East End Diving Roatan

[kimmeeC]

We LOVE Roatan and usually stay and dive
around West Village. We’d like to try the East end (trying to escape the “busy”). Our concerns are the wind…is the water usually quite choppy? And we love to eat: are there restaurants and/or good local food? And where to stay of course, we don’t need fancy, just near a good scuba shop! Thx!

 

[NDL_Diver]

East your options are limited. Camp Bay Lodge , dive shop is dive pangea, is as far East as you realistically go. Turquoise Bay, Subway Water Sport is a little closer West but us still way far from any action.
Dining options limited at each and you realistically eating at the resort.

You will not be "busy" at either.

 

[kimmeeC]

East your options are limited. Camp Bay Lodge , dive shop is dive pangea, is as far East as you realistically go. Turquoise Bay, Subway Water Sport is a little closer West but us still way far from any action.
Dining options limited at each and you realistically eating at the resort.

You will not be "busy" at either.

Hmmm, ok, thanks. I guess we are spoiled with amazing food options in the village! Maybe we can arrange a day trip of some sort to venture out a little further. Thanks again!

 

[Doc]

Camp Bay Pangea is located “up East”, on the North Side. It seems to have good reviews, I have only seen the boats, they seem well designed.

On the South side, “down East”, find a few small ops near Fort Cay, Port Royal- do your own search, I have no specific personal observations. These present themselves under the vague newly-hip nomenclature of “boutique diving”, which in this case is the perfect example of defining not a whole lot . Boutique diving means that their infrastructure is so small they have no real facility for stacking tanks or easy movement, so that- and everything else, will be done for you due to safety concerns. They provide diving services as a side-hustle. NOT a bad thing at all, just understand the unique nature of the product. Two dives a day might be the max. The Fort Cay thing looks very interesting-if it’s still operational. I’ve been onshore a number of times, a friend built their landing strip.


Don’r forget the closest one (South side) in Oak Ridge called Reef House Resort. It is well established, good DMs, marginal boat, unfathomable food service…cans not figure out how or why it would work.

NDL Diver is right, comparatively few accessible places to “dine”. There are any number of somewhat “tribal” options that are rockin’ good, but you’ll quite likely be the only non-resident that found the place…not a bad thing, but limited.

You asked about wind/wave. That is a difficult topic and has very little understanding by the casual visitor. Generally, the water is flatter on Northside. HOWEVER, during Sept-March,the North can get completely shut down by passing Caribbean weather systems. Bigger dive ops will motor you to dive the South, better ones will bus you over. There is a difference.

The East end dive ops have a distinct advantage in that regard. There is a channel cut thru the island, they can easily move back and forth, North to South. A much better situation than ANY other better known dive facility enjoys. That’s an interesting advantage East End dive ops enjoy.

The South side (vs North) is quite unique in terms of reef structure, a lot shallower dive profiles, more micro and macro, more intact wrecks. Really not much “need” for nitrox due to the profiles.

The North “on up East” has a bit of interesting reef architecture that you simply won’t find at the West areas. The reason? Because (east or west) on the North side takes the brunt of any storm (that’s what causes the reef shapes) so you won’t see the verdant nature of the South side.

East End…It’s the last way to escape the current reality of Roatan, a window back to the 1970’s.

 

[kimmeeC]

Camp Bay Pangea is located Far East, on the North Side. It seems to have good reviews, I have only seen the boats, they seem well designed.

On the South side, down East, find a few small ops near Fort Cay, Port Royal- do your own search, I have no specific personal observations. Don’r forget the closest one in Oak Ridge called Reef House Resort. It is well established, good DMs, marginal boat.

NDL Diver is right, comparatively few accessible places to “dine”. There are any number of somewhat “tribal” options that are rockin’ good, but you’ll quite likely be the only non-resident that found the place…not a bad thing, but limited.

You asked about wind/wave. That is a difficult topic and has very little understanding by the casual visitor. Generally, the water is flatter on Northside. HOWEVER, during Sept-March,the North can get completely shut down by passing Caribbean weather systems. Bigger dive ops will motor you to dive the South, better ones will bus you over. There is a difference.

The East end dive ops have a distinct advantage in that regard. There is a channel cut thru the island, they can easily move back and forth, North to South. A much better situation than ANY other better known dive facility enjoys. That’s an interesting advantage East End dive ops enjoy.

The South side is quite unique in terms of reef structure, a lot shallower dive profiles, more micro and macro, more intact wrecks. Really not much “need” for nitrox due to the profiles.

The North “up East” has a lot of interesting reef architecture that you won’t find at the West areas. In that east or west on the North side takes the brunt of any storm (that causes the reef shapes) you won’t see the verdant nature of the South side.

It’s the last way to escape the current reality of Roatan, a window back to the 1970’s.

Wow Doc, thx, a lot of great info. It’s that interesting architecture of the North/east I was hoping to see, but we tend to be there end of January into February so it doesn’t like it’s the best time of year .
We’ve been through several weather systems and it was nice getting bussed over to dive the calmer side…but the channel sounds interesting….
And for food all we need is a bit of street meat and a baleada, so if the locals don’t mind us pigging out with them we’ll be overjoyed!

 

[Nuub]

Here is a report I wrote on a visit a few years back - I stayed at Reef House and also at Bananarama.
Trip report 6/25-7/6 Reef House Resort & Bananarama

 

[kimmeeC]

Here is a report I wrote on a visit a few years back - I stayed at Reef House and also at Bananarama.
Trip report 6/25-7/6 Reef House Resort & Bananarama

Also great info…thanks so much!

 

[EvilOtter]

I would highly recommend Dive Pangea for the benefits of a safe and professional boutique dive op. They offer access to the pristine walls around Morat, Barbreta, etc. You won’t see large schools due to overfishing on the north side but the reefs are lush and higher chance of seeing pelagics.

As noted above, the neighboring Camp Bay lodge is great but our favourite restaurant on the whole island is La Sirena, just a few steps to the east. This is a tiny palapa that serves fresh daily catch and is widely known for the most potent rum (ron) punches on Roatan. The owners/staff are hysterical and love to hold court with their patrons.

An important caveat about the East End is the general poor quality of the dirt road after Oak Ridge and a few nasty locals in the Diamond Rock area (midway between Oak Ridge and Camp Bay). Scooters are not recommended and don’t stop to gawk around. No worries once you hit Camp Bay.