Shark Dive with Waihuka Divers, Roatan

[divingsteve]

Well run and hardly a "Meat shop" as it is a service to allow a lot of divers to see sharks for what they really are, not to be feared, but to be enjoyed and treated as a treasure!QUOTE]

I too have done this dive and agree with Papa. Even tho we had lots of folks on the boat and the cruisers had no idea what they were doing and probably shouldn't have been on the dive, the experience with the sharks was excellent. I'm glad we did this since it was truly the hightlight of a week spent at Cocoview (which sucked)!!!

Just what was it the "sucked!!!" about coco view? I have seen alot of information here on SB about the likes and dislikes of all the resorts in roatan but you are the first to say that coco view (sucked!!!). I ask because I will be going there 7-14 march 2009.

If anyone has information good or bad I would love to hear it so there will be no surprizes when we get there.

Thanks

 

[ronscuba]

Cocoview is for divers. Not much else to do there. If you want 2 dives a day and plenty of other stuff to do, you will most likely be bored. If you want to see big animal life, you most likely won't see any.

If you like the small stuff, healthy corals, 4 dives or more a day, 24 hr access to a house reef, you'll have fun.

Here is a video that should give you an idea of what the diving is like.

[vimeo]743383[/vimeo]

 

[Doc]

Here is a video that should give you an idea of what the diving is like.

I am selling my u/w video rig. Just make me a copy of your tapes.

 

[halocline]

That is a really great video. You're very talented!

 

[divingsteve]

Thanks for the video, nice work! I have been to roatan in 04 with AKR so I know its all about diving and cant wait! We thought we would try coco view this time so we can do more diving on our own. I was surprized to hear someone say it "sucked" however.

 

[farsidefan1]

I've done the shark dive in question and had a great time! My video shows 8 of us on the boat. I thought those running the show prepared us very well in a classroom setting before we geared up for the short run to the site. I've also done shark dives in Tahiti and the Bahamas (Stewart Cove - now that one seemed a bit more like a cattle operation although it was also done very professionally and I enjoyed it). The best thing was having a reef to stand against so no surprises from behind us. Then, since the sharks were calm we did a brief swim with them returning to our rock before the feeding started. The person who ran out of air must have been a hoover and a half. I had only 22 dives when I did this one and was not yet very efficient but when you just drop down and stand there for the most part - well none of us had even a hint of difficulty with air supply. There is a resident grouper and a tame green moray they feed after the sharks disperse.

The best part of the experience for me was that it allowed me to completly accept swimming with sharks as a privilage, not a frightening experience. Since then I've done a couple of other shark dives but also had the good fortune of seeing sharks on 20+ other dives with no "willies". In the Bahamas we went to one dive site (not a shark dive) and had 4 reef sharks circling the boat. The other divers at first wanted to change to another site. I hopped right in and enjoyed the view till others finally entered (and scared off the sharks). It isn't that I was brave, courage didn't enter into it. I simply had enough experience to know I was in for a treat, not as bait. At any rate I highly recommend the dive operation. The video is excellent.
As to Cocoview - wow, I guess it really is different strokes for different folks. I love the place. Yes, if you want pelagics you should look elsewhere. And it's true that except for the shark dive most of what you see is macro life but once you slow down and look carefully there is a ton to see! Roatan man showed me some amazing life just on the way out to the Prince Albert. There were sea horses we could look at while other divers seeking "big stuff" literally swam over us as we studied these little marvels. I spent hours just looking at small sections of the wreck. Cocoview offers the easiest most laid back diving I've yet experienced. The bungalows are clean and roomy with 24/7 power and air conditioning. The brother of one of the workers took me around on my no dive day (preflight) to see the butterfly farm (also where they treat and raise various birds - parrots, toucans etc.) then over to the iguana ranch. Both were facinating and very near the resort. Those planning to go will have a great time. I'm returning in May, 2009.

 

[robint]

Thanks for the video, nice work! I have been to roatan in 04 with AKR so I know its all about diving and cant wait! We thought we would try coco view this time so we can do more diving on our own. I was surprized to hear someone say it "sucked" however.

he probably didn't get an umbrella in his drink or hated that they don't leave towel animals on your bed. CCV is not Sandals, it is a dive resort for divers meeting the needs of divers.
I know people who would hate it, just because it isn't their style of vacation. In fact, there was a couple we met there on our trip (a few weeks ago) who were brand new certified divers, had done alot of cruises and fancy resorts previously, so they weren't too happy at CCV at first. By mid-week they had completely changed their attitude and were in love with diving. By the end of the week they were talking about going to CCV again.

 

[CODMAN]

Ron, great video! I brought back great memories and I dearly hope to visit Roatan again in the future!

Cheers!

 

[larry200]

+1 for Waihuka Adventure Divers shark dive on Roatan.

My wife and I did their shark dive on February 3 and it was an exceptional dive. We had the good fortune to have the company founder, Sergio Tritto, as our dive master. I can't imagine a better pre-dive orientation than the one he gave. My wife, and a couple of the other divers, had done shark dives at other locations, and all said that this was by far the best shark dive that they had done. The highlight of the dive, current and other conditions permitting, is that the divers get to swim with the sharks for several minutes. So I'm swimming along in a school of sharks and divers (about 14-16 sharks and 9 divers), thinking this couldn't get any cooler, and then somebody bumps into me. I turn my head to give the inattentive diver the evil eye, except, it's NOT a diver. That happened twice more to me and also to some of the other divers. Eventually, Sergio motioned us back to the coral wall and opened the bait bucket to start a couple minutes of shark mayhem. When the bait fish was gone, the sharks departed.

A friend of mine posted a short video of the dive on youtube. Since I can't post URLs yet, look for the video by NascentAlligator, if interested. (I realize there is no shortage of Roatan shark dive videos on youtube!)

My wife and I also like Cocoview a lot and were last there in December 2006. This trip, we stayed at AKR (my wife had been there years ago and loved it) and, maybe we just hit a bad week this time, but we were not impressed. Thanks to their "half-price buddy" promotion, the Waihuka shark dive, and Karl Stanley's submarine, it was still a nice enough dive trip.

-- Larry B.

 

[John_B]

A friend of mine posted a short video of the dive on youtube. Since I can't post URLs yet, look for the video by NascentAlligator, if interested. (I realize there is no shortage of Roatan shark dive videos on youtube!)

Larry, here is the link to NascentAlligator's yootoob clip. I thought the surf guitar soundtrack was perfect!

If it was a day earlier I might've rickrolled everyone...