| Bayahibe
offers diving opportunities with a variety of easy dives for
beginners and for the more advanced diver wrecks and caves.
Bayahibe is a small
fisherman village situated about 120 km east of Boca Chica and
is situated directly in the "Parque Nacional del Este"
which is a protected marine park. Here you can find sea grass
beds, mangrove forests, nice and conserved coral reefs, lobsters,
eagle rays, manatees, turtles and even whales, sharks and dolphins.
It's possible to dive all
year and Bayahibe is known for its calm waters since it
is a protected large half-bay.
A big advantage of Bayahibe is that most spots are reachable
within 15 to 25 minutes by speed boat, the water is nicely warm
(a shorty is enough) and the visibility is mostly good 30-80
ft.
Some of the best dive sites
of the Dominican Republic are located here in the southeast.
The corals are healthy with predominantely hard corals, gorgonians,
sponges and tropical reef fishes populating the reefs. Small
critters abound, especially arrowhead crabs, green anemones,
pedersen shrimps, fire worms, sea cucumbers, hermitage crabs,
etc. Ideal for beginners as the depth varies from 10-25 meters.
More advanced divers
can enjoy the adventure of diving to the wreck of the "Saint
George"an 80 meter long steel freighter sunk a while ago
whose depth ranges from 17 to 40 meters.
The wall off Catalina Island or the dive sites around
the smaller island Catalinita, where hammerheads, big rays
and black tip sharks can be seen are also interesting for
the advanced diver.
"Padre Nuestro"
is a fantastique cave and "La Sirena" is worth it
and will definitely be an unforgettable experience.
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