My teenage kids and I have been diving for a few years now and have just bought a plane ticket to Roatan for a 2 week vacation over the Christmas / New Years school break (outside of the whale shark peak season). We have experienced enough of a variety of dives by now to start forming an opinion on what types of dives we particularly enjoy, and what types of dives we would really like to experience in the near term. For this vacation, we are considering Roatan, Utila, Guanaja, and Cayos Cochinos as possible destinations (or a combination of two of those locations). I am hoping that someone could offer some advice on which island, which dive operation, and maybe even which dive sites would most likely offer us the experiences we're after.
A typical dive operation will boast on their website about practicing safe diving. Although I also subscribe to this approach, I have seen very different interpretations of what "safe" is. For example, in Cozumel safe meant that we came down to 182 ft maximum depth, registered a 15 minute mandatory decompression, and finished the 45 minute dive (multi-level) on our own air, with the dive master hauling a spare tank of nitrox with him just in case if needed. In Cozumel "safe" also meant that if I stopped for 5 minutes taking pictures of some critter and lost sight of the group, I knew that the dive master and the rest of the group would be waiting for me a short ways away down-current. In Dominican Republic, safe meant that if our computer and air allowed us to enjoy an 85 minute dive, we were not rushed out of the water to be back on the boat inside 60 minutes. In Egypt, safe meant that they classified certain dive sites by formal certification level but otherwise if I stopped to take a picture, the dive master didn't seem to care to wait - it was a trail ride, completely by the clock and distance from A to B had to be travelled inside of the allotted time. In San Diego CA safe meant that no dive master even entered the water (I imagine due to potential liability reasons) and divers were dropped off the boat on a wreck dive with no guide whatsoever in 3 ft visibility.
So, having said all of that, while I don't particularly want to charter a boat for the 3 of us, we're looking for a dive operation that will have enough boats to be able to match divers by skill level per boat, with small boats of no more than 6 divers. It would be nice if the dive operation's interpretation of "safe" was not measured by the clock, official certification limits (it was an eye-opener the first time when I entered deco dive and discovered that I was not in fact dead - despite the assurances by my PADI OW instructor that I would be), or insurance liability avoidance practices, but rather common sense, actual skill levels of the divers, equipment, and the like. We like deep dives from 70 to 200 ft and would very much enjoy shark encounters. Walls are of great interest to us, particularly if broken up by interesting coral formations. Wrecks we are not particularly into, unless we stumbled upon a pirate ship. As far as certifications go, I am a Master Scuba Diver and the kids are both Rescue Divers, with all 3 of Nitrox certified, so availability of Nitrox would be a plus.
Although we're not too picky with our accommodations, I am picky when it comes to safety and would like to know that my passport, wallet and laptop are safely tucked away in some safe on shore. Likewise, I will require access to the Internet every few days - work related. Power is essential to charge up batteries for the dive camera. In terms of other on-shore amenities, we would prefer to be away from any large cities and would prefer to experience a more laid back atmosphere. Presence of small restaurants and generally speaking the ability to safely experience local culture would be nice for something to do outside of the hotel.
Many thanks in advance for any advice and thank you for the time to read this what turned out to be a much lengthier post than what was originally intended
A typical dive operation will boast on their website about practicing safe diving. Although I also subscribe to this approach, I have seen very different interpretations of what "safe" is. For example, in Cozumel safe meant that we came down to 182 ft maximum depth, registered a 15 minute mandatory decompression, and finished the 45 minute dive (multi-level) on our own air, with the dive master hauling a spare tank of nitrox with him just in case if needed. In Cozumel "safe" also meant that if I stopped for 5 minutes taking pictures of some critter and lost sight of the group, I knew that the dive master and the rest of the group would be waiting for me a short ways away down-current. In Dominican Republic, safe meant that if our computer and air allowed us to enjoy an 85 minute dive, we were not rushed out of the water to be back on the boat inside 60 minutes. In Egypt, safe meant that they classified certain dive sites by formal certification level but otherwise if I stopped to take a picture, the dive master didn't seem to care to wait - it was a trail ride, completely by the clock and distance from A to B had to be travelled inside of the allotted time. In San Diego CA safe meant that no dive master even entered the water (I imagine due to potential liability reasons) and divers were dropped off the boat on a wreck dive with no guide whatsoever in 3 ft visibility.
So, having said all of that, while I don't particularly want to charter a boat for the 3 of us, we're looking for a dive operation that will have enough boats to be able to match divers by skill level per boat, with small boats of no more than 6 divers. It would be nice if the dive operation's interpretation of "safe" was not measured by the clock, official certification limits (it was an eye-opener the first time when I entered deco dive and discovered that I was not in fact dead - despite the assurances by my PADI OW instructor that I would be), or insurance liability avoidance practices, but rather common sense, actual skill levels of the divers, equipment, and the like. We like deep dives from 70 to 200 ft and would very much enjoy shark encounters. Walls are of great interest to us, particularly if broken up by interesting coral formations. Wrecks we are not particularly into, unless we stumbled upon a pirate ship. As far as certifications go, I am a Master Scuba Diver and the kids are both Rescue Divers, with all 3 of Nitrox certified, so availability of Nitrox would be a plus.
Although we're not too picky with our accommodations, I am picky when it comes to safety and would like to know that my passport, wallet and laptop are safely tucked away in some safe on shore. Likewise, I will require access to the Internet every few days - work related. Power is essential to charge up batteries for the dive camera. In terms of other on-shore amenities, we would prefer to be away from any large cities and would prefer to experience a more laid back atmosphere. Presence of small restaurants and generally speaking the ability to safely experience local culture would be nice for something to do outside of the hotel.
Many thanks in advance for any advice and thank you for the time to read this what turned out to be a much lengthier post than what was originally intended