CajunDiva
Contributor
We returned a few weeks ago from trip #4 to Media Luna Resort and trip #5 diving with Aqua Adventures. I was all set to compose a trip report, and then life happened. The kind of life you never expect to happen...in your own home town...to people who are familiar to you. A depraved maniac opened fire in one of our home-town movie theatres, murdering two wonderful ladies and injuring numerous other people. I am so proud of the response of our local community and the example we set for others who are watching. South Louisiana is a special place full of special people. When something like this happens, there are no other people I'd rather be with. But it still should never happen. There is just no rhyme or reason...
So...back to my trip report. This trip, we had the luxury of staying for 2 weeks. We were celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary, so we decided to try something we have never done before in Roatan...relaxing and enjoying the resort. We arrived a full week before our friends and were determined to relax and just enjoy a few days to ourselves. The first problem with this was that we learned our friends at Aqua Adventures were conducting a day trip to dive the beautiful Pigeon Caye area near Barbareta. We simply couldn't pass up an opportunity like that! So the day after our arrival, we set out for a day of adventure. Unfortunately, my luggage did not arrive with me, so I didn't have my dive gear. But at least I had a bathing suit, so I was good to go. One of the managers at Aqua Adventures was kind enough to loan me his dive gear, and I was able to perform decently with it. This was one of the most special days I have encountered on Roatan. The only negative thing turned out to be the weather, which nobody seemed to have any control over
It was like the beginning of monsoon season! The seas were beginning to kick up a bit, so Capt. Gary took the inside passage through the mangrove canals to give us a scenic and smooth ride. It was spectacular! I have never experienced this end of the island by water and I was thoroughly impressed. We stopped at one pristine reef near Pigeon Caye to enjoy a dive among the beautiful corals of the south side of Barbareta. The condition of the reef here was much better than what I am accustomed to on Roatan, and although the weather was unstable and the visibility was not the best, we enjoyed the dive immensely. After diving, we were taken to a beautiful island (Caye), where Gary and his crew prepared Steak, Chicken and Lobster over an open fire for all of us. I couldn't believe the quality of the food we were served - it was delicious. After lunch, the heavens opened up and there was no sunshine to be seen. Fortunately, the ice chests were full of Salva Vida and Imperial (which I discovered was VERY tasty!) so the trip back to Media Luna wasn't so bad after all 
I was feeling no pain by the time we returned. As luck would have it, the manager of the resort set up a special anniversary dinner for us that night. We enjoyed a lovely meal with special table service, and to cap it off we had a bottle of wine. It would have been rude not to drink the whole bottle...right 
The walk back to our bungalow was rather interesting...
Fortunately, there was a United Airlines flight arrival the next day, so my luggage did get to Roatan. The manager of Media Luna followed up with a friend at the airport and made sure it was delivered to the resort. By the time we returned from our Pigeon Caye day, my suitcase was waiting for me at reception. So there was no reason not to take advantage of the spectacular shore diving at Media Luna before our friends arrived. The resort sits on Half Moon Bay, which is a great reef that most of the dive ops on the south side of the island frequent. It's a choice dive site because it is home to a couple of nice seahorses and three rare resident frogfish. We enjoyed our frequent searches for these beautiful creatures...rare findings indeed. There was one large yellow one who posed regularly for photographs. We also spotted a brown colored smaller specimen, but it remained in hiding, making pictures impossible. We never were able to located the third, so we have a challenge for next trip. I was happy to discover that my favorite little seahorse still lives in the same coral enclave, and it is still just as active as before. It can usually be seen swimming around it's residence
Once our friends arrived from back home, the seven of us embarked on a six day quest to see as much of the south side dive sites as possible. We made it our mission to help create new divers with a passion for the environment and a love for the reefs of Roatan. This was an easy task with the help of the phenomenal staff of Aqua Adventures. These guys are talented and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure their divers have a great time. We couldn't have been happier with everything they did for us and with us. Even during inclement weather and bumpy seas, we had absolutely no problem completing our dives and safely re-boarding the boat at the conclusion of each dive. With the weather conditions that persisted all week the week before our dives and the continued winds out of the east, the visibility was far from great all week, but we managed to make the most of our diving and all had a great time.
It's amazing how once you start doing 3 or 4 dives each day, there's not much time for anything else. Media Luna Resort maintains an animation staff who are there to make sure all of the guest have a great time. We really did enjoy the atmosphere of the resort, and this trip we felt that the food quality has improved even more. I'm not a big fish eater, but the daily offerings of sea bass were just too good to pass up! There were also beef, pork, poultry and vegetable selections available at every meal. We certainly didn't go hungry But by the time we finished dinner each evening, we were ready to crash for the evening. So we missed most of the great shows put on at the resort, but I never missed downloading the photos I had shot that day and having fresh batteries ready for the following day. Guess I'm pretty die-hard!
