Best Dive Operation in Roatan

[birdie1986]

We are thinking of taking a trip to Roatan and staying at a private home, so I'm looking for a dive operation that takes people not staying at a particular resort. I'm looking for an operation that is high quality and extremely safe. My previous trip to Roatan was in 1998, and we dove out of Inn of Last Resort. Their operation was pretty good. Ideally, I'm looking for an operation similar to Aldora Divers in Cozumel. Cost is not a particular consideration.

Is anyone familiar with such an operation in Roatan? The house we would be staying at is near West End, not on the beach, but we will have a car. Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

 

[CajunDiva]

I've never been diving with them, but FWIW I understand Coconut Tree Divers in West End is an awesome dive operation...

 

[nicvanzee]

I have dove with coconut tree many many times. So has my wife, brother, sister, dad and many friends. We have had nothing but wonderful experiences. They always treat you like family and are very professional. They are also not opposed to a little fun either

 

[Doc]

You're asking for something similar to Aldora of Cozumel. I'm afraid that's a hard act to follow in the West End of Roatan, but you can still enjoy your diving.

Cozumel's Aldora has some pretty advanced boats. Huge twin outboards and good sunscreen coverage. One of their boats has a side access. Pretty snappy stuff. They also run two-tank boat trips both am/pm. They are well established and have a long operational history.

On Roatan, you will find great day-dive ops on the West End, but due to their comparatively young age, you will not find the infrastructure to put you in the water 4 tanks, easy-breezy.... nor the same character of high-end boats.

But, like I said, if you want Aldora in Cozumel- then you have to put up with Cozumel (But you guys already know that!) Different is good.

CoCoNut Tree will treat you well.

 

[nicvanzee]

I have never had the experience of diving with Aldora so I can't compare directly but you can take 4 dives a day with CCD but no 2 tank in the afternoon. 2 tank in the morning and two 1 tank in the afternoon. They also have a nice covered boat for sun protection. Not very fast but spacious. The diving is great and the shop "attitude" is even better!

 

[Aspendiver]

I've had two great trips with Sueno del Mar.
They're leasing a nice big boat right now, and have a smaller, faster boat as well... Ray, the owner of the resort/dive shop, is a stand-up guy.

 

[halocline]

Do you know the location of house that you're staying in? If it's in or near the west end, I'd also recommend coconut tree. If it's in or near the west bay, I don't have a recommendation, (I just don't know the ops personally) but there are several choices.

In general there is a different vibe between Roatan west end and Cozumel diving. First, Coz diving is more advanced, meaning deeper and much stronger currents. The crowd is a little different too; you see ALOT of new divers in Cozumel who really need their hands held, especially in the conditions present. Plus, it seems there's a presumption of service in Coz that does not exist in Roatan. An example is the DMs setting up gear for divers, providing everything from snacks to windbreakers for the surface intervals, rinsing and storing gear, etc.

Coconut tree uses a larger boat that's not as fast as the small Coz "six pack" boats, but the ride to the sites is much shorter, sometimes a couple of minutes. Divers set up their own gear. Surface intervals are on the boat for the morning dives. The big boats are pretty comfy.

In the water there's a slightly different vibe too. The dives are very easy in Roatan, and many profiles are truly multilevel with the last third of the dive at 20 feet or less. This is a really nice aspect of Roatan diving. The DMs tend to be a little less supervisory in nature, at least that's my experience. On the coconut tree boats, the dive leader is almost always an instructor and there are a few divemaster trainees bringing up the rear and/or watching over the new divers.

I think you'll enjoy Roatan diving. Very, very few clients are not happy with coconut tree, and it's a pretty diverse crowd.

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

Maybe check out Utila as well - all dive operations here (except the resorts) run 2 tank dive trips both morning and afternoon, as well as night dives. The bigger dive centers travel all around the island and have good quality boats built for diving (altho' by the sounds of things not in the same class as Aldora!)

Check out Destination Utila | Utila Vacation Rental Properties & Management | DestinationUtila.com for information on some really nice vacation rental properties.

hth,
-rob

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

You can also rent gear and tanks and do shore dives from some properties - if you are interested in this you should make sure you inquire about it before you book as it isn't possible from all properties. We include delivery with our tank and gear rental, so this may also be something to ask about if you don't want to carry tanks 2 at a time in a golf cart.

-rob

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

You can also rent gear and tanks and do shore dives from some properties - if you are interested in this you should make sure you inquire about it before you book as it isn't possible from all properties. We include delivery with our tank and gear rental, so this may also be something to ask about if you don't want to carry tanks 2 at a time in a golf cart.

-rob