Southeast Coast, Dominican Republic (March 3-10, 2001)
Coral Costa Caribe All-inclusive Beach Hotel and Casino
Sea Pro Divers
Author: Robert Stern

DISCLAIMER: This report is intended primarily for the interest of the Rodale's D2D scuba family.

However, due to: 
1. A lack of thorough reports on the Dominican Republic 
2. The increased interest in the Dominican Republic by divers 
3. And, the recent, extensive amount of advertising in scuba magazines by Coral Hotels; I have taken a very extensive and technical attitude in preparing it. The comments are solely those of my dive buddy (wife) and myself. Direct any questions to Rstern9007@aol.com

A. Our specifics: Both 60 years young, SSI Certified in 1995, approximately 180 dives each (warm, blue and clear), Nitrox Certified and very conservative.

B. Travel, Customs and Immigration: American Airlines - BWI (Maryland) direct to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Change planes and direct to Santo Domingo airport in the Dominican Republic.

We each now travel with one very large upright roll around suitcase. Each weighs in about 66-68 pounds with the maximum allowed at 70. No question was made as to dive equipment, and no additional was paid. We backpack our regulator, logbook, cameras, computers and spare bathing suit.

Entering the Dominican Republic through their immigration costs $10 U.S. per visitor. SUGGEST - One member of your party gets in the immigration line and someone else buys the visitor pass. This keeps your place in line.

All luggage made it and no problems were encountered.

Taxi from the airport to Coral Costa Caribe was $25 U.S. - negotiated before starting the 30-minute trip.

Departure is the same in reverse. However, you must pay another $10 U.S. per person AT THE DEPARTURE GATE.

C. Lodging: The Coral Costa Caribe is both hotel and vacation club timeshare. We own RCI timeshares and exchanged into a one-bedroom suite. Two queen beds in one room with table, sofa and small kitchen in the other. Check in was fast and easy. Everyone there speaks many languages and we had no problem using English. Americans are apparently in the minority as visitors. We paid $220 U.S. per person for all-inclusive (24 hours) unlimited food and drink plus $19 U.S. for a safe deposit key.

COMMENT: We didn't use the drink portion until Friday night AFTER diving was finished.

There is no reason to ever leave the facility.

COMMENT: We did not take any tours into the country except for diving. I can not comment on either the quality of the tours, cost, or countryside.

Non-divers have the availability of constant entertainment, activity, or "doing nothing". A large group of lively people called "The Chocolate Friends" is always on the prowl to stir up activity or take children off parents' hands. Food is available during mealtime in a buffet area. Remember that many cultures consider the noon meal to be the large meal, so lunch was almost as big as dinner. How about, salads - spare ribs - pasta - pie, for a light lunch. The food was always top quality, well prepared, and never ending. In between meal times and until 6AM, the snack bar serves all types of food, from pizza to a full chicken dinner. One night at about 11:00 PM we wanted ice cream and they immediately came up with a large ice cream cake. If you are unhappy with buffet, there are three sit-down restaurants also included in the package. We saw some very large, happy people.

The entire facility can not be beat for appearance, efficiency and the friendliness of the people. Nightly stage shows, two large pools in the main area, one with swim-up bar. Beautiful beach, approximately 1000 beach chairs...and I have a video of someone raking the sea floor in the swimming area and removing any sea grass which had grown.

COMMENT: There is much more to describe about this place. Email for particulars of interest to you which I did not cover.

D. Diving:

Sea Pro Divers has a complete facility at Coral Costa Caribe. They have all the Coral hotel shops and are probably one of the largest operations on the island. Boats are about 20ft open and you back roll into the water and whale flop out. As others have said, it is as if most of the Caribbean was 10 years ago.

Diving is NOT included in the package. We took a "dive package" and the cost averaged about $33 per dive per person. Naturally, tips were extra.

SATURDAY: In the room about 4:30 PM. Called the operator and asked for the "dive shop". The operator said, "Sir, we have a dive facility. Is that what you want?" I talked to someone who said not to bother coming down tonight. Relax, enjoy dinner and the hotel, and see them in the morning. We did not plan to dive on Sunday.

SUNDAY: After breakfast, took our gear to the dive facility. Jose met us. After doing the normal paperwork, he asked to see our cards and logbooks. They dive two dives each morning and no afternoon dives. When we saw the afternoon winds, we knew why. We booked dives on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Night dives were available, but we passed. Shore dives are possible, but Jose said not to even waste our time snorkeling in that area. They will wash and store your gear. Only air is available.

