I dove last week in Roatan and used a great guide named Stuart Morgan who works with Island Diving Center in West End. We had a truly wonderful time. They provided fantastic service, all the sites that chose were spot on. A great aspect of the diving was that the reef is so close to their shop, we had sub 10 minute trips to the dive sites. There were a few times that we had 15 minutes trips that that was the exception. We did our surface intervals back at the shop in West End. Stuart Morgan is a former firefighter, and runs a tight ship. We felt very comfortable with him and always felt safe and in control. He is a very nice guy and we had a lot of laughs with him. He worked with me on the first two dives to make sure that my weight were just right. He really was the best guide we ever had in the years that my wife and I have been diving. Island Diving was very professional in every aspect. We dove the wreck of the Al Elacon (sp) and had a fabulous dive. The reef at Roatan is great, we saw very few lion Fish and the reef is in very good shape. Turtles, Crabs, Lobsters, Groupers, Rays, Barricaders, were all spotted and schools of smaller fish were abundant.
The island feels safe, but I would caution anyone going to be aware of your surroundings. My wife ran every morning from our hotel (Myoka) and never felt unsafe, although he did have to be mindful of the drivers being more concerned with texting then looking out for runners on the road.
Restaurants were generally good and we never spent more than $75 dollars a mean (for two), so the prices are very good. Oasis was great, Cal's was fantastic, although it is out of the way. The Thai restaurant in West End was very good. The restaurant in Blue Bahia (they served Thanksgiving Turkey) was very good, and Frangipani in our hotel was excellent and was finer dinging than the rest of the island.
Have a great time in Roatan, we had a great week there and would be happy to answer any questions you may have...
