Cozumel vs Roatan

[oldmaninthesea]

Hi Guys
I am in Playa del Carmen and just had my first dive in 8 months with Irene from Geofish. More of a checkout dive just to get in shape for the cenotes on the weekend. Had excellent service from Max ,Morgan,Steve and Irene. Much more attentive than I was used to on Roatan. I will write more detail later about Geofish and the cenotes.
My questions are; should I go over to Coz for a day of divng? has anyone dove Roatan and Coz recently and how do they compare? Have the reefs been damaged around Coz? I will be in Roatan in Feb for 2 weeks so is it so much better in Coz that I would be an idiot not to go there. Should I do a few more cenotes in my remaining week instead of Coz? I am here mainly to go to Spanish school so I can squeeze in one full day or 2 half days of diving.

 

[diveprof]

I would vote for heading over for the Coz dive. I recently made my first return trip since the hurricane. I observed some coral damage, but marine life seemed better to me -sharks on most dives, turtles every dive, and other neat stuff. Be sure to use ops recommended on SB as some are cattle boats with limited bottom time. I am also a fan of Roatan. Dive there also. Which is better? The real answer is probably both... I think you would enjoy either/both of the two more than where you are diving now.

 

[Chel]

If you are that close I would definitely head over to Cozumel. I was there in October and like Diveprof said, you can still see evidence of damage from Wilma, but overall the reefs are back and there is tons of life.

The cenotes on the mainland are magical, and if thats what grabs you, it is certainly an excellent way to spend the rest of your time diving.

But if you are ready for some warm water and reefs, head over to Coz - you won't be dissapointed.

As for Roatan, if you are going to be there in Feb, there is no reason not to dive there too - you will enjoy some great experience there also. Be selective on your operators at both destinations (you should be at every place you go in my opinion) - this will make all the difference.

Sounds like you have a fun couple of months ahead!

 

[Darol]

Just returned from Cozumel, fourth Christmas in a row, and eleventh time there. Says it all.
Roatan, do the shark dive, it's awesome....

 

[halocline]

In general the DMs in Cozumel are much more hands on than in Roatan. I've done a pretty good amount of diving in both places, so I would say comparing them, Cozumel has generally better visibility, more fish, and IMO the best dive sites on a good day are overall better than the north side of Roatan. (Which is the only side I've dove, but I've done over 100 dives there.) The overall best sites in Cozumel (IMO) are on palancar and colombia reefs; there are several sites within each.

Roatan has some great sites too, and in general more spectacular wall formations. There are also two wrecks which are much better dives (IMO) than the wreck in Cozumel. I think that the overall coral formations are more interesting in Roatan, but the better vis in Coz helps make the pinnacles in palancar and colombia very impressive. One VERY nice thing about north side of Roatan is that the profiles have great variety of depth; you can easily do 15-20 minutes deep, 20 minutes at 40-50 ft, and spend the rest of the dive in 20ft on a reef crest. You don't get that in Coz.


Oops, I just noticed this an old thread, but I'll leave my reply as it might be of interest to other divers.