Cajuncru Diver is working on a dive movie of our experiences, so I'm sure he will put in his 2 cents worth and share the movie. Thanks for the read, and here are just of a few of my favorite photos from the trip:
So...back to my trip report. This trip, we had the luxury of staying for 2 weeks. We were celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary, so we decided to try something we have never done before in Roatan...relaxing and enjoying the resort. We arrived a full week before our friends and were determined to relax and just enjoy a few days to ourselves. The first problem with this was that we learned our friends at Aqua Adventures were conducting a day trip to dive the beautiful Pigeon Caye area near Barbareta. We simply couldn't pass up an opportunity like that! So the day after our arrival, we set out for a day of adventure. Unfortunately, my luggage did not arrive with me, so I didn't have my dive gear. But at least I had a bathing suit, so I was good to go. One of the managers at Aqua Adventures was kind enough to loan me his dive gear, and I was able to perform decently with it. This was one of the most special days I have encountered on Roatan. The only negative thing turned out to be the weather, which nobody seemed to have any control over
It was like the beginning of monsoon season! The seas were beginning to kick up a bit, so Capt. Gary took the inside passage through the mangrove canals to give us a scenic and smooth ride. It was spectacular! I have never experienced this end of the island by water and I was thoroughly impressed. We stopped at one pristine reef near Pigeon Caye to enjoy a dive among the beautiful corals of the south side of Barbareta. The condition of the reef here was much better than what I am accustomed to on Roatan, and although the weather was unstable and the visibility was not the best, we enjoyed the dive immensely. After diving, we were taken to a beautiful island (Caye), where Gary and his crew prepared Steak, Chicken and Lobster over an open fire for all of us. I couldn't believe the quality of the food we were served - it was delicious. After lunch, the heavens opened up and there was no sunshine to be seen. Fortunately, the ice chests were full of Salva Vida and Imperial (which I discovered was VERY tasty!) so the trip back to Media Luna wasn't so bad after all I was feeling no pain by the time we returned. As luck would have it, the manager of the resort set up a special anniversary dinner for us that night. We enjoyed a lovely meal with special table service, and to cap it off we had a bottle of wine. It would have been rude not to drink the whole bottle...right The walk back to our bungalow was rather interesting...Fortunately, there was a United Airlines flight arrival the next day, so my luggage did get to Roatan. The manager of Media Luna followed up with a friend at the airport and made sure it was delivered to the resort. By the time we returned from our Pigeon Caye day, my suitcase was waiting for me at reception. So there was no reason not to take advantage of the spectacular shore diving at Media Luna before our friends arrived. The resort sits on Half Moon Bay, which is a great reef that most of the dive ops on the south side of the island frequent. It's a choice dive site because it is home to a couple of nice seahorses and three rare resident frogfish. We enjoyed our frequent searches for these beautiful creatures...rare findings indeed. There was one large yellow one who posed regularly for photographs. We also spotted a brown colored smaller specimen, but it remained in hiding, making pictures impossible. We never were able to located the third, so we have a challenge for next trip. I was happy to discover that my favorite little seahorse still lives in the same coral enclave, and it is still just as active as before. It can usually be seen swimming around it's residence
Once our friends arrived from back home, the seven of us embarked on a six day quest to see as much of the south side dive sites as possible. We made it our mission to help create new divers with a passion for the environment and a love for the reefs of Roatan. This was an easy task with the help of the phenomenal staff of Aqua Adventures. These guys are talented and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure their divers have a great time. We couldn't have been happier with everything they did for us and with us. Even during inclement weather and bumpy seas, we had absolutely no problem completing our dives and safely re-boarding the boat at the conclusion of each dive. With the weather conditions that persisted all week the week before our dives and the continued winds out of the east, the visibility was far from great all week, but we managed to make the most of our diving and all had a great time.
It's amazing how once you start doing 3 or 4 dives each day, there's not much time for anything else. Media Luna Resort maintains an animation staff who are there to make sure all of the guest have a great time. We really did enjoy the atmosphere of the resort, and this trip we felt that the food quality has improved even more. I'm not a big fish eater, but the daily offerings of sea bass were just too good to pass up! There were also beef, pork, poultry and vegetable selections available at every meal. We certainly didn't go hungry
But by the time we finished dinner each evening, we were ready to crash for the evening. So we missed most of the great shows put on at the resort, but I never missed downloading the photos I had shot that day and having fresh batteries ready for the following day. Guess I'm pretty die-hard!Cajuncru Diver is working on a dive movie of our experiences, so I'm sure he will put in his 2 cents worth and share the movie. Thanks for the read, and here are just of a few of my favorite photos from the trip:
