Dominica, Grenada, Bequia and Tobago

Author: Fran Vandenberg

Dominica:
Guess it is about time to share our wonderful trip from Dec.21 to Jan. 30. Left Vancouver just in time as a cold front hit. We were slightly delayed, as they had to de-ice the plane wings. I said, "boy, are we leaving on time". After an overnight in San Juan we arrived in Dominica. Easy to see why they call this the "nature island". It is just gorgeous and the most lush island in the Caribbean. If I had to name the main road, it would be "Hairpin Hwy" as the whole island except for about half a mile is all blind curves. Made for an exciting drive for about l and a 1/2 hours. Stayed at the Fort Young Hotel (which is built within the walls of the actual fort) close to town. It was lovely, and our room faced the water so there was no noise from town. Had a chance to meet Barbara Herche who does the marketing there and arranged our reservations and diving with Dive Dominica. She and her husband run Nature Isl. dive, which is down in Scotts Head. Because of hotel policy, we dove with Dive Dominica, an excellent operation. We were extremely impressed with the diving there. Beautiful pristine and healthy reefs, excellent visibility, and lots and lots of fish. Our first dive was a beautiful wall. Among the 2 dives saw all the usual reef fish, lots of eels, spotted moray, arrow crab, juv. spotted drum (one of my favorites), octopus, puffers and 2 sea horses. Xmas eve town was just packed!! Xmas day, looked like a ghost town. Our a.m. dive on xmas day was at Scotts Head Pinnacles. Conditions can be iffy there at times, but, as luck would have it they were perfect for us. Spectacular would be putting it mildly! Abundance of fish, incredible color, lots of black coral and a gorgeous swim through filled with fish. You won't see anything HUGE there. The only sad part is the reefs are supposed to be protected yet fisherman are still permitted to throw their cages directly on the reef and divers are not allowed to touch them. Unfortunately, I saw a net with a beautiful spotted file fish, an adult spotted moray and a sea horse in it. (Boo) Skip to my journal on dec. 26. By now we are buddies with 2 other couples that we are diving with and we are having a ball. After diving that day we all went to the Sea Bird cafe for lunch. It is run by an American woman named Kris. So cozy, friendly and great food. I was made to feel so at home I felt I should get up and help with the dishes. Don't worry, the feeling passed. From there we drove down to Scotts Head. It is cool to see the rough Atlantic on one side of the narrow road, and the Caribbean on the other. Dec. 27 went on the whale watching tour. Saw about 15 sperm whales and some calves. Sperm whales reside there year round. The best part was on the way back seeing at least l50 spotted and spinner dolphins following the boat at full speed and leaping out of the water. Dec 28. did a full day island tour. Well worth it. Saw Trafalgar Falls, Emerald Pool, Carib Country. A fair amount of rain fell, but who cares? It is what helps that island retain its beautiful rainforest. Breathtaking views from high up in the mnts. Did a rowboat ride up a river in Portsmouth and also visited Fort Shirley. Awesome view from up there. Dinner with our dive buddies, exchanging e-mail addresses and sad good-byes. I would definitely rec. this island to all. Dont want to bore you with too long reports so I will cover Grenada on my next one. It will be more brief. Not too many good things to say about the diving there. More to come!

Grenada:
After a fabulous week in Dominica we arrived in Grenada, the isle of spice. It is the second largest exporter of nutmeg (2nd only to Indonesia) and you can smell the spices in the air. It too is a pretty island. In Nov. our reservations got screwed up at the True Blue Inn and it turns out it was a change of ownership that caused the problem. Found out that we could get in on Jan. 5. Spent 3 nights at Flamboyant and 3 at Lance Eaux Pine cottages. The Flamboyant was up above the lovely Grand Anse Beach and fortunately at the quiet end. It has a beautiful view. Being new years it was a bit of a zoo around the middle of the beach. Town of St. George too busy to enjoy. Finally got to True Blue and looked forward to our first dives. This was with Russell at Scuba Express. Very nice guy, I have to agree with David P. BUT! The diving was a big disappointment. Was asked if we minded going out with a couple of students doing their aow. One had just gotten certified. We said "oh what the heck", we are easy going. Did not get below 50' and vis was pretty bad. Not too much to see. The second dive was at shark reef (which I was told by the DM had been undiveable since Oct.) It is on the Atlantic side, close to the Caribbean so that probably accounted for the awful visibility. Had to work the current to keep up and could barely see past 10-15 feet. Not my idea of a relaxing dive. There were some nice fish there, perhaps on a better day it would be a pretty reef. Saw in a brochure about lsle de la ronde where vis was l00-150' and requested we go there for our next dive. They said they needed 6 divers to make it worth the long boat ride. I said we were game. It never got organized. The next day we did 2 more dives and decided they would be our last. Save it for Bequia and