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Dominican Republic
Punta Cana
Activities
Continue reading Punta Cana Activities.
Scuba Diving
Punta
cana beach has many ship wrecks that house a great variety of sea
species and make scuba diving a very pleasant activity. All of the
Punta Cana Hotels offer Scuba Diving.
Another wreck,
the Monica,
offers an interesting
look at the past. Wrecked around the turn of the
century, the Monica was a wooden-hulled ship carrying
equipment for a sugar plantation. It was caught
in a storm, and subsequently sunk. The wooden
hull has rotted away, and what remains are some
interesting steel artefacts from the plantations; railway
ties, the propeller and other machines.
Smaller
reef fish live on the wreck, and barracudas can also
be spotted. The Monica
can be swum
through, and
provides an interesting experience for both beginners
and advanced divers.
Because of its
volcanic rock formations, Bavaro
presents interesting opportunities for more technical
diving. Swim-throughs and caves provide more
challenging diving
for the experienced and appropriately
certified diver. There are a variety of caves,
featuring stalagmites and stalactites, as well as cathedral
ceilings and wide passages. Because these
locations are protected from the rough
Atlantic, the
water is warm and clear, and in somer, there are
opportunities to surface regularly.
Many of the
dive
operations offer cave-diving training in this area because
of the varying degrees of complexity.
Batato
is another interesting dive site with a maximum
depth of around 12 meters, where large
blocks of rock provide swim-throughs. A family
of three manatees
has been seen at the site, and
can be observed by divers.
These large,
underwater
mammals have long bodies that taper to a paddleshaped
tail. The average male is about three meters
long, and weighs over 350 kilograms.
The closest
land relative is the elephant, and these herbivores
are slow-moving and spend much of their day feeding,
resting and travelling. Manatees surface every
three to five minutes for air. Their lifespan is comparable
to that of humans, and their reproductive cycle
is slow. Manatees should never be approached
to avoid distressing them, but can be watched
from a distance. They are social animals, and in
the Batato site, can be observed 'wearing'
tens of
nurse sharks, seemingly attached to their bodies,
travelling with them wherever the manatees go.
More on Punta Cana Activities
SportsFishing
With over
seven months of billfish season every
year, fishing off the Punta Cana shore on the East
Coast of the Dominican Republic is regarded as one
of the top five of the world's best billfish areas.
Likewise,
Punta Cana is hardly matched by any
other destination for its white marlin season when
the dashing creatures of the ocean come close to
the coast, just 2-10 nautical miles offshore and in
big numbers. White marlin season is from March to
July, blue marlin season is from July to September.
The East Coast waters switch from somewhat
rouge in summer to calm at the end of October,
when smaller vessels are used to fish light tackle
on dorados, wahoo, maybe sailfish or anything on
the fly too.
The area's
main tournament is the Blue
Marlin
Cabeza de Toro International, when around 30
yachts travel over from Puerto Rico for a weekend
competition with Dominican sports fishermen.
May, June, July, August and September are the best
months for catching the marlins.
If you decide
to
keep the catch, several beach restaurants will serve
it to you for dinner, for a fee.
To read more
about the Punta Cana activities, go to the next page.
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