Unforgettable Catalina: Scuba Dive Paradise from La Romana

The Catalina island was beautiful. The scuba diver instructors were great. Got great pictures and videos. The food on the island was delicious. I would definitely do this again but I would not book with this company. I rather do a private tour and pay extra. For starters, I booked the vip all day scuba that starts at 930 a.m. The night before I get a random text message stating pick up is at 710 am. No introduction on who it was especially since I have several things booked. So communication can be better. After pick up we get dropped off to another pick up spot who is picking up everyone else from the nearby areas. This process was over an hour just standing around. Then we drove over an hour to LA Romona were we finally boarded a catamaran to the island. The scuba and snorkeling was nice. Those that didn't want to participate got to go to the beach so i left my husband and headed to the beach and got a nice massage while he did scuba. By the time my husband arrived to the island most of the food was out. We paid for Vip so you get a chance to eat wild caught fish or shrimp from the grill which he did but got no side options besides salad because they were out. No wine which was included in the Vip. The return home was chaotic. The main turn off for me is transportation. There has to be a better way to do it. Some suggestions should be to have a worker with the name of hotels that the buses are going to. People were boarding the wrong busses including us after being instructed to do so. This delayed the process. Left at 7 am from the hotel arrived a little after 7 pm. Spent more hours traveling than anything else. Will do private next time.

I never dove in DR and after reading some of the reviews I was pleasantly surprised. I was by myself.. Transportation to and from the hotel was great. The trip was organized, staff was great, dives were good, food was good. Met some great people, got some good pictures and overall had a wonderful day.

Thanks for a great time and Joel was kind, helpful and made my day ! The island and dives were both beautiful. See ya next time !

My husband and I had a fantastic time on this trip. Couple hiccups - My husband is not an experienced diver (which was known to the guides). Our guide did not speak English so the guide was deflating his vest and essentially pushing him under water while he was explaining that he wasn't comfortable yet. My husband ultimately did not dive either dive and he's not one to quit out on stuff like that. So we wasted money where I felt like had we had a guide that we could have communicated with, he would have been able to taken some extra time to get him comfortable. The equipment wasn't great. My respirator broke in my mouth mid-dive so i had to bite down extra hard on one spot or hold it in place to give my jaw a break. I saw rips and tears in numerous wet suits and had a couple people point out broken fins. Ultimately the tanks and vests seemed to be in good condition because no one died ;) but it was a little disconcerting. Our tour had a lot of non-divers that were just snorkeling. We did two dives, but they were only able to snorkel at one site. So my husband missed the first site because of our diving issue and then couldn't even snorkel at the second so he missed all of it. All that being said, I would recommend for experienced divers. The guides were nice, Catalina Island was beautiful. There were free booze on the island and on the boat ride back.

Joel was fantastic at showing us everything along the reef for both dives! He was friends with all the fish! We went through the dive plan for a dive at the Catalina wall and Aquarius and both were incredible spots.

The scuba sights were great- saw seahorses and lion fish. The overall experience was pretty bad. They never even checked our certifications. We were on a crowded boat with about 40 other snorkelers, they rushed us through the entire process of gearing up, barely explained our route plan, and pushed my friend off the boat after she had her gear on because she wasn’t moving fast enough. The guide didn’t take a safety stop on the first dive, making my friend feel ill. The beach at Catalina Island was also very crowded, and not very nice. They ran out of beer at the “open bar” and only had rum and coke or sprite. Definitely would recommend any other diving company as I can’t imagine a worse, more chaotic or potentially dangerous diving experience.

Trip was awesome and well worth it. Was told to be ready by 7:15 and picked up by 7:30, so that’s good. Ride was great, they picked up a couple more people then we went to a meeting place and they placed us in a bus with those going to the same excursions, which was expected. Was supposed to start by 10:30 and we started by 11 so all good. Guides are very friendly. A lot of yelling going back and forth but that seems how they speak to one another. Divemaster was good but a little careless in the second dive as I ran out of air and hod to use my partners reserve to go up. Catalina beach was beautiful but with the two dives we maybe had 30 min to enjoy. Food was ok nothing special but all around very well worth it. I recommend.

Great experience and no problems! The wall and Aquarium dive sites was amazing! Pickup and drop off from hotel was perfect.

I went to Isla Catalina with Passion Paradise in May 2021. The tour was okay and I had no complaints. The pickup driver arrived almost on time. During my second dive, I got to see three stingrays as well as some other unusual animals - thanks to the tour guide who spotted them. The lunch was fine - nothing special but I didn't get sick either.

I booked through trip advisor instead of our resort and after visiting with other guests I’m glad I did. We Stayed at the Casa de Campo and a bus from Passion Paradise Adventure arrived on time to pick me up. My drive to the boat was maybe 10 minutes. (Booking from Casa de Campo would have been about an our over to the dive shop, then an hour back to the boat.) The price at my resort was cheaper, but the taxi was not included and would have been another $45. So in the end I spent less and spent less time driving around. We were on a boat with snorkelers too but that was no problem. We had dedicated crew for our dive and for my group the dive instructor was Edwar. Super nice guy and he took very good care of us. Each Dive lasted about 45 minutes and the sea life and plants were very good. Saw my first Eagle Ray up close. The beer on the boat was cold, and included (nothing before the dive of course!!) The lunch at Catalina Island was good and provided lots of opportunity for beach time or shade (nice after all of the boat time in the sun) All in all. I’m very pleased.