Tobago. Russ' wife was with a guy by themselves, he was just getting re-certified and we were with the other 2 aow students again. Did not want to follow them to watch them do their skills, so we just stayed on the reef (again only 50'). Later, heard the boat above us and then it moved off. Suddenly there was a BANG BANG on the back of my tank and I turned around and was given the "Divers UP" sign. I guess Julie did not know where we were and got on the boat to find our bubbles. I know we should not have gone alone, but my hubby insisted and I never leave my buddy. (We are exp. in diving alone). They were pissed off. Next dive, were told to stay together. Okay. Slightly better vis. Supposed to be a marine park, and was told to keep our eye on "that guy over there, spearfishing". Helloooo. Half way through the dive (about 35 min. and 1900 psi. left) get the divers up signal again. We go up and I ask, "why are we surfacing?" Turns out Ed over there, has only 500 psi. left. End of dive for everyone! Not that Ed goes back to the boat and we go on. Nope. Game over. That is when hubby yanked the reg. out his mouth and said. "I don't dive here anymore. They also cater to cruise ships doing resort courses etc. The DM, Kim felt really bad. He never got to take us out. So there may be some better sights there but, unfortunately, we did not get to see them. Aslo found out poor Russ has a little hole in his heart and is awaiting surgery and can't dive below 50'. Had a nice day trip up to La Saggesse and ate a couple of great meals at Aquarium Rest. Russ (a dif. one) who owns True Blue Bay and his wife were charming and the hotel is lovely. Tried to get to Cariacou but planes were booked and ferry was broken down. Just relaxed til Jan. 12 and off the Bequia. Part 3 soon.

Bequia:
Hubby and I had talked to different people, and many said the diving on Bequia (pronounced Beckway) was better than St. Vincent so we decided to try it first. As it turns out we did all our diving there. Jan. 12 arrived from Grenada to St. Vincent and caught a puddle jumper over to Bequia. As we did not have any reservations for the rest of our trip, we were literally flying by the seat of our pants. A fun little flight in a 6 seater. Someone had to call a taxi for us as most people commute by ferry. (Only 1 hr ride) Asked the driver to take us to "Gingerbread" as I had seen it on the net and it looked quite charming. Luck would have it, we got the last apt. Stayed in the new part (only 2 yrs old) and it was beautiful. Check out pics. on net. Lovely patio with view of gorgeous boats (100's of them) in Admiralty Bay. Checked in for 8 nights, threw our bags in our room, put on bathing suits, did the paperwork in the diveshop and were on the 11:30 a.m. dive boat, longing for a good dive. (after Grenada) There was a Dutch family of 4 doing their ow certification and hubby and I. Without even knowing our dive capabilities, we were assigned our own divemaster to take us our own way. YeeaaaHH! Had a lovely dive at Boulders with good vis, beautiful healthy reefs and lots of fish. Nothing huge, but a real delight. The same for the next few days of diving. Did a few drift dives and saw very large barracuda, puffers, angels, lobster, crab, eels, nurse sharks and an adorable hawksbill turtle having a rest. Took the odd day off to laze around on Lower Beach and one day walked through town to see the famous Sergent Bros. model boat building. Amazing hand crafted and painted wooden model sailing yachts. You can talk to the artists and ask all kinds of questions. Eg. one I looked at was about 3' long and the detail was incredible. It took about 2 months to build and sold for about $3000. It would be a privilege to own one. The island is only 7 square mi. and the people there are very kind. A lot of British. Sailing boats in the harbor from all over the world. Sun. Jan. 17 Took a wonderful day cruise to the Tobago Cays on a locally built 80' schooner (motor sailor) "The Friendship Rose". Instead of a cattle boat booze cruise, there were only 8 of us guests with the crew. It was a wonderful day and we all got to know each other and share stories. Left about 8:00 a.m.Motor sailed for about 3 1/2 hrs. past all the lovely islands I had seen on the net in the Grenadines. (mayreau, canouan, union oh, I can't remember them all). So many beautiful sailing vessels. We are sailors as well, and now I know why they call it a sailors paradise. Moored in an idyllic spot for swimming, snorkeling and beach play and returned for a great bbq. lunch on board. One of the fellows on board was a diver from Minnesota (i think), who had only done cold water lake diving in a dry suit with a max. depth of 50'. He seemed a little nervous about ocean diving, but I convinced him to dive with us the next day. He was getting excited. The trip back was filled with fascinating whaling stories from Harry. If anyone wants to know, just ask. It would take too long in this report, but I would be happy to do a separate report. Sailed in the bay around 7:00 p.m. Caught a barracuda on the way up and a dorado on the way back. Everyone had too much sun and way too much fun! Our buddy from the boat lost his virginity to ocean diving today. Did a drift dive on the Atlantic side. (Cathedral) I thought the vis was just "okay" but he was thrilled! His eyeballs were so big