Brace yourself for a trip to yesteryear and a simplicity that warms the soul. Dominica a "Diamond in the Rough" that has potential to be a priceless jem. This twenty four carat dive and hiking resort located at the bottom of the mountain island provides superb dining, excellent diving and good guidance for all activities available(numerous). The "rough" is the travel by foot or auto. This experience is something of a mario brothers game of escape and avoidance. The road system is a work in progress which means "leave the driving to the locals". In addition to the roads the "Brit" traffic is opposite to the US folks. The locals are excellent drivers and the rides are an additional experience that few amusement parks could match.

About 2 years ago we went to Dominica for the first time. We loved the diving and the people but the management of the hotel ruined the trip. We vowed to come back. This time we stayed at Castle Comfort, a short walk (1 1/4 miles) from the capital, Roseau. The hotel is owned by locals. The rooms were clean and made up every morning while we were diving. The food was okay but we were disappointed that there was not more local dishes. Mangos were in season but the only ones we got to eat were the ones we bought on our walks into town. We did find some local restaurants and got local food like curried goat, lamb, suckling pig, and fish creole.

Diving was great. Dive Dominica is the dive operator and they run an excellent operation. The boats left on time with one or two divemasters for 6-12 divers. There is unlimited shore diving 24/7. The shore dive is basicly much diving. If you haven't done it, it doesn't sound appealing but once you try it, there is so much to see. There were at least 5 different kinds of eels, an octopus that lived just off the rope, schools of bait fish so thick that you can't see through them, at least two batfish, flying gurnards, 3 kinds of lobster, squid and even a turtle. And that was just the big stuff. In almost every anemone there was some kind of critter. The petersen shrimp will clean your fingernails. We are still trying to identify a lot of the stuff we saw.

On our last day, we went for a tour that took us to Trafalgar Falls, twin waterfalls where we were able to hike down to hot and cold pools and soak. Then we went to Titou Gorge where we were able to swim through very narrow gorge to a small waterfall. There are lots of other land things to do in these beautiful rainforests.

The problem with Dominica is getting there. American Eagle and Liat are the only airlines that fly there. From Colorado, we cannot make the American Eagle connection on the same day so we took US Airways which is a Liat partner. Going to Dominica was uneventful but we had to change planes in Antigua even though it was the same flight number. We had to go through security and hand checking our backpacks with cameras and regulators, almost caused us to miss the flight. Since it was full and everyone was there, it left early. We were concerned about our checked dive gear because on our return from Dominica on our last trip, one of our bags did not get loaded on the aircraft even though it was on the cart alongside the plane when we boarded. It took 4 days for the bag to get back to me. This time the return flight was again a problem. The pilots went on strike. ( The Liat ticket counter in San Juan was next to the Spirit ticket counter and the Spirit pilots were on strike). All flights were canceled and all Liat offered was a seat on a flight 2 days later with no guarantee that the pilots would be back or if we had connections back to Denver. They would not endorse our DOM-SJU tickets to American. Instead we had to buy 2 very expensive seats on American. If that flight was on time, we had a chance of making our connections, but that flight was also late (by and hour and a half) and we had to overnight in SJU.

Bottom Line: We liked the Hotel, loved the country (island), loved the hiking and scenery,but unless there is another way to get there besides Liat, we are unlikely to go back in the near future

We stayed at Castle Comfort for a week and absolutely loved it! Definitely a resort that caters to divers. Dive boats were large, well equipped and uncrowded. The dive masters and captains were friendly, knowledgable, and safety oriented. They were there to help you if you needed it but also allowed you freedom in your diving. The restaurant had great food and excellent personal service. You could order your lunch before heading out for the morning dive and it was ready for you when you got off of the boat -- which allowed alot more time in the afternoons for topside excursions. Drinks and food both reasonably priced. When booking, request ocean front -- worth the extra price.

Our recent dive vacation did not disappoint on the variety of critters for underwater photography, excellent dive staff, large boats, safe operation, short rides to sites and
great shore diving. One whale trip that week only saw a few distant flukes, but 2nd trip
had more sightings. Our room was right over air compressors, which service cruise ship
tours, so heard many tanks being filled daily; although the best views of water and mountains were from this room. The pool is above ground and tiny and the advertised hot tub is non-existant. Cooked to order breakfasts were yummy, coffee is ready by 7:00 a.m.
Waterfront is rocky, no beach, tricky exit with rocks and urchins near steps, easy entrance with a giant stride at end of dock into deep water.
The island is amazing, our trips to Titou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls with lunch at a jungle Inn in Laudat, with sulphur hot pool soak at Tia's was the highlight.
The sunsets are lovely. Try the homemade flavored rums or rum punch. The fish dinners
were a big disappointment, the pizzas were very good, as well as jerk chicken and crab
salad plate.
This is the perfect little no frills small dive hotel. In my older age I need a few more creature comforts. Comfortable seating was non existant, white plastic was the norm.
The 1 hr 45 min transfer each way to the airport over harrowing roads through the rain
forrest was draining, but you do see some spectacular scenery. Our last night there we
had to get up for a 4:30 am trip to airport and a very loud band played until 3:15 am down the street. We heard this is standard for Friday nights. We were the last to check in
for 7 am flight.