It is strange the way things happen in life. Call it fate, luck, destiny or whatever you like but it was about to have a major affect on our vacation plans.

It was Tuesday just 3 days before we were due to fly off to Sulawesi, Indonesia for our first vacation of the year and I was about to enjoy a relaxing lunch when the phone rang. Pessimist that I am, I was anticipating a call from my wife Judith to tell me that she had been unsuccessful in obtaining a couple of spare hoses for our US Divers regulators. What I was not expecting was for her to call me in a state of panic to tell me that she had just had a conversation with the dive store owner about our forthcoming vacation to Indonesia and that part of the conversation had included him asking if she was aware that the British Government web site had advised against all 'Non essential travel to Sulawesi', due to the high risk of Terrorist activity.

I checked our Travel Insurance and confirmed that among other things we would not be covered for 'Any claim caused directly or indirectly by war, invasion, acts of terrorism' etc etc AND 'you must follow any relevant suggestions or recommendations made by any government or other authority before or during the period of insurance'. By this I read that if either of us got injured during a trip to Sulawesi we could not expect to have a claim paid.In the light of these facts it seemed a good idea to cancel all of our arrangements to go to Sulawesi and consider another destination.

When your mindset is that you will be going on vaction in 3 days time the thought of cancelling is not an option.

Many other good diving destinations to the east also seemed to be on the list of Government 'no-go' places, so this left the Caribbean area as the best possibility. Dominica, the Nature Island has been high on our 'wish list' for some time and as time was short (too little time to make the arrangements ourselves) a quick call to travel agents Harlequin was in order.

The agents at Harlequin were definitely not at all phased by our plea to get us to Dominica in 3 days time, and by 5pm just 3.5 hours after the panicked phone call from my wife we were re-booked for 15 nights in the Castle Comfort Lodge in an Ocean Front room with air conditioning, half board and a 10 day two tank unlimited shore diving dive package with return flights from London Gatwick departing on Saturday 8th May to Antigua with British Airways and an onward connecting flight to Dominica with Caribbean Star.

Harlequin certainly worked miracles for us and reduced our stress levels considerably. Thursday morning the tickets, hotel and diving vouchers arrived in the mail by recorded delivery and so we were good to go.

The next few days seemed to take forever to pass but Saturday found us stood at the BA Check-In where we were fortunate enough to be able to get Emergency Exit row seats 'with extra legroom' (sheer bliss on an 8.5 hour flight).The BA staff also checked our luggage all the way through to Dominica (good to see different Airlines working together to aid travellers)

The flight to Antigua was uneventful but slightly marred by the lack of a functioning pull up entertainment system video monitor. The complimentary glass of Champagne that the Air Stewardess offered us went some way to offsetting our loss!!!

The 2 hour interlude before our onward flight to Dominica passed quickly enough and the 40 minute flight to Dominica in a Dash 7 twin engined turbo prop afforded superb views as we passed over the island of Guadeloupe and made a steep approach over the rain forested mountains to land at the Melville Airport in Dominica.

Although our luggage appeared promptly on the conveyor the Customs procedure took forever with each passenger being questioned and in some cases the contents of suitcases being opened for examination.

Finally we 'escaped' into Dominica where we were greeted by a Taxi driver toting a message board with our name upon it. Cases were quickly loaded into his comfortable mini van and we were on our way to the hotel which was situated in the north west of the island approximately 1.5 miles south of the capital Roseau. The 1.5 hour journey up, over and through the spectacular rain forest passed very quickly with our taxi driver pointing out items of interest and regailing us with information about the island and it's people. Dominica the 'Nature Island of the Carribean' as it is known is 26 miles long and 16 miles wide. The central area is covered with dense vegetation and most settlements are located in the coastal regions.

The final 20 minutes of our taxi ride was spent in darkness with only the headlights from the taxi picking out the narrow, twisty and badly pot-holed road as we descended down towards the lights of Roseau.

Upon our arrival we were greeted warmly by our hosts and our luggage was taken to our room for us. As we had been travelling for 15 hours and apart from a couple of hours sleep on the plane, we had been awake for about 18 hours the receptionist  suggested (and we gratefully agreed) that the orientation briefing should wait until the following day when we would be refreshed. At which point we adjourned to our room, even foregoing the offer of evening meal that was still being served in the restaurant.

