The diving in Dominica is really great and the dive operation is very very good - experienced dive masters, good equipment and large, new boats. On land, however, I was disappointed. The food is very overpriced - for about $15 you get a dry hamburger on two pieces of bread - no discount since they ran out of buns. Dinners were good but not worth $40. Drinks have no alcohol in them - my pina colada tasted like a milk shake

I was pleasantly surprised to find such pristine diving on this small tropical island. Is is obviously a well-kept secret as the coral is beautiful and unspoiled. I saw only a few sharks and stingrays, but lots of eels and porcupine puffers, several turtles and seahorses, and lots of neat, small critters. The orange and purple colors on the reefs and huge barrel sponges and soft corals were incredible.

We stayed at Castle Comfort Lodge. It is small but the rooms were large with good storage. The ocean-view rooms are worth the extra cost. The food and service were excellent. The "catch of the day" was always a good choice, along with fresh salads and tasty vegetables, not to mention desserts that included homemade ice cream. The restaurant staff would find out what you wanted for lunch if you were taking an afternoon tour, so that when you returned at 12:45pm from your 2-tank boat dives, you could shower, dress and get to the table at the same time your lunch was presented. This was definitely a nice feature of staying in a small, intimate resort that did those "extra" things to make your stay more enjoyable and stress-free.

Dive Dominica is based at Castle Comfort. The dive staff was excellent...very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. The shore diving at this resort was very good, with 24/7 access to the tanks and your dive equipment in the storage area. There were flying gurnards, small electric rays and "the almost never seen" snake eel (which is totally hidden in the sand except for his eyes and teeth) right out front of this resort.

When you weren't diving you could take a whale-watching tour (only 2 miles offshore), hike into lush rainforests to beautiful waterfalls or soak in one of the hot springs. You could walk (30 minutes) into the town of Roseau (or take the resort shuttle).

I'm sure that must have been something negative about this trip but I just can't seem to remember it. We had a wonderful experience and plan to go back and take friends.

Castle Comfort is a wonderful SCUBA diving destination that has the added attraction of having access to a beautiful tropical island with lots of hiking and sightseeing available.
The hotel is small (14 rooms) with a restaurant that features balcony, indoor, or waterfront dining depending on the weather. We were on a package that included breakfast with several choices: banana pancakes, made to order omlettes, fruit (when available and fresh), continental, and local food options. Food and service were excellent. Breakfast was served on a balcony overlooking the pool/garden and the Caribbean with bullfinches begging for scraps.
The rooms are fairly large with ensuite bathrooms, clean and well maintained. The rooms have air conditioning and various arrangements of windows and ceiling fans to control ventilation. We stayed in an oceanfront room with a balcony overlooking the Caribbean, two double beds and ample storage. During the runup to Carnival, a night club two properties away can be quite loud but I think this is only a problem in January. Otherwise, Castle Comfort is very laid back and quiet.
The diving operation (Dive Dominica) is exceptional. A two tank boat dive is included every morning with unlimited shore diving (off a convienient pier). The boat crew and dive masters were all friendly and efficient and very good in and on the water. Dive Dominica is based in the Castle Comfort and has 3 or 4 boats of various sizes to handle various sizes of groups of divers, whale watchers, or snorkelers. Dive trips left very promptly (not Island time) with the dive crew handling the loading and unloading of equipment. We were responsible for setting up our own equiupment and changing tanks between dives with the crew doing all the heavy lifting from boat to diveshop. If you are staying in Castle Comfort, your equipment is stored in a locked area after it is rinsed and dried. This storage area is secure but available to guests for shore diving around the clock. The diving itself is very good, mostly small critters and healthy coral. We saw very few large fish but lots of small, weird things (flying Guynards, frogfish, seahorses, octopus, electric rays, etc.)
The divemasters were very good at finding interesting things and showing them to the group. The dives were "follow the leader" type outings with a divemaster in front and behind a loose collection of buddy pairs. We were allowed plenty of space between divers and we could go as slowly as we liked. Overall a very professional and well-run dive operation.
Land tours to great waterfalls and hot springs were part of the package and were wonderful. Most of our concentration was on diving but next trip we will take part in more of the wonderful hiking oportunities. The hotel staff were great with suggestions of other places to go and things to see on the island.

I recently stayed at Castle comfort on a vacation with my wife. Transportation to the Lodge was included in our package, which is a great thing based on the expense of taxi service on the island and its distance from Melville Hall airport. We arrived to two glasses of rum punch and friendly staff members giving us a tour of the facilities and our room. We had one of the rooms overlooking the ocean. The room size was adequate and comfortable. There were a variety of ways you could control the temperature to make sure you were comfortable. The beds were not the best, but were definitely comfortable to sleep on. All in all, good for the price.
Our dive package included all of our breakfasts. We had four or five choices each morning with fruit, juice, coffee and a 'main course'. I sort of settled in on the banana pancakes with bacon. Life was good. We had lunch at the lodge two days and both times it was ready within a few minutes of us getting of the boat. We enjoyed both lunches, no complaints. We did not go on their plan for dinner, but had dinner there three or four nights. We tried most of the selections on their menu over our stay and found everything to be enjoyable. Maybe a touch expensive, but not unreasonable. The lobster will nearly fill two people (get a small appetizer to share and you will both be set). The staff also told us what all the vegetables and fruits we were not familiar with were, showed us several of them. The staff was very friendly and service was quite good. Drinks were reasonably priced and potent. The rum punch is flammable, I'm convinced. Excellent pina coladas too.
The diving staff was very friendly, knowledgable and responsible. We are novice divers. They checked in with us throughout the dive to see where our air levels were and whisked us away if our time was up before other people in the group. They pointed things out for us that we would have missed. The boat captains chased after dolphins and pilot whales during our surface intervals or brought us to a natural 'hot tub' to soak. They also set us up with a rental camera that was fun to play with. The diving is great. We saw a large variety of critters, turtles, fish, everything we expected to see. The staff knew good routes at each site and did a great job of leading us through at a good pace.
If you expect five star service and rooms, I would recommend other places on the island. If you are looking for a comfortable place with very reasonable room rates, this is a great place. We definitely intend to go back. They also are very close to Roseau, trips into the capital city are quick, cheap and easy by bus. We were able to attend the opening of Carnival and dine in other restaurants because we were so close.