The Dominican Republic has long been considered a go to vacation spot for travelers looking to escape winter and enjoy many of the all-inclusive resorts which line the beautiful white sand beaches. What it hasn’t been as well for is a marquee scuba diving destination. A new shop in Bavaro (just outside of Punta Cana) is beginning to change that.
While many of the all-inclusive resorts offer Discover Scuba Diving Programs as well as diving for certified divers, most of them will visit the same sites day after day which are located in the closest proximity to that resort. The conditions were great. Warm water, nice visibility, but the dive sites offering little variety. This was a flaw that Dave Fuller and Matt Shaw (from Canada) recognized while visiting.
In November of 2017, Dave and Matt decided to partner with some local Dominican divemasters and instructors to tackle this way of conducting diving in the Dominican. They started a new dive shop which is not located on a resort and is completely independent. Their sole purpose is to show customers all of the best diving that the Dominican has to offer in a safe and fun way. Scuba Dive Dominican was born. This new dive shop is conveniently located on Playa Bavaro, only a short drive from Punta Cana. They operate from this location, but have also chosen to partner with other operators and will gladly bring customers to other locations around the Dominican if the conditions are better that day or the customer has something in particular they wish to see. Since opening in late 2017, full day trips to Saona Island as well as Catalina Island have been very popular with customers as have been the many wrecks which dot the coast in the Punta Cana area. The coral reefs are also in very good shape in the Dominican and are full of marine life. There have been all kinds of great sightings in the 4 short months the shop has been open, including in December when the team was lucky enough to witness a manatee on a dive.
Besides offering day dive trips around the Dominican, this new shop is also a PADI and SSI shop and offer a full range of courses from beginner to divemaster.
