arranged by the Cincinnati Scuba Adventures Dive shop located on Beechmont Ave.
We stayed at the Castle Comfort Lodge in the city of Roseau. Dominica is a small island in the Carribean chain and is located just North of the island of Martinique. We routed ourselves via Atlanta on Delta Airlines to the island of St. Martin. From there, we took a Liat flight that made an interim stop at Antigua where we did have to change planes.
You land at the Mellville Hall airport which is on the oposite side of the island from Roseau. You will have an almost 2 hour taxi ride getting to Roseau.
People need to be aware that getting luggage all the way to Dominica is a challenge. We did not receive all of our luggage and dive gear until the day after our arrival. Fortunately Dive Dominica was able to provide loaner equipment for our first day of diving. This was all good equipment and I would have no problems recommending this dive operation. It is also a challenge getting your delayed baggage. Though it is flown into the local Roseau airport, each bag owner needs to present proof of ownership of the bags. My wife went to the airport and retrieved the bags OK but had to talk to the local manager of the Liat airlines who agreed to release the luggage to my wife. My wife had no help dealing with this problem and it was the low point of our trip. Customs would not allow the taxi drive to assist my wife in transporting the bags thru customs.
Castle Comfort Lodge is a bit spartan but is very clean and well run. Food was excellent as well. We had breakfast and dinner included as part of our trip. Lunch was extra.
There is lots to do on this Island besides diving. I highly recommend the Tram trip though it is expensive. This Cable Car ride thru the forust canopy is very well maintained and very interesting. It is almost silent as you glide thru the trees. At the top of the trip, there is a short walk thru the forest floor which I would recommend. Each cable-car had a guide who explained what were were seeing and was also willing to let us enjoy our silence if that was what we desired.
We went on the Middleham Falls walk. This took an hour and 45 minutes of walking a mountain side trail. It was strenuous but very pretty. The falls drops some 200' into a nice pool where you can swim after climbing down a steep rocky wall. The water is refreshingly cold.... :-) Only the guide and myself swam.
We did not do the boiling lake trip having been warned it is a very strenuous hike of 6 to 8 hours for the round trip. Very steep trail up the mountainside. The lake is actually boiling and is dangerous if one were to fall into it.
Where is Dominica:
And here is a map of the island:
