As soon as guests step foot onto Fort Young’s extended dock, there is simply no question in their minds why it has been named one of the best places to dive in Dominica and touted as the only hotel to shore dive on the island. Aside from the hotel’s obvious proximity to the water, Fort Young Hotel also has a full-service dive center offering dive courses, dive equipment rental, and a staff with extensive knowledge about the coral reefs teeming with marine life just below the surface. 

“A huge amount of coral growth has taken place beneath the cruise ship berth over the past 22 years! Therefore, you can visualize the beauty, the life, and the time it has taken for the coral to grow and thrive!” says Francisca Joseph, Fort Young Hotel’s dive shop manager and currently Dominica’s only female local dive instructor and one of the great staff you will meet when you visit Fort Young Hotel & Dive Resort.

Shore diving offers guests the chance to dive at their leisure, and with Fort Young Hotel’s All-Inclusive, Island Included package or specialized Dive-Included package, there is truly no limit to your underwater experience. Whether beginning directly from Fort Young’s private dock for a surface swim or descending 30+ ft into the turquoise waters, you will see the magic of the Caribbean ocean come to life as colorful coral and fish sway to the currents. As you continue swimming, you will come across underwater cannons, a part of a network of man-made house reefs and regeneration project that aim to restore the coral reefs, as well as sea animals including spider crabs, squatting shrimps, eels, and a variety of juvenile fish. 

“Don’t be surprised if you come across the always anticipated sighting of an octopus, frogfish, seahorse, and nudibranchs. We are proud to say that we have the ever-so-rare sighting of flying gurnards on our house reef and batfish. The reef is teeming with life of tropical fish and so much more” says Francisca.

As a treasured dive destination, there is no limit to your journey of exploring the Caribbean’s unique marine life. As Francisca says, “Do you have that drive to dive? and the urge to submerge? We await to give you a diving experience like none other.”

Learn more about shore diving at Fort Young Hotel by visiting www.fortyounghotel.com/fort-young-dive.