The dive Academy

École de plongée

← All sites

What you'll see (18)

Finger CoralPorites poritesseen 5× near here

Purple Sea FanGorgonia ventalinaseen 5× near here

Flamingo Tongue SnailCyphoma gibbosumseen 4× near here

Giant AnemoneCondylactis giganteaseen 4× near here

Caribbean Sea MatPalythoa caribaeorumseen 4× near here

Western Atlantic TrumpetfishAulostomus maculatusseen 3× near here

Goose BarnacleLepas anseriferaseen 3× near here

Caribbean Bluehead WrasseThalassoma bifasciatumseen 3× near here

Schoolmaster SnapperLutjanus apodusseen 3× near here

ConeyCephalopholis fulvaseen 3× near here

Mangrove Root CrabGoniopsis cruentataseen 3× near here

Central Antillean sliderTrachemys stejnegeriseen 2× near here

Longspine SquirrelfishHolocentrus rufusseen 2× near here

Atlantic Long-spined Sea UrchinDiadema antillarumseen 2× near here

Mangrove Tree CrabAratus pisoniiseen 2× near here

Red HindEpinephelus guttatusseen 2× near here

Mustard Hill CoralPorites astreoidesseen 2× near here

Massive Starlet CoralSiderastrea sidereaseen 2× near here

Planning a trip

8–12 days

worth going for

Long haul, usually two flights.

17,605km from Singapore — about 24h each way, so two of those days are travel. the only logged site in the area.

When people dive it

Busiest Aug · almost nobody dives it May.

From 491 logged sightings — when divers are in the water, which is not quite the same as when visibility is best.

Dive Crew is a dive group from Singapore. Members plan trips here, log their dives, and share their photos of each site.

Been given an invite code? Create an account

Moon and tides

Waning gibbous

71% lit · day 20 of the lunar month

Neap tides

Neap tides — the smallest range of the month, so the weakest currents. Easy conditions and usually the clearest water, though a drift site may barely drift.

New 10 Oct Full 26 Oct

Phase computed here, not fetched. This is the spring/neap cycle, which sets how hard the water moves — not a tide table: no free source publishes high and low water for Southeast Asian reefs, and the range peaks a day or two after the moon does, by an amount that varies with the coast. For times on the day, ask the operator.

Getting there

~29h 6m

door to water, each way · 4 legs

FlightSanto Domingo (SDQ)~26h 6mFlight time plus the airports at both ends. A connection adds to it.Find flights →
Transferthe jetty~39 minRoad transfer to the coast, usually arranged by the resort or liveaboard.Directions →
Ferrythe crossing~1h 51mAt this distance the last stretch is a scheduled crossing rather than a dive boat, so book it before the flight — a missed sailing usually costs a day. Which crossing it is has been worked out from the distance and not from a timetable; ask the operator.
Dive boatThe dive Academy~30 minThen the dive boat out from the island.

📍 The dive Academy on Google Maps 🧭 Route from Santo Domingo

Times marked ~ are estimated from straight-line distance and will be roughly right at best. The road legs are the ones Google Maps answers properly; it will not plan the ferry or the dive boat at all. A dive site's coordinates put a pin in open water, so the map link drops you on the site, not on a jetty.

Details

Island: Cayos Las Ballenas
Country: Dominican Republic
Marks: 19°19.294'N 69°32.406'W
Position: 19.3216, -69.5401

Site website →

Where it is

Loading the map…

Nearby

Sightings and photographs from iNaturalist contributors, research-grade records within 6km, under Creative Commons licences. Counts are what divers and snorkellers have bothered to log — a common fish with few records is common all the same.