Newbie diver back from Coki and Dominica

[ColoradoCruzers]

Just returned from Carnival Destiny 6/1 sailing.

 

Wow! My first ocean dive was a shore dive at Coki Beach, St. Thomas.

www.cokidive.com I had the extraordinary luck of having Steven from Coki Beach Dive be my personal divemaster/dive buddy. Just the 2 of us. I showed up for my 11:30 dive early, checked in and went snorkeling with my DH, and 2 sons 17 and 22. At 11:15 I returned to the dive shop, actually a van on the beach:) . Got outfitted, went over dive profile, safety and hand signals. Steven sprayed my mask with no fog stuff, and off to the water I went. Waded in chest deep, donned my mask and fins, swam out a bit, did a buoyancy check and we were on our way.

 

Maximum depth was 40 feet, for 45 minutes I think as my divelog is still packed away. I wore just a rash guard and swimsuit and was just fine. Thanks to everyone for their recommendations on what to wear. I saw a reef octopus, several kinds of eels, lots of different fish and plenty of colorful corals. Had Steven not shown me these creatures, I would have never even seen them. It was nice having someone know where to look and find the marine life. I need to get a book to start identifying them. I also had an arrow crab crawl on my hand. For my first dive outside of the Rocky Mountains I was thrilled. My oldest son snorkeled above me most of the time, I think he was worried about me!

 

I had some water in my ear afterwards and I was promptly sprayed in the ear with a mixture of vinegar and alcohol and it helped. Steven and the whole crew at Coki Beach Dive Club were great. Knowing I was a complete newbie, they made me feel relaxed and made the dive a wonderful experience. I would definitely return.

 

On Tuesday the 3rd we arrived in Dominica. What a beautiful, magical island. Big Mama, our driver arranged thru Clem at Irie Safari, arrived at the dock promptly at 11:45 and drove us to Irie Safari, right at the entrance to Champagne Reef. He stayed and waited for us and I think was a bit put out when we decided to return to the ship instead of taking a tour with him of their lovely island. But I was tired. Clem Johnson was great to deal with through email and by phone. I met Francesca, my divemaster/buddy. Once again it was just the two of us. She gathered all my gear together. Clem hauled our tanks down to the beach for us. The walk to the beach starts right from their dive shop, down some stairs and along a boardwalk to the water. There is no beach. It is what I would call large cobbles. There was a small problem with the inflator hose on my BC, so I sat on a big rock and watched as my DH and sons went off with their own guide on a snorkel adventure while Francesca walked back to the dive shop to fetch a new BC for me.

 

After assembling our gear she had me wade into the water and sit on my tank and slip into my BC. That was a new one for me! She then brought out my fins for me. After maybe a 5 minute surface swim we reached the point where the dive would begin. It really wasn't much of a swim, more like a leisurely backfloat out to the reef.

 

Once under water, OMG! It was incredible, the beauty, the marine life. It was a good thing I had a regulator in my mouth or my mouth would have been hanging open the whole time.

 

Francesca went slow, constantly making sure I was always ok and nearby. She had a slate on which she wrote all the marine life I was seeing and would also name fish when I pointed and asked what they were. The list is long but some of what I saw: parrotfish, arrow crab, eels, squid, spotted drum, yellowtail snapper, pufferfish, lizardfish, beautiful corals, all the colors of the rainbow, feather duster that closed when prompted and opened so beautifully. She also pointed out some cannons and huge anchor chains that had been there for some 300 or 400 years. We did our safety stop by piddling around at the bubbles for a few minutes at 15 feet. It is amazing how warm the water from these vents really is. And just like people say, it is like swimming in a huge glass of champagne.

 

All told, maximum depth was 60 feet, bottom time was 53 minutes. I wore only a rash guard again, but should have worn my 3mil wetsuit. I had a hard time warming up after returning to the ship. Took a couple hours and a long hot shower to rectify.

 

When we surfaced, I was almost at a loss for words, the feeling was incredible. I get goosebumps just writing about it. I now know that I am spoiled :D having such personal experiences on my first 2 dives.

