Dominican Republic Scuba Diving

About 80 miles northwest of the Dominican Republic is an area known as Silver Bank, an integral part of the Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic. Here, between the months of December and April, Humpback whales converge here from five separate feeding areas of the Atlantic in order to breed and calve. These waters become almost alive with whale song during this period, when averages of 3,000 - 5,000 Humpback whales are in the area. The operators here run a 'soft-encounter' policy, which prohibits diving, but allows people to swim with the whales. Rather than try and swim up to the whales, swimmers are encouraged to wait until the whale approach them. As visitors to the Silver Bank agree, this is an awesome experience, and one which is worth travelling to be a part of. The large numbers of claves seen during the mating season here in recent years are testimony to the excellent efforts of the conservation authorities of the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic enjoys a year round tropical climate, and temperatures here will average around 90 degrees F (32 degrees C) around most of the coastal areas. The hurricane season tends to run between the months of June to November, and peaks in the months of August-September.

Diving in the Dominican Republic

Overall, despite the fact that the Dominican Republic is not as well known for diving as some of its Caribbean counterparts, there are good opportunities and sites to be experienced here. In particular, the Silver Banks has to go down as one of the great experiences for divers and conservationists alike.