The Castle Comfort Lodge is a small 15 room hotel (but the atmosphere is more like a small family guest house) on the waterfront. Our large room was on the first floor with it's own chair equipped balcony with views across the garden to the sea and dive boat jetty. The room (which had a queen sized double and a single bed) was simply but adequately furnished with an en-suite bathroom and a shower cubicle easily large enough for at least 2 people. After rapidly unpacking, preparing our dive gear and my camera for diving the following day, we hit the sack to the sounds of insects foraging in the night.

We were awoken early the following morning by the bright light from the sun penetrating the drapes at the window and to the dawn chorus of birds heralding the start of a new day. Eager to see our new temporary abode we opened the balcony door to reveal the spectacular sight of the blue Caribbean and an irridescent blue hummingbird siping nectar from the flowers of the tree that partially obscured the view of ocean. This loss of a view was a small price to pay as we spent many of the subsequent early mornings sat on the balcony watching the many varieties of native birds roosting, feeding and nesting in those trees.

After a quick shower we were ready to sample the first decent meal since we had left home (airline food not withstanding). As with all of the excellent meals served in the restaurant freshly prepared ingredients, produced and harvested on the island are used. The choice available from the breakfast menu was extensive and we enjoyed the first of many superb offerings. On this occasion we commenced with guava juice (one of a number of different fruit juices that changed nearly every day) followed by a small plate of fresh island fruit and then scrambled eggs with bacon and wholewheat toast accompanied by as much coffee or hot tea as we desired.

Suitably nourished, hydrated, revitalised and having received our orientation briefing we were ready for the days diving.But not before we had selected and recorded our lunchtime choice from the extensive and varied menu. This pre-selection process was necessary in order that the chef could freshly prepare and cook food so that it would be made available for guests in a timely manner after the return of the morning two tank dive trip at approximately 12:30pm.

Dive Dominica is also managed by the owner of the Castle Comfort Lodge. The dive store is located on the hotel premises with the jetty where the dive boats depart from just a few yards from the dive equipment preparation and storage area.

Dive Dominica provides the usual range of dive courses as well as providing snorkelling and diving trips for cruise ships that dock in Roseau. As a result they have a large number of tanks, BCDs, regulators, masks, fins and snorkels available to rent. An equipment drying and storage room also positioned by the jetty is at divers disposal. Thereby saving you the hassle of having to carry wet heavy gear back to your room at the end of the days diving. Large freshwater camera equipment and wetsuit rinse tanks are also to hand.

The boat crew manhandle your equipment to and from the storage room at the beginning and end of each days diving, rinsing off your equipment for you. It is a good idea to take a suitable dive bag to put your gear in as this makes their task much easier. All of the 5 boats offer shade and are very well equipped and comfortable with ample room. During our stay the maximum number of divers on the boat at any one time was 10. The two-tank morning dive trip departs at 8:45am returning at approximately 12:45pm the surface interval (usually 1 hour) is spent chillin at the second dive site.

For camera users the crew are aware of your needs and know how to handle your expensive equipment. Camera rinse tanks are available for your use and their are ample dry areas to change films or batteries during the Surface Interval. All boats are fitted with a 'head' (toilet). Entry into the water is by Giant Stride from the stern or from a port or starboard gate.The crew will also assist you back on the boat should you need it. Fresh drinking water was also available.

All of the dive sites were to the south of Roseau with no site being more than 15-20 minutes boat ride away. More often than not we would come across schools of dolphins who would follow along in our wake or effortlessly swim ahead of the bow of the boat.

After tying up to permanently fixed buoys at our destination dive site, we were efficiently briefed and then after gearing up we used the giant stride to enter the 'pool'. Two ladders suitable for exiting the water with fins on were positioned at the stern of the boat. Typical dive times were 1 hour and for those with air remaining this time could be extended.

The following images were all taken with a Nikon CoolPix 2500 2 Megapixel Digital Camera with 256 Mb memory card.

Dive Dominica and Castle Comfort Lodge are managed by their owners

Castle Comfort Lodge reception

View of the Castle Comfort Lodge restaurant from the gardens

View of the Lodge gardens with the Caribbean in the background

The Lodge waterfront bar

A couple of the Dive Dominica boats conveniently berthed on the Lodge jetty.

Sunset over the Caribbean.

Dive Trip to Dominica, Castle Comfort Lodge - May 2004 (Part Two)