The Best Diving in Dominica

Updated April 20, 2022

This is the thirty-third in a series of reviews of the best scuba diving destinations around the world. In this post, the focus is on Dominica.

In addition to this series on dive resort locations, the best worldwide liveaboard dive locations and services are reviewed in their own series. To check them out, or others in this series, click on Liveaboards / Resorts on the menu at the top and choose a title from the list.

Have you ever been scuba diving in Dominica? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What dive shop or liveaboard did you use? Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, sealife attractions, etc.? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.

Location

Situated in the Lesser Antilles between the Windward Islands of Guadalupe and Martinique, Dominica is geologically the youngest of the group. Formed by volcanic activity, geothermal forces in the form of hot springs are still evident at Boiling Lake and the Champagne dive site. There are 300 miles (188 km) of trails running through the lush mountain rainforest with hundreds of waterfalls and rivers and endemic creatures like the national bird, the Sisserou Parrot. The Republic covers 290 square miles (750 square kilometers) with a population of 72,000 English-speaking citizens. Creole, a French-based language, and Kokay, an English-based one, are also spoken. A small group descended from the original Carib Indians still has a small settlement on the eastern side.

In comparison to the other island nations in the region, Dominica has a low per capita GDP with its foundation mostly in bananas and agriculture. A major economic initiative started in 2006 which pushed into new fruits, coffee, patchouli, aloe vera, and a few other crops, and an emphasis on offshore and financial services, and tourism. Without a lot of sandy beaches, ecotourism has been a focus.

For more demographic, geographical, and cultural information on Dominica, click here: Dominica (Wikipedia)

Undersea World

Recognized by many as one of the top 10 dive areas in the world, Dominica is known for beautiful coral reefs, volcanic subsea terrain with hot springs, and a rich variety of marine life including 22 species of whale. Most of the best sites are on the west side where currents are mild, with the most sites in the southwest section.

The volcanic topography includes canyons, volcanic craters, steep walls, arches, pinnacles, and bubbles emerging from hot springs in several locations. The encrusting invertebrate life is impressive with rich hard and soft corals, gorgonians, huge barrel sponges, and other colorful tube and pipe sponges.

Several marine sanctuaries help preserve the pristine marine life which includes a long list of highlights including macro critters like seahorses, frogfish, flying gurnards, huge crabs, spiny lobsters, scorpionfish, octopus, reef squid, moray eels, spotted flamingo tongue snails, and Peterson cleaner shrimp. There are reef tropicals like sargassum triggerfish, French grunts, parrotfish, pufferfish, yellowtail and mahogany snappers, blackbar soldierfish, black durgons, Creole wrasses, and chub along with barracuda, jacks, stingrays, eagle rays, nurse sharks, 4 species of turtles, spinner dolphins, 22 species of whale, with sperm whales in residence year-round.

Seasons and Conditions

It is warm year-round with daytime temperatures between 24-32°C (75-90°F). The mountains are a bit cooler. Accordingly, water temperatures are also warm in a tight range of 26-29°C (78-84°F). The best time to dive is from December to May. July to October is the rainy season with the dry from December to April. Visibility is generally quite good at 18-30 meters (60-100 feet) with the low end coming during rains. Current is mild to non-existent most of the time but can be strong.

Liveaboard Diving

Dominica is not an area renowned for liveaboard diving, but there are many cruises in other areas around the Caribbean. Below are several great yachts to check out:

Avalon II, Jardines de la Reina Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

Turks & Caicos Explorer II, Turks & Caicos Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

Bahamas Master, Bahamas Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

Belize Aggressor III, Belize Liveaboard Diving – Check the Price & Details

For reviews of diving in eastern Florida and other Caribbean locations, please check out these posts:

Selected Dominica Dive Sites

Southwest Sites

Champagne Reef: 5 meters (15 feet), hot springs bubbles, light current, can do multilevel dive around the deeper exterior with safety stop on the springs, seahorses, frogfish, flying gurnards, squid, huge crabs and lobster, scorpionfish, octopus, stoplight parrotfish, turtles, good night dive, possible stingrays and eagle rays, all levels

Scott’s Head Pinnacle: to 40 meters (130 feet), unusual topography with a large rock formation called Swiss Cheese and a swim-through called Soldierfish Cave, bisecting a pinnacle beginning at 10 meters (35 feet), to the wall of the interior of a crater that goes to 40 meters (130 feet), gorgonians, lobster, big schools of blackbar soldierfish, experienced level

L’Abym (La Sourcier): wall from 12 meters (40 feet) to 450 meters (1500 feet), rock shelf at 8 meters (25 feet), sheer drop off, sponges, coral, lots of fish, seahorses, turtles, barracuda, sargassum triggerfish, possible hammerhead sharks, little current, experienced level

West Central Sites

Nose Reef and Whaleshark Reef: 18-40 meters (60-130 feet), huge and colorful barrel and tube sponges, banded and Peterson cleaner shrimps, nudibranchs, arrow crabs, spotted flamingo tongue snails, a vertical wall at Whaleshark Reef, Spanish mackerel, amberjacks, turtles, experienced level

Rina’s Hole: shallow, swim-through to a rocky formation, encrusting corals, sea fans, giant anemones, sea plume beds, moray eels, great macro critters, schools of chub, stingrays, eagle rays, nurse sharks, sandy bottom, bright and colorful, beginner level

Five Finger Rock: to 30 meters (100 feet), rocks sticking out of the water resemble fingers, rock and coral slope to 30 meters (100 feet), big barrel sponges, lots of small reef fish like shoaling chromis, copper sweepers, rock beauties, butterflyfish, wrasses, trunkfish, goatfish, bigeyes, turtles, experienced level