 

Many thanks to Clem Johnson and Francesca at Irie Safari for making my second ocean dive the absolute highlight of my entire vacation. The folks at Irie Safari were so welcoming and friendly. By the way, Francesca is the only female instructor on the island, as well as the youngest. And I would not hesitate to dive with her again. Next week would not be too soon.

 

I also would like to mention my DH and sons found their guided snorkel to be an incredible experience as well. I'm sorry I didn't get the name of their guide, as I would like her to know just how special she made their day. My husband couldn't say enough good things about her and how she pointed out all the things they were seeing or were about to see. Their contact info is:

Clem Johnson

Irie Safari

Anse Batteau, Pte Michel

Box 2078, Roseau

Dominica, West Indies

(767) 440 5085

(767) 275 7001

iriesafari@cwdom.dm

 

If anyone has questions or comments I would be happy to reply.

 

~Machelle

[scubaran]

Hi,

 

Really glad you had two great experiences. Diving in the Caribbean is one of the things that keeps me coming back. Just as a suggestion, you might go on Amazon, or other on-line book store, and get the following books:

 

Reef Fish Identification Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas

Reef Coral Identification Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas

Reef Creatures Identification Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas

 

They're also sold in a set. These books have color pictures of everything you'll see in the water and also give you behavioral information on them as well (which ones you can approach, which ones run away, etc.). My goal is to capture as many of these as I can with my camera. In the interim you can go to my website and check out my pictures to help you with identifying what you saw (I sometimes have to search for hours to correctly identify something I took a picture of). The site is: www.randallgamby.com Hope you enjoy and jealousy all around.

 

Randall

[ColoradoCruzers]

Thanks for the heads up Randall, I will definitely go and take a look at those titles. Your website is great, thanks for the link.

~Machelle

[bmsmith521]

coloradocruzers,

thanks for sharing! my DH and I are getting certified in july and will be experiencing our first dives on our cruise scheduled for jan 09. glad to know that newbies can have wonderful first dive experiences on a cruise. i am very excited!

 

scubaran,

just checked out your website. you have some gorgeous pictures! may I ask what kind of camera you use; any special equipment? at what depths did you catch these glorious creatures?

[scubaran]

scubaran,

just checked out your website. you have some gorgeous pictures! may I ask what kind of camera you use; any special equipment? at what depths did you catch these glorious creatures?

 

Hi,

 

I use a Canon Powershot A620 point and shoot in a Canon underwater enclosure. I've also added a slaved strobe and a camera light on a two-arm camera tray. I usually shoot fairly shallow 25-60ft. since most of the "good stuff" is in shallower water. :)

 

Thanks for taking a look. I've got a bunch of additional pictures to queue up from this last winter, just have to find the time to get them on the site.

 

Randall

[Ft. Collins Cruisin Fans]

Hi Colorado cruiser! First let me say thanks for your review. It helps a lot. We're scheduled to be on the ship 6/29/08. I do have a few questions if you're up to them.

 

In embarkation, they load you in zones? We've never cruised this line, but never experience this. And in your carry ons, what kind and how much liquor did they allow?

 

How do the islands compare to Hawaii? Would you allow time to see the islands or pretty much just snorkel and beach?

 

I noticed you found jetskis for around $45 per half hour. Was this the only island they were available on?

 

Did you see any places to parasail?

 

Do you suggest booking the excursions before we go or just walk off the ship and go from there?

 

Where did you think the best snorkeling was?

 

If you were going again, would you do any of it different?

 

Any special tips?

 

 

Thanks so much for your help. We've never cruised this line before or destination, so aren't sure what to expect. Sounds like you had a great time! Hope ours is just as good.

 

Kylie

[ColoradoCruzers]

I tried to address each question for you, see my answers below.

