Scuba Diving: Roatan Dive Notes, May 3-15 2008

[tjack]

Roatan Dive Notes, May 3-15 2008

South side diving

Just back from 12 days of excellent diving on Roatan, thought I’d
share some observations and recommendations. First of all the
diving. Dove 6 days on the South Shore out of Fantasy Island Beach
Resort. The South side has spectacular wall diving reminiscent of
Little Cayman for its topography. Visibility ranged from 80-100
feet. Valley of the Kings was my favorite with a big dog snapper
hanging around the mooring and spectacular wall with 100+ vis. Tons of
overhangs and swim throughs, as well as chimneys and other interesting
contours are found along the south side. This is some serious wall
diving, yee haa. We only did one real drift dive where the boat
followed the divers. The Prince albert wreck which is a shore dive
from both FIBR and Cocoview resort is a fun Night dive. Hunting Jacks
and Tarpon were there to meet us at the FIBR Gazebo at the end of the
dive. I did not encounter the Hammerhead which was spotted twice
along the south side while I was there. By the end of the week the
South East trade winds were coming up so the diving was done close to
the resort.

Fantasy Island Beach resort

Fantasy Island’s dive op was quite good with decent old boats and good
Crews. Darrin our DM for the week on the Little Kem was excellent,
finding us at least 4 sea horses. Good safety protocols, well run.
They do 3 Boat Dives a day, out and back, as well as unlimited shore
dives with a small out board to drop you on the wreck. The Resort
itself is ok with spacious well maintained grounds. The staff varied
from very helpful to somewhat lethargic. The food was good but by the
end of a week I think most people were thoroughly sick of it. IMHO a
week at any one place is too long and I will not do another all
inclusive any time soon. FIBR was $900 after taxes for 7 nights, 6
days unlimited diving and food, not that great a deal in my opinion.
Cocoview did have a live band Friday night and their boats seemed to
run more frequently, they dive the same excellent area so that might
be a great option for people who like all inclusive and want to dive
their buts off. Overall I liked FIBR but a week was too long, 4 days
might be perfect?

West End diving

My next stop was West End, Roatan for something completely different.
The diving on the west end was a good change from the south side.
Here they have 2 large wrecks, the 300’ Odyssey and the 200’ Aguila.
They were both planted for artificial reefs and have yet to gather a
lot of growth. I like wrecks so these were both a blast with some
interesting penetration options. Also the Aguila is adjacent to a
nice sloping reef with huge resident Black Groupers. The Reef here is
highly varied. to the west we dove Butcher’s Bank sloping patchy reef
with Turtle and Southern Stingrays. As one goes along the north shore
there is more big wall diving but the coral is slightly less abundant
as compared to the South Shore and visibility was not as good while I
was there. One of my favorite dives of the trip was Melissa’s reef
West End,which has a sloping wall with tons of little notch canyons
leading into it. These form a coral labyrinth which is amazing to
explore. I had a Saddled Blenny do a dance for me on a small coral
head at the end of the dive.

Pura Vida dive shop

At West End I was diving with Pura Vida which is a fine outfit.
Friendly international dive staff. They have a big boat as well as
skiff diving. 3 dives daily out and back. Helen the manager was very
helpful in getting me on the shark dive my last day with short
notice. My original intention was to dive with Coconut Tree but their
boat was fully booked. They told me check back in the morning, twice,
but I didn’t like the vibe I was getting from their rather scruffy
looking office manager. Pura Vida on the other hand were very
friendly and accommodating. The only advantage I could see diving
with Coconut Tree was that they do two tank boat dives in the
mornings.

My final dive of the trip was the Shark dive out of Las Palmas on the
south side. I find shark feeds to be a little off putting but this
one is excellent, and swimming with the sharks is a thrill. Truly
magnificent creatures, not to be missed. All the shops on the island
will arrange this for you but prices vary. $75 if you pay cash
without ground transportation was the best price I found through Pura
Vida.

West End topside

West end is a very different experience from an all inclusive and much
more to my taste
There is a regular bar circuit, my favorite being the Purple Turtle
with an interesting melange of Euro backpackers. The North American
expats tend to frequent Sundowners which was less friendly. Fubar has
Nitrous balloons when they are open. Also Bare Feet at the far end of
town has live island music Sundays. Fosters is akin to a disco and
might be a great place for dancing with their massive speakers, but
was quite slow when I was there.

The large verity of restaurants was a treat. The Thai place was
excellent as well as the Rotisserie chicken, but my favorite was Bare
Feet at the far end of town which has traditional island cuisine. The
fried Chicken and Coconut fish were superb. For lunches the
Lighthouse and Cannibal Cafe both had reasonable prices and good
food.

Half Moon Bay Cabins was recommended to me and ended up being a great
deal at $38 a night with AC, low season special, if you bargain a
bit. It is at the quiet end of town on the water with excellent
snorkeling right off the dock. From what people were telling me they
were paying at Isis and other in town places this was a way better
deal. The highlight of Half Moon Bay Cabins is if you follow an
overgrown path out to the point there is a truly tranquil spot to
watch the sun set.

Overall the diving off Roatan was surprisingly good compared to my two
previous trips to Utila. I really like the backpacker pirate vibe on
Utila, but for the diving Roatan is more varied and reefs seem more
healthy. Utila is a lot less expensive, especially when it comes to
lodgings, but Roatan can be done for less money than most other
Caribbean destinations. Honduras is a little edgy and that's the way
I like it, Viva Honduras.

[chilly]

applause, applause, applause

I love West End and really enjoy the diving there. I didn't enjoy the
diving off the southside as much, but then I only had 2 dives with Cocoview
and conditions weren't great that day.

My hankering to return is growing.

When you dove with Pura Vida, was Juan your DM?