Northwest Sites

Toucari Bay: 12 meters (40 feet) to 33 meters (110 feet), a honeycomb of tunnels, 8-13 meters (25-45 feet long) at 12 meters (40 feet), rich corals, frogfish, big crabs, mahogany snapper, French grunts, parrotfish, pufferfish, octopus, moray eels, squid, rays, lobster, trumpetfish, parrotfish, drops off to 33 meters (110 feet), good night dive, beginner level

Douglas Point: several sites, canyons, tunnels, and rocky areas with rich corals and sponges, drop-offs with landings at 15 meters (50 feet) and 55 meters (180 feet), flying gurnards, moray eels, lobsters, large reef fish, barracuda, mackerel, experienced level

Point Ronde and the Craters: gentle sloping reef to 21 meters (70 feet) and the Craters, from there drops off to 27 meters (90 feet) and then 36 meters (120 feet), pristine rich marine life, warm sand with occasional escaping, bubbles, experienced level

Dominica Photos

With the macro life, beautiful, diverse coral reef, and lots of fish, there are many excellent photo opportunities. For information and reviews of diving cameras, including the Panasonic GH5 used in the above video, click here:

Dominica Transportation, Lodging, and Diving Services

Transportation

There are two regional airports in Dominica: Douglas-Charles Airport, previously called Melville Hall Airport, in the northeast, and Canefield Airport near Roseau. They handle flights from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Airports.

On Dominica, there is a system of convenient and reasonably priced minibusses for transportation around and across the island.

Lodging and Dive Shops

Many of the available hotels are located in the Roseau area and start from $50/night on up. As for diving, there are several dive shops, most of which are in the southwest area near Roseau. Anchorage Hotel also has an in-house dive center.

This website is a good source for the available options and can arrange a booking:

Dominica Resorts

Dominica Things To Do (aside from scuba diving)

The natural environment featuring volcanic activity is the main attraction, aside from diving. There are many waterfalls including Trafalgar Falls, Victoria Falls, and Emerald Pool. Morne Trois Pitons National Park has Boiling Lake. Geothermal springs, known as sulfur springs are available in many locations. Hiking into the mountains or along the coastline is popular. Of course cruises and beach and seaside activities including whale watching are awaiting. There are various tours, historic sites, botanical gardens, markets, restaurants, and city activities in Roseau. Popular sports are cricket, netball, basketball, rugby, tennis, and soccer. This list leaves out quite a few. Check out the video below.

Scuba Diving Trip Insurance

A cushion for emergencies provides peace of mind when on vacation. I recommend this diving insurance as they have worldwide coverage and provide scuba divers quality insurance and medical assistance service.

Feedback and Comments

I hope you found this post on Dominica scuba diving interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have diving there. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<

Comments

Salim says

at 8:40 am

Hello,

Thanks for providing us with this write-up on Dominica Scuba Diving. I love the characteristics of the undersea world there with all the volcanic features like the hot springs and bubbles. It would be a cool place for a vacation. I hope I’ll be able to go before too long and check out the diving myself. I’ve been diving in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean, but this would be my first time in the Caribbean. In the videos, it really looks like a whole different sort of coral reef.

Thanks a lot for the post.

- Joe says
  
  at 9:35 am
  
  Hi Salim,
  
  Thanks a lot for your kind comments.
  
  Even compared to the other islands in the area, Dominica is unique. If you get a chance to go, please let me know how it turns out.
  
  If you have any questions or concerns about anything related to diving, please get in touch.
  
  Best regards,
  
  Joe
  
Alblue says

at 8:52 am

Ah, I’ve heard about how beautiful it is diving in Dominica. I’ve planned for a vacation to a seaside location and Dominica is now on my bucket list. But, seeing that the best time to dive there is December to May, I might need to skip Dominica this year.

I’ve planned to travel around this October. Do you have a recommendation for other beautiful places to scuba dive around that time? Thank you.

- Joe says
  
  at 9:27 am
  
  Hi,
  
  Thanks a lot for your interest and kind comments.
  
  Actually, the rainy season is ending in October in Dominica, so chances are it will not rain a lot. Even during rainy times, diving is possible. Not many days are missed due to rain in a season. Many of the tropical locations above the equator get most of their rain during the summer. Several places in Southeast Asia are past their rainy season by October. The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and others would be great. I have reviewed dozens of them on the site. I urge you to check the info there and take a look at the videos.
  
  If you have any questions, please let me know. Also, I’d love to hear where you decide to go.
  
  Best regards,
  
  Joe
  
mzakapon says

at 10:10 am

Hi Joe,

I have read whole article about “Best Tropical Island Vacations Dominica Scuba Diving”. I understood that this is really beautiful and great location for under water scuba diving. Some of my friends are interested to go for an adventure and planning for under water scuba diving. But they are not expert in diving and I have a concern about safety. Do you think we need proper training for this? What is your suggestion on this topic?

- Joe says
  
  at 12:13 pm
  
  Hi,
  
  Thanks a lot for your interest and kind comments.
  
  I’m glad you enjoyed my review of Dominica scuba diving. It’s a wonderful spot. If you and your friends are inexperienced, you will need to get some training, which is possible at the dive shops in Dominica or in many places around the world. The basic open water diver course takes 3-5 days and consists of some classwork to learn about equipment and theory, training in a pool or shallow water to acquire diving skills and 4 open water dives in the ocean to practice and enjoy the underwater scene. With this training, you can have confidence that you will dive safely. That is the major goal of the class. If you would like further information about the course and how to arrange it, please let me know.
  
  Best regards,
  
  Joe