 

In embarkation, they load you in zones? We've never cruised this line, but never experience this. After going thru the document check, and then obtaining your sign and sail card, they will give you a card with a zone # on it. First come first served, basically. They first board VIPS, handicap, etc. Then they start announcing zone #'s such as 1-4, 5-8, etc. You line up, put your carryon thru the xray and board the ship. This was early in the day, and people were still leaving the ship so we had to just wait until we could start boarding. Thus the zone #'s. I didn't experience this last year in Miami. I have a hunch if you board later in the day this would not be the case.

 

And in your carry ons, what kind and how much liquor did they allow? We went into the duty free shop immediately before the boarding area. We bought Kahlua, Baileys, Coconut Rum 4 bottles total. I don't think there is a limit, whatever your carry on could hold I suppose. Just put them in our Camelbaks and took them onboard. I remember seeing some wine, but not beer, in the shop. Sampling outside the shop helps you make up your mind ;) There are drink stations on board for mixers. I personally would make a large Kahlua & Cream (from the coffee station) to sip on during sailaway each day.

How do the islands compare to Hawaii? Would you allow time to see the islands or pretty much just snorkel and beach? I have never been to Hawaii, so I can't address that question. Dominica is a beautful, more natural island. The diving was incredible at Champagne Reef. We didn't see much of the islands as we aren't the type to sit in a vehicle touring. I would definitely love to see more of each and every island though. After 3 days of snorkeling, my guys were beached out so we did a catamaran and then a zipline tour for a change up.

I noticed you found jetskis for around $45 per half hour. Was this the only island they were available on? There were jet skis at Coki Beach, didn't see any in Dominica where we were. The Boatyard in Barbados has them, Dickenson's beach in Antigua had them, and Frigate Bay in St. Kitts had them. All the prices were the same.

Did you see any places to parasail? There were parasailers on Dickenson's Beach in Antigua.

 

Do you suggest booking the excursions before we go or just walk off the ship and go from there? If you want to do specific activities, I would suggest pre booking, whether private or thru the ship. If you just want to tour the islands, there are always plenty of taxis drivers ready for you at each port. I prebooked dives in St Thomas and Dominica. We booked w/Carnival for Barbados and St Lucia. We just grabbed a ride to beaches in Antigua and St Kitts.

Where did you think the best snorkeling was? Hands down, Dominica

 

If you were going again, would you do any of it different? The only thing I would do different would be to book a cruise with a sea day. I thought I would like the island a day itinerary, and I did, but it wasn't real relaxing. Get up early, grab breakfast, head to islands and play, come back to ship, dinner at 8, then a show, never in bed before midnight just to do it all over the next day. Not alot of downtime. But that's my fault.

Any special tips? The info on these boards was such a great resource, I am a planner by nature, and although we did wing it somewhat, I researched what I might like to do at each port. Just go with an open, anything goes mindset and take it all in.

Have a great cruise, I sure did.

~Machelle

[SanNic44]

Great reports. Plenty of details. Thanks!

[Ft. Collins Cruisin Fans]

Thanks so much Machelle. We're planning too. We're taking our neice & nephew 16 & 18 with us and want it to be a great adventure for them!

 

What did you mean by drink stations? Do you mean at the buffet? And they have cream there?

 

Our past cruises have been with NCL. We chose this line because of their itinerary. With NCL, you couldn't carry on at all, so the only "drink station" was tea or punch at the buffet.

 

Thanks again Machelle. We're going back over our excursion list with your suggestions in mind. They've been such a big help!

 

Kylie

[ColoradoCruzers]

Hi Kylie,

Yes the drink stations I mentioned are at the buffet and inside and outside the Sun & Sea restaurant on the Lido Deck. There is ice, water, lemonade, orange and apple juice, usually a fruit punch or passion guava drink, iced tea, and coffee. At the end is also 1/2 and 1/2 and regular milk in carafes.

~Machelle

[ColoradoCruzers]

The 24 hr soft serve in a bowl goes nicely with a bit of Kahlua used as syrup, yum!:p

[Ft. Collins Cruisin Fans]

Thanks again Machelle. The soft serve idea sounds great! I don't think I would've thought of that. Appreciate ALL your help!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Kylie:p