Most sites in the west central coast area Dominica are directly off Castaways Hotel -taking less than a 10 minutes by boat from the jetty. The entire central west coast diving area consists of more than 12 sites which offer some of the healthiest reefs in the Caribbean. These sites are pristine and marine life abounds! This entire area is secluded and frequented only by small group of divers, snorkelers and boats on the marine environment has been minimal and this is reflected by the health of the reef. Some of the best sites in the area include:

Rodneys Rock
Berry's Dream
Castaways Reef
Nose Reef
Whaleshark Reef
Rina's Hole

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Rodneys Rock is a shallow (maximum 50 feet) dive offering one of the best critter dives. A huge variety of marine life can be found at this site which offers mini caves and overhangs for spiny and slipper lobster, crabs and morays. Sandy patches with seagrass harbor red heart urchins, sea cucumbers, sting rays, spotted snake eel and a very rare and elusive batfish. The walls of Rodney's Rock are carpeted with corals and sponges providing homes to octopus, frogfish, seahorses and numerous grunts and snapper. This site is a favorite for night dives when squid, lobsters and crabs are out in full view.

Opposite the beachfront of the hotel lie three dive sites: Maggie's Point a spot overflowing with bright yellow pencil coral, Castaways Berry's Dream.

Nose Reef and Whaleshark Reef are located on the south drop-off of the Grand Savanne flats. Both sitesaew-inspiring reefs starting at about 55 feet and cascading down to 130+ feet. The arrow crbs, banded and Pederson cleaner shrimp togehter with spotted flamingo tongue snails provide a macro photographer with the perfect opportunity for exceptional and striking compostions. Whaleshark offers a nice vertical face with giant barrel sponges, brilliant yellow tube sponges, stunning azure vases and colorful hard corals teeming with tropical fish. These spots are the outermost sites in the area and offers the greatest opportunity for seeing larger fish such as barracudas, Spanish mackerel and jacks.

Just North of Whaleshark Reef lies Rina's Hole. This is a great shallow dive offering a beautiful swim through leading to a cluster of rock formations encrusted with corals, teeming with moray eels, giant ancmoncs, delicate sea fans and beds of sea plumes. The colors in this area are even more vibrant due to the contrast with the white sand and the shallowness of the site which allows maximum sun penetration. This is the ultimate critter dive, as the nooks, crannies and overhangs provide ideal shelter for all kinds of marine life. Large schools of chub are a common sight and on rarer occasions sting rays, spotted cagle ray and nurse sharks have been spotted.

Coral Gardens and Batali Pinnacle provide two of the most sheltered dive sites nestled in Batali bay. Starting off shallow (20-30feet) there are rocks covered in corals and sponges, home to longlure frogfish of various sizes and colors including pink, yellow, brown and black. Ornate lettuce leaf sea slugs inch their way among beds of y-branched algae while lizard fish and sand divers hang out at cleaning stations where the pedersson shrimp busily explore and clean gills, mouths and bodies. Sloping gently away from the rocks is a stretch of sand harboring red heart sea urchins, a small gathering of garden eels and often one sees a single upside-down jelly fish displaying its fascinating and extraordinary form.

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Moving another 6 miles north of Castaways are the beginning of the dive sites in the Portsmouth area. There are over 10 sites including the following main ones:

Pointe Ronde
Volcano/The Craters
The Cabrits
Douglas Point
Toucari
Cottage Point
Pinard

Pointe Ronde and the Craters have very gently sloping reef in excellent health showing vibrant colors and marine life in abundance. The latter site starts off around 70 feet and on reaching the craters the reef drops abruptly to 92 and 120 feet. The bottom of these impressive craters is sand marked by curious small holes from which occasional streams of bubbles escape. If the hand is placed on this sand it is warm to the touch, dig beneath the surface and beware it will burn!

The Cabrits has several sites. Cabrits South and West are both beautiful reefs dropping off sharply to a sandy bottom at 155 and 110 feet respectively and a third site further to the south drops off to below 185 feet. These sites often have currents and offer spectacular drift dives over barrel sponges and schools of creole fish.

Similarly Douglas Point offers more than one dive site. At the southern end is a wonderful canyon and tunnel covered in corals and sponges. The western end goes to 100 and is an area where flamingo tongue snails are bountiful. Douglas Point wall, a third site, drops off to 50 feet then slopes down to 180 feet. One often sees lobster and large reef fish including barracuda and cero mackerel at these sites, impressive and curious fish which will come to within a few feet of you before continuing along the reef or back out to the blue.

Toucari Bay is a secluded area with coral covered rocks reaching from the beach out to the main reef at about 40 feet. A couple of tunnels 25 and 45 feet long provide exquisite swim throughs and harbor schools of French grunts. The reef then drops to 110 feet and is home to large schools of mahogany snapper, big crabs and frogfish.

One of Dominica's wreck sites can be found at Cottage Point. The remains of an 18th Century wreck lie in 15 to 35 feet. Links of chain have survived over hundreds of years and lie scattered over the area. From this one can move over to the pinnacles whose vibrant colors and invertebrate life will intriguw and fascinate even the most experienced naturalist diver.

Pinard has an impressive pinnacle within which is a tunnel roughly 300 feet long. Reef fish are so abundant that the view is one of constant motion and color.

For those with a sense of adventure, new sites can be explored. The Guadeloupe Channel at the north end of Dominica encourages the appearance of larger, free-swimming fish commuting between the Atlantic and the Caribbean.

Recent initiatives for marine management and conservation have led to the establishment of Toucari marine park. The park will emcopass the area from the cruiseship berth to Douglas Bay stretching from shore to a depth of 100 feet. Pernament moorings will be set up thus eliminating anchor damage to the reef and the appointed park warden will be involved with the management and monitoring of activities in the park area.

Text by Kurt Nose 1998