Riu scuba diving - a reason for your vacation
If you are planning a Caribbean vacation and wish to scuba dive during your stay, you could do well to choose the Dominican Republic as your destination. Due to its size and variety, the Dominican Republic offers both developed tourist areas, with top class hotels, and wild off-the-beaten-track areas for the more adventurous, independent traveler. The good news is that, as far as the coastal areas of the Dominican Republic are concerned, you can scuba dive to your heart's content almost everywhere you go. Offshore reefs with their colorful marine life and shipwrecks from the times when pirates and plunderers terrorized the Caribbean are the main attractions for scuba divers. PADI certified scuba diving schools abound in all the tourist areas of the Dominican Republic. Some are independent; others may be attached to a particular hotel or resort. They cater for all levels of experience, so take your pick. You can book specialist scuba diving vacation packages in advance, or decide once you are in your hotel. This depends on whether you want to scuba dive as part of all the other activities your resort has to offer, or spend much of your Dominican vacation under water. The best conditions for scuba diving in the Dominican Republic are on the north and south coasts. Although there is scuba diving on offer on the east coast resorts, the Punta Cana area, the sea there can be rougher and more challenging, especially during the winter months. If scuba diving is the main focus of your stay in the Dominican Republic, do bear this in mind. On the north coast of the island, the main destination for divers is the Playa Dorada/Sosua area, east of Puerto Plata. The protected waters of Sosua Bay are the setting for some of the best diving experiences the country has to offer, like an 'underwater garden', wall and reef diving and wrecks, all with a diverse array of marine life. Further to the west, the relatively unexplored beaches between Montecristi and La Isabela also offer interesting diving options. On the east coast are the Punta Cana - Bavaro resort areas. As already mentioned above, conditions are rougher in this popular resort area, but diving is possible from several locations here as well. Anchor Reef and Pepe Reef are typical Caribbean reef sites with healthy corals, and generous shoals of colourful tropical fish. There is also a freshwater cavern dive site at Laguna Pepe, located in the middle of a golf course. For seasoned divers, the best option is to take an excursion to the above-mentioned islands of La Catalina or Saona off the south coast, which are relatively near to the resort areas. The less touristy Samana Peninsula is another option for scuba diving. There are over 18 different dive sites off the north coast of the Samana peninsula, a mix of both deep and shallow, with pinnacles, walls, caverns and coral reefs.
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