Roatan Dive Sites/Shops/etc

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Biotech Diver

Contributor
Messages
297
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Location
California
# of dives
200 - 499
I’ll be in Roatan for 10 days in April and was hoping for some suggestions for dive shops and dive sites. I’m bringing all of my own gear except tanks and weights, but I was hoping to find a dive shop there that has steel HP 100’s, if anyone knows of any. I’ll be staying in West Bay so something on that side of the island is more convenient.

I was also hoping for suggestions for wall and drift dives and I want to dive on some of the banks because I was told they were pretty amazing, especially the visibility. Any suggestions are much appreciated! :)
 
I stayed and dove at Anthony's Key resort, I believe they are in the west bay. They did have HP100s; some very nice dive sites and excellent staff.
 
I stayed and dove at Anthony's Key resort, I believe they are in the west bay. They did have HP100s; some very nice dive sites and excellent staff.
I saw they had good reviews and I even called them but they said if you are not staying at the resort they can’t take any reservations till about 1 week before you want to dive. They also said they don’t have many steel 100s and the ones they do have are offered first to guests staying at the resort.
 
West Bay is actually at the end of the island, and AKR is further up, past West End (confusing names, especially considering there is a bay in West End, but that's Half Moon Bay)!! West End has a lot of dive ops available. Our fave is Sun Divers, but there's some other good options too. All will have great diving available within a 5-10 minute boat ride, and include drifts and walls. Visibility is usually excellent and there's plenty to see.
 
I would recommend octopus dive school, they moved farther east recently. We dive with back in 2018 when they were just west of Sandy bay and AKR. They took us to a few sites out east that are much less dived and it showed, good lionfish hunting and healthy reefs. Fish life was more dense towards west end in the more heavily patrolled area of the marine park.
 
CocoView resort has a fantastic wall/shore dive in the "front yard". I don't know how it works with visitors as you do have to take a boat to get to the resort but it is beautiful and a couple of wrecks on the way. I never really went to the wrecks as I was infatuated with that wall. I will rectify that this august. I will look for a map that someone here so helpfully posted for me.
 
thanks @Doc for this
 

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thanks @Doc for this

The OP wants “west” which CCV is not, and CCV doesn’t accept walk-ins. AKR is an AI and not in the West End sphere, It is sometimes known as West-North.

That said, to the OP:

> You were “told the visibility was amazing”. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that phrase in conjunction with the Bay Islands. What we have, the best? It’s quite visible even suffering the worst viz. You gotta be pretty close to any given reef structure to even begin to see the macro critters exclusive to this locality.

> “Drift diving” isn’t much done. Rarely utilized in the BI, certainly nowhere served by any West or West-North dive ops.

> IF one were seeking to use a dove-op’s tanks away from their direct supervision, never heard of it, not in the BI. Just thought I’d throw that in.

> The 100+HP thing. (I own two). They are a tool in my Chicago garage. They do not fit into the norm of BI diving.

-If you envision an extended range capability?

— Time? Do understand that you’re limited in time by the other divers along on your typical west end day-dive op boat. Most are done in 45 minutes. A few want you back on board at 60 minutes. Very few allow “whenever”.

— Depth? The BI are known for giving you their best stuff very shallow. Stay above 60fsw and you will see what’s unique in this environment, stuff you can’t easily find elsewhere. Why go deep to seek otherwise common critters?

— Air Consumption issues? That extra 20cf will certainly give you an equalizing advantage to those who are born with gills. So will a simple 1/2 day Peak Performance Buyancy type course. This can be helpful.

-If you are wanting non-ditchable weight, I understand that, but you’re just going to have to adjust.

There are bunches of day dive ops on West End. I wouldn’t worry too much about advance reservations. Have a look on the internet, when you get there...you’ll find someone who will take your money.
 
The OP wants “west” which CCV is not, and CCV doesn’t accept walk-ins. AKR is an AI and not in the West End sphere, It is sometimes known as West-North.

That said, to the OP:

> You were “told the visibility was amazing”. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that phrase in conjunction with the Bay Islands. What we have, the best? It’s quite visible even suffering the worst viz. You gotta be pretty close to any given reef structure to even begin to see the macro critters exclusive to this locality.

> “Drift diving” isn’t much done. Rarely utilized in the BI, certainly nowhere served by any West or West-North dive ops.

> IF one were seeking to use a dove-op’s tanks away from their direct supervision, never heard of it, not in the BI. Just thought I’d throw that in.

> The 100+HP thing. (I own two). They are a tool in my Chicago garage. They do not fit into the norm of BI diving.

-If you envision an extended range capability?

— Time? Do understand that you’re limited in time by the other divers along on your typical west end day-dive op boat. Most are done in 45 minutes. A few want you back on board at 60 minutes. Very few allow “whenever”.

— Depth? The BI are known for giving you their best stuff very shallow. Stay above 60fsw and you will see what’s unique in this environment, stuff you can’t easily find elsewhere. Why go deep to seek otherwise common critters?

— Air Consumption issues? That extra 20cf will certainly give you an equalizing advantage to those who are born with gills. So will a simple 1/2 day Peak Performance Buyancy type course. This can be helpful.

-If you are wanting non-ditchable weight, I understand that, but you’re just going to have to adjust.

There are bunches of day dive ops on West End. I wouldn’t worry too much about advance reservations. Have a look on the internet, when you get there...you’ll find someone who will take your money.
After reading more sources it seems what I was told about the visibility expectations was not accurate, so obviously you were right that it’s not amazing.

I decided to go with Blue Planet because they at least returned my messages and seem accommodating to what I had in mind for diving.

I’ve been monitoring the weather and as far as the forecast goes it looks to be very windy this time of year. Wind speeds are showing 25 mph from the east. Seas are showing upwards of 6 feet on windfinder but I’m hoping the west side of the island will be better than that. I guess I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.

Luckily I was able to get the first COVID vaccine does yesterday so that’s one less thing to worry about!
 
Per Chiggin's trip report this past January, Bottom Time Scuba is a boutique single boat op. offering 100-cf steel tanks (unusual in Roatan), and a 3 unit bed and breakfast an easy 10-minute walk from West Bay Beach (albeit along a 2-lane road with no shoulder or side-walk most of the way). He said it was a 10-minute drive to West End.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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