Scuba Dive Excursion at Isla Catalina, Dominican Republic

Isla Catalina Scuba Experience DR JenThereDoneThat

Dominican Republic offers a wide variety of adventure sports, including Scuba Diving, hiking, and swimming (all of my favorite activities). On our recent trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic we planned for all of these activities with scuba diving at the top of my to do list!

Isla Catalina Scuba Experience DR JenThereDoneThat

From Punta Cana there are a few dive sites north & south of the island. The south side is known for calmer water and better visibility,so I looked south for a good dive and snorkel spot. I am a huge fan of wall dives, and the wall at Isla Catalina sounded perfect with scuba, snorkel, beach day complete with souvenir shopping and hot BBQ lunch.

Choosing A Dive Boat

Since this was my first dive in DR, I asked my local dive shop for recommendations or tips. Two of my dive masters warned me against booking with a company that offers 2 tank dives under $60 deals, as they have a bad reputation for dropping divers off in a new site, leaving, and coming back in an hour to switch tanks. Um, no thank you. I checked for top rated PADI certified operators and selected SeaPro divers because they had great ratings, good website, and offered transportation and lunch.

Disclaimer: They did not compensate me in anyway, I am sharing which dive boat that I paid to dive with as information only.

Getting there

Taxi cabs are pretty expensive in DR, so hotel pick-up in Punta Cana was a requirement for any excursion out of the resort. The day trip to Isla Catalina entails a van pick-up to rendezvous with a coach bus to make the 45 mile (75 km) trek down to the Marina La Romana to board the dive boat. The hour ride passed pretty quickly with entertaining tour guide and pleasant drive past in across the east interior of the island, passing the Punta Cana mall, farm houses, and a few small towns.

Once we reached the marina at La Romana, the scuba divers were split off from the snorkelers and boat passengers to pick up gear and load the boat. The drop off location was well organized, clean, and cozy atmosphere.A short walk down to the boat, load up, and we were off to the first dive site at Isla Catalina approximately 25 minutes in the boat.

Dive Sites

The first dive site is known as the Wall with a shallow reef that leads to a literal rock wall drop off.

The wall dive site was crowded with boats and snorkelers, which is not my favorite combination. The boats kept coming in and out of the area thrashing the snorkelers around, it did not look pleasant for them. It was chaotic and crowded. All snorkelers must wear a life vest, so there is zero opportunity for free dive for a closer look at the reef. I would be hesitant to recommend this for snorkelers, especially with children.

When we first descended toward the wall, there is a large field of damaged coral from irresponsible divers, snorkelers, and boats. A short swim reveals the underwater beauty of crystal-clear water and loads of fish in a healthy coral reef. The experienced guides lead the newbie divers on a short shallow circuit leaving the more experienced divers to split off for deeper dive and spend quality time exploring.

My dive buddy had an equipment malfunction within the first five minutes of the dive and had to go back to the boat to switch out her regulator. We took this opportunity to take some silly underwater photos before she & the dive master returned to our location. The dive boat was equipped with plenty of spares (as I expect from any professional company) and we quickly resumed our dive. A cheap boat that just dropped us off would have ended in misery and an aborted dive.

Doing my best Power Pose | Photo Credit Sea Pro Photographer

The wall did not disappoint! Excellent visibility and a wide range of colorful tropical fish joined us on our underwater adventure.Massive lion fish could be seen in almost every large, dark crevasse and did not seem bothered by the human invasion. Healthy corals of bright greens and purples cover the side of the wall and various reef fish swam around.

My Dive Buddy greeting a fish along the wall

Advanced divers are able to descend deeper along the wall and swim between the rock overhangs for up-close views of lobsters and lionfish. Be sure to check out my YouTube video to see for yourself!

Lion fish at the wall dive site

At the halfway point, a slight cold current allowed us to drift back to the boat pick up location. The deepest point of our dive along the wall was ~85 feet, and while there was nothing particularly difficult or technical about the dive, it was incredibly relaxing and beautiful.

There was a group of newbie divers recently certified for open water on a previous vacation, the dive master kept them at a reasonable depth for their skill and oxygen consumption. This was a good practice site for buoyancy control and not allowing the (light) current to push them up against the wall.

The newbie divers returned to the boat, snorkelers soon joined them, and the advanced divers were the last to board the boat. The boat made a quick trip over to the dock at Isla Catalina to drop of non-divers for beach time and drinks, then we were taken to the much shallower dive site near Playa Grande. Our surface interval was the drop off and re-positioning to the second site, then back in the water.

Swimming through a ring of air | Photo credit Sea Pro Divers photographer

The second dive site is the known as the Aquarium, presumably for the sheer amount of fish and creatures. A stark contrast to the wall, the shallow aquarium site (max depth 65 feet) is largely a white sandy bottom with small clumps of coral reefs teeming with more variety of creatures than the wall! We encountered many lemon rays, puffer fish, eels, flounder, crabs, lobster, and even a tiny 4 inch sea horse! With a very light, gentle current it was easy to swim in for a closer look and maintain neutral buoyancy for underwater video and photography.  This is a fantastic site for newbie divers!

Overall, the scuba diving around Isla Catalina is excellent! I am ready for my next dive vacation around DR to explore the mangrove forests, deep wreck sites, and swim through caverns.