they filled his mask. At one point he swam over to me and showed me his gauge and then wanted to look at mine and my computer. I signaled "okay?" and he okayed me back. Later I asked him and he said, "I couldn't believe I was at 80'! A little while later, he tapped me and showed me his air gauge. It read 400psi so I tapped the DM who sent him up. On the boat later, he said he was so excited he was just sucking the air and almost ran out on his safety stop. He joined us the next morning for his last dive and did a lot better and was more relaxed. The dive was 90' to a piece of a wreck. Nice fish there incl. atlantic spadefish, jacks, cuudas and lobsters hiding under there about the size of a coffee table. MMMMM garlic butter dreams tonight. We all know what it is like to hear a boat go by overhead, but how would you like to be underneath a ferry as it passes by!!!! Pretty wild, I tell you. Dive operation was called Sunsports, owned by Bob Monnes. Overheard some people say he was a grump. Not to me. I thought his op. was excellent, great DM and very professional and helpful. Really enjoyed everything about the Island and would rec. it. Quiet, laid back and kind of a hippie atmosphere

Tobago:
Sorry this is taking so long! The final leg of our trips to Dominica, Grenada, Bequia and Tobago. Took the ferry (1 hr.) from Bequia to St. Vincent. It was a little rough in the Atlantic and I was glad I had not eaten any breakfast. Was afraid I was going to do the technicolour yawn! Seeing a large bottlenose dolphin jumping several times took my mind of my tummy. Russell from Grenada had arranged for us to spend three nights at Pigeon Point and the rest of our time in Speyside. Dove with R & C divers first and Aquamrine up in Speyside. Cannot say enough good things about either of these dive operations. Tobago is located in the extreme SE corner of the Caribbean 70 mi. off the coast of Venezuela. It is 116 sq. mi. of lush and mountainous terrain and, relatively undiscovered. The highlight and popularity of this island is definitely the scuba diving. With the best diving being on the Atlantic side, one must be prepared for strong surge and surf and heavy drifts. Thus the renowned expression, "high voltage action". Jan. 21 & 22. Did 2 days of 2 tank diving. First one was 100' wreck dive of a 200' ferry called "Maverick" sunk 3 years ago. Not a lot of growth yet, but the highlight was socializing with the resident jewfish named Jacob. A big and very friendly guy who keeps you company throughout the dive. It is unsure weather it is a guy or gal as they are born female and later turn into a male. (poor thing :-) ) Second dive was to "Flying Reef", a gentle drift dive for 1:12 min. Just beautiful! So nice to see so many mature fish on the reef. Red snapper, huge school of jacks, lobster, cuudas, french and queen angels, porcupine fish, nurse sharks, peacock flounders and at least 7-8 stingrays. Two of which were about the size of eagle rays. Plus a hawksbill turtle. Second last dive was "Divers Dream", an advanced drift dive to get your heart pounding. These are called "turn and burn" backroll entries. On the (now familiar) 1,2,3 ROLL! You all enter the water with no air in your BC and go straight down. I guess I was descending a little too slowly, as the DM came and grabbed my hand and pulled me down with him. With that current, I figured he thought I would end up in Trinidad before I got down. He was right! Boy we were flying like SUPERMAN! Wish I had a knot meter. Spectacular reef with tons of life! Another turtle, nurse sharks and big fish. An extremely exhilarating dive! A little calmer second dive. Looking forward to Speyside the next day. A note in my journal says "OH i hope to see a manta!" Rumor was going around that a couple of them had been seen up there the week before. Will post Tobago part 2 and final report. Otherwise it gets too long! Alas, our 6 week vacation must come to an end. (boo) Arrived up in the much anticipated Speyside area on the Atlantic side. Checked into the Blue Waters Inn. Did not even ask the price as the fellow from Grenada had made our reservations. Simple room, no a/c, nice water view and close to the dive shop. (Aquamarine) Went for dinner at 8:45 and was told they were still serving. No ala carte, just a buffet. Went to get our food and they were taking it all away. What was left was cold and yucky!! On to the diving. First dive was Keleston drain. Just gorgeous. Huge crab, nurse sharks, cudas, and very healthy coral. Second dive was the much talked about "Japanese Gardens". No disappointment there as it was a high current drift dive. On the dive briefing, we were told the DM was going to signal us when we got to the channel. Was instructed to stay low with a hand signal and when we got there my heart rate picked up a bit in anticipation. In we went and off we FLEW!! If I was in a car you would say "laid rubber". LOL It was so much fun, I wish it could have lasted forever. You come out in a beautiful coral garden. Next day am. dive was Bookends. Another beautiful dive where you see many huge tarpon at close range. When you look up, the surge looks like big clouds as it crashes against the rocks. Every dive we did found healthy reefs with lots of black coral. Some of which is 8' high. For a few years I have drooled over that picture in rsd (you know