Diver Award Winner, Toby Nowlan, reflects on his week in Dominica ...
Our week in Dominica was superb. Instructor Michael took us
out every day on the Anchorage Hotel boat to a variety of stunning and
colour-crowded reefs. We would typically wake up in our ocean front room and
after a coffee on our balcony overlooking the pancake-flat, azure Caribbean
sea, head up for a refreshing cooked breakfast. On and out with Michael. We
would closely trace the rainforest-clad coast, joined occasionally by incredibly
playful Atlantic spotted or Fraser's dolphins. Upon reaching the dive site we
would dance whilst kitting up to reggae tunes emanating from skipper Philly's
radio.
Then the three of us would descend into that warm and
brilliant blue, ordinarily with exceptional visibility of 25 metres. With the
entire reef to ourselves we felt like we had been granted VIP access to the
Caribbean's last marine wilderness. We might weave between the towering
volcanic pinnacles covered in colossal barrel sponges, often home to the
largest crabs or lobsters I have seen.
On other occasions we might lie in the bathwater-hot
sediments around the bubbling jets of dive site 'Champagne'. Here, as is
famously known, the reef fizzes with volcanic gases. By turning over a few of the
hot rocks we found beautifully marbled young conger eels as well as an array of
bizarre starfish and nudibranchs.
The great coral cliff drop-off here in the south-west of the
island is surely one of the best on earth. I found it difficult to watch my depth
closely thanks to being mesmerised by the whip coral-encrusted wall dropping
below us into the deep blue.
Once, as we curved over the top of the wall back on to the
shallows of the reef, we came eye to eye with a two metre-long barracuda. It
flashed silver as it thrashed and spun in frustration at its accompanying pilot
fish. I approached him and he approached me fearlessly with open jaws from half
a metre away.
On our final day we headed deep into the rainforests of
Dominica's near-pristine interior in search of parrots found nowhere else on
earth. As we drove and walked we climbed
to 2000 metres into cloud forest to find our quarry. As the sun rose at dawn we
saw noisy parties of the bright green parrots bursting out of the mist above
the forest then settling to feed on fruiting trees.
While Dominica is not the destination island for those
looking for wide sandy beaches, plenty of commercial development and tight
hotel management, those in search of spectacular diving, undisturbed
rainforest, incredibly friendly locals and rum punch by the ocean-view pool
have found their ideal tropical rehab.
Speak to one of our specialist consultants today to tailor made your diving holiday to Dominica, or drop us an email and we will contact you.