Isla Catalina

Completing our dives, the boat returned to pick us up and drop us back on Catalina Island for a hot meal, cold drink, and some beach time. The island is built out with wooden board walks to shopping kiosks at the end of the beach, dining tents, bathroom facilities, and large grill area for buffet style meals. The facilities are modern rustic, meaning that it feels very manufactured and crowded. An hour was plenty of time to eat, enjoy the beach, buy a souvenir, and be ready to leave. While some guests (mostly families with smaller-ish children) came just for beach day & BBQ lunch on the island, I would only book this excursion for the scuba diving aspect.

Playa Grande beach at Isla Catalina

The BBQ lunch was actually a simple preparation of grilled chicken, pork, rice & beans, cold pasta, and fruit. This was a welcome improvement over normal dive boat lunches of sandwiches & cookies. Do not expect a lavish gourmet meal, it is grilled lunch served in a buffet line.

After lunch, we enjoyed some overpriced drinks at the bar, walked down the board walk to purchase some local Mama wana drink and various souvenirs.

The boat returned to the Isla Catalina dock precisely on-time, a short ~20 minute boat ride back to the marina, drop off gear, and back on the clean air conditioned bus to return to our resort in Punta Cana. The entire operation is very well coordinated and easy. It is understandable why so many families would choose this excursion.

Other Tips

I rarely dive with a wetsuit I did not pack mine for this trip to DR in order to save luggage space. Next time I will bring my 2.5Mm shorty wetsuit for DR. The water at depth on the south side of the island was just cool enough that I regretted not having my wetsuit. My dive buddy dove with a full length 3Mm wetsuit and she mentioned still being cold. Also, since I was not wearing a wetsuit, the dive company insisted that I wear a life vest while the boat was moving (wet suit wearers did not need the life vest).

Bring small denominations of cash on the excursion. Between buying a few beverages (after the dive), tipping the dive crew, buying souvenirs,and tipping the bathroom attendant I used more cash than normal for a dive excursion.

This excursion was double the price of what I normally pay in Fajardo, Puerto Rico for something similar. The transportation to the marina was the deciding factor for me, as I would have spent far more on a taxi or rental car without the added security and piece of mind that the excursion company was coordinating all of the details & timing. For me, it was worth the extra cost to enjoy these amazing dive sites without any hassle.

21 thoughts on “Scuba Dive Excursion at Isla Catalina, Dominican Republic”

  1. I’m equally intrigued and scared of the underwater activities as I don’t know swimming. But it must be such an exhilarating experience! I loved reading yours and looking at these incredible photos of scuba diving.

  2. The closest I have ever been to a dive was a snorkel on our honeymoon 30 years ago. I would love to have the courage to learn to dive as it’s part of travel that has such a unique perspective of life on this planet. I guess for now I will just live vicariously through your incredible pictures and go there in my dreams.

  3. As a Dive Master I am horrified at the two tank dive operators leaving guests out at sea like that! Sounds like and looks like an awesome spot to dive from your awesome photos.

  4. Pingback: Punta Cana, DR
  5. I’ve been desperate to get my PADI certification! It’s when I read article like these that I’m inspired to get it even more! I went snorkeling in Puerto Rico a few years ago and I was blown away, so your photos made me think of that initially. I also appreciate that you got a local recommendation of what dive shop to use, that’s very important in support the local economy and understanding who treats their customers the best. I love all the sealife that you were able to see as well. Looks like your guides took you to a very good location.

  6. I haven’t tried diving yet! It seems like a fun activity to do. The diving sites in Dominican Republic is amazing! I would like to visit next time.

  7. I love diving! Although only an open water at the moment. The Dominican Republic looks a fantastic place to dive! I recently dived in Costa Rica and saw so many shark :O
    Thank you for posting about which diving company you found better that is really helpful!
    The dive sites look amazing, and the pictures are unreal!
    Thank you for sharing this post 🙂

  8. I haven’t visited the Dominican Republic yet but I’m definitely planning to visit in 2020 if not 2019. The Scuba diving experience looks stunning. Seems like you had an an incredible experience. I’m so glad I came across this article, I’m definitely bookmarking it for the future.

  9. Thanks for sharing the underwater beauty of Dominican Republic. Scuba diving is something I want to experience as well and witness whats underneath. Is Dominican Republic a very touristic spot?

  10. Wow, Dominican Republic has such clear diving sites. It reminds me of Koh Tao. The wall dive site gives a clearer view of what’s inside water. Also the BBQ lunch was a great add-on. Seems you have thoroughly enjoyed.

  11. I agree – sometimes it’s better to pay a little more to have less stress and easier transportation. I loved your video and being able to feel like I was there. I’m hoping to get certified this year and try my hand in the DR. Oh – and good thing you asked about which company to use. I can’t believe that companies think it’s good business to drop people off at a site, leave, and then come back. What if they forget??

  12. I’ve never been to the Dominican Republic, but when I worked for a major UK tour operator in the late 1990s, it was one of our most popular Caribbean destinations! So I’ve wanted to go for a while! The Scuba diving there looks excellent, especially on the south side for better visibility. Good tip from your local dive shop on avoiding the cheap operators who just abandon you out there except for tank swap. Looks like you had an incredible experience with the people you did choose, and the wall looks wonderful!

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