the one), where the diver is beside that HUGE! brain coral? The ad for Tobago. I had always said "I am going there someday!" And on one dive, there I was. It was fantastic! It is the largest documented brain coral in the world measuring 12' high and 16' across. WOW!! It must be thousands of years old. Vis on all the dives ranged from 70 to 100 plus feet. The afternoon dive on Jan. 25 proved to be a day I will always remember. The weather turned a bit nasty with rain, wind and LARGE seas. There was only one gal from a sailboat and hubby and I. The dive site was called "Black Jack Hole". It was supposed to be about 60-70' for about 35-40 min. Lots of colorful coral, elephant ear sponges, lobster, moray and spotted moray. For some unknown reason, the divemaster disappeared so we just followed the fellow with the marker. Towards the end of the dive I heard BANG, BANG, BANG on a tank. Looked to the DM and saw nothing til he pointed UP! And, there he was, MY MANTA!!!! Once again, my heart went into overdrive. I figured it would be like seeing an eagle ray where you get to see it for a brief moment only. I surfaced a little and just hovered and let my eyes take in this majestic creature. He swam towards us, around us and came close enough to allllmost touch him. Then the DM swam over his back and with his finger, stroked a spot back and forth. The Manta let him ride gently on his back. This went on for several minutes as we gazed with awe. Checked my air and still had around 900psi. left. He signaled me to come over and join him and I jumped at the opportunity. The DM on one side of him and me on the other. He showed me how to stroke him and then it was just me alone with my manta. There was no fear, just pleasure. Then the DM signaled "divers up". I thought, "No Way". I gave the raised middle digit and pointed at him, where, judging by the amount of bubbles flying out of his regulator I assume he was laughing quite hard. Hubby and the gal surfaced and I went back to the Manta as he allowed me on his back again. At this point, without trying to sound corny, it was like I went into a trance. I was gently riding the current with him up and around. It felt like a ballet. I remember thinking..."I can't believe I am doing this". At one point (I did not want to harass him), let go to see if he would swim off. Nope he stayed right there. I looked over at the DM who double okayed me. And off we went again. If he wanted to take me over to Venezuela, well heck, that was okay with me. When I felt pressure in my left ear, I stole a quick glance at my wrist computer, to find we had dropped to 49'!! My right ear must have equalized by itself but when I blew the left one cleared with a BANG! I was in La La Land. It is impossible to really describe the feeling. I felt alone, like in a dream. The best part was knowing and feeling that the manta was enjoying it too. On and on we went for at least another 10 min. Eventually, sigh, it was time to surface. When I surfaced, the DM was beside me and hubby and the gal were on the boat. I yanked out my reg. and gave a loud "YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!". Big swells and a smack on the face from a wave could not dampen my excitement. DM said put your reg back in and look down! "He really likes you!". When I put my face back in the water, I could see he had followed me right to the surface. My response was "THROW ME ANOTHER TANK!!!!". God, what a thrill!! When we got back to the dive shop and told my story, there were a lot of people disappointed they opted out of the dive due to the weather. Kinda like fishing. If you don't have your rod in the water, you are not going to catch anything! The last dive the next morning was an advanced dive requested by a fellow. It was called "Picker". A fair way out off Little Tobago Island. If there is a chance at seeing some of the big stuff, like hammerheads and tiger sharks, you would probably see them there. Unfortunately no big visitors that day. But the dive itself was fantastic. Beautiful sloping reef with lots of schooling fish, tarpon, cudas, nurse sharks etc. Another thrill ride with the extremely strong current. Safety sausages are a must on all dives there, and it is easy to see why. You are instructed to surface within 30 seconds if you become separated or lose sight of the group. All in all, it was all it was lead up to be and then some. The folks at Aquamarine Divers were wonderful. Would go back there in a heartbeat. Lots of interesting places to see like the rainforest and goat island for birdwatching. We were a little disappointed in paying almost $600 canadian for 2 nights at Blue Waters and found (through a taxi driver named Juicy), a nice clean 1 bedroom fully equipped guest house on Hill Top Rd. right on a point overlooking the bay, a spectacular view of Bookends (dive site), and the village (within walking distance) for the grand old price of $18 per night. Blue Waters and the Manta Lodge are the more upscale hotels. Something to consider though, they are no "Trump Towers". If you like some exciting diving, as the ad says, "Use your brain" dive TOBAGO!!! Where we live it took us 3 days to get home. A long trip and worth every minute. Except for one little blip, could not believe our luck with all airlines departing and arriving on time. Even LIAT! Happy Bubbles everyone!!!