MONDAY: 8:30 AM. We each set up our gear. Jose said one boat was going to the deep wreck and the other to some shallow reefs. He STRONGLY suggested we not do the deep wreck until one of his people had seen us dive. We took the hint. I set my camera in the office, as I do not usually take it on the first dive of a trip. That dive is for refresher. BENJI'S REEF: 60 ft - 45 minutes - 78F - Vis about 20-30 ft Divemaster Alex asked why I was not taking the camera. He said that the potential was high for rays and barracuda so he would take the camera and if I wanted it, he would let me have it. They have a unique way of making a point. Miriam let him know that she was not carrying her gear into the boat...and they realized they had to "help" her back into the boat each time. After that, someone always loaded the boat for her and, usually me, before I could do it. Typical reef life - large green moray, trumpet, butterfly, and angels. Not a spectacular dive, but a good first dive for the trip. MARIOTIS REEF: 59 ft - 50 minutes - 79F - Vis about 20-30 ft Divemaster Tito escorted us this trip. Miriam caught her fin clip on the boat seat when she did her back roll. The fin went one way and the clip the other. She recovered her fin and I used my parts kit to replace the clip. Dive saved. Mainly small and few reef life, but some beautiful fan corals.

I helped wash our gear (That's me. I always like to recheck things after a dive). Then they showed where everything was stored and we were done for the day at about 1:00PM.

TUESDAY: 8:80AM. Gear was already outside, ready for us to set up. TANYA V WRECK: 111ft - 32 minutes - 79F - Vis 30-40 ft Tito escorted us. Three divers and him on a fantastic wreck. It is upright, clean and still does not have much encrustation. Some of the wheels turned and boxes could be opened. This was a very enjoyable dive. Stern to bow at about 110 ft, then bow to stern on the deck at about 80ft, then stern to bow on the superstructure at about 40 ft. A great way to do a multi-level dive. A few large fish, but life has not yet started to accumulate. When we got to our safety stop at 15 ft, they had hung another tank and regulator for emergency. The other divemaster also came down to 15ft to stay with us in case anyone needed help. They are a very impressive operation. CANYONS REEF: 54ft - 47 minutes - 79F - Vis 20-30 ft Alex this time. Apparently, they will switch off each day so we have the same number of dives with each. Interesting formation. Parallel sets of sand channels with reef on each side. This was a great way to search for photo opportunities, be in a location where you could get a good shot, and not be in danger of hurting the coral. Very leisurely dive with mostly small reef life.

WEDNESDAY: No dive. We always take a day off in the middle of a trip to relax. Jose and Tito both asked us if everything was OK. They were concerned why we were not diving.

THURSDAY: 7:45AM Start. This will be a 25-minute run to the dive site, longest of the trip. GABRIELLA WRECK: 59ft - 47 minutes - 79F - Vis 30-40 ft This is a nice, small wreck with much life. Large schools of French Grunt. After leaving the wreck, we toured a nearby reef. I saw the tiniest baby moray, but could not get a picture. ENCINATA REEF: 54ft - 51 minutes - 79F - Vis 30-40 ft Nice and apparently, healthy reef. Some beautiful brain coral heads, huge puffer sharing a hole with a trunkfish almost as big, pillar and black coral, and a big bristle worm.

FRIDAY: 8:30AM Start. All day bus trip to Catalina Island. ($60 U.S. each) I had packed our gear in mesh bags the night before. The shop loaded everything. One-hour bus trip to the dock (including a flat tire). There were about 30 people on the trip; most were along for the food/booze or snorkeling. Then we enjoyed a ten-minute trip in a 35-ft open boat with two large outboard motors. I will not say it was bumpy or fast, but I took off my life jacket and sat on it. The island is beautiful. Some of the Bond movies were filmed here. Hot lunch was included in the package. Alex and Tito suggested we should dive first, then eat and relax. CATALINA WALL: 111 ft - 42 minutes - 78 F - Vis 50-60 ft WOW. One of the nicest walls we have dived. Deep-water gorgonia, purple tube corals, elephant ear coral, sheet coral. Due to the height of this boat, we put on and took off our gear in the water. Now I know why they taught us that! AQUARIUM REEF, CATALINA ISLAND: 40 ft - 50 minutes - 79F - Vis 50-60 ft Well named. The largest collection of varied reef life we have seen on one dive. I tried twice to get a good shot of some garden eels, but the final photo was not worth it. This was a beautiful dive for the last one of this trip.

E. Summary:
We had a very enjoyable, relaxing, and reasonable cost dive trip. This facility is perfect for the diver who has other non-diver responsibilities such as children, spouse, or significant other who does not dive. Even if both parents dive, the children are in a totally controlled and entertained environment while you are diving. A great place for a vacation WITH diving.

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