Sirto:
My wife and I will be at Fantasy Island on Roatan for the first two weeks of October (anyone else?). I enjoy night dives more than she does so I was wondering how easy it is to buddy up with someone there for night dives.
Are the reefs and wreck on which you'd night dive simple / shallow enough to do solo dives or is that a bad idea.
I solo night dive on the PA (Prince Albert) Wreck and the Newmans Wall (in front of Fantasy Island) all the time. I don't know if "simple/shallow" is the right criteria, but we are all in control of our own destinies. Neith FIBR or CCV prohibits the activity.
I will tell you categoricaly, altho the resorts share the same channel, and altho FIBR claims the same shore dive- this is simply not the case.
The dive from CCV is marked with a heavy anchor chain that begins at the resort and wends through an aquarium of delights, dropping down (after maybe a 350 feet length) to the 38fsw bottom of the starboard bow of the PA Wreck.
From there, a floated line directs you to the DC3 that lies in pieces, 32fsw. The aft section of the PA bottoms out in 58fsw and you can get in 3000 feet just ESE of there. On either side of the channel is bordered by Newmans Wall and CoCoView Wall, both a delight and very entertaining (and more profitable) when done shallow.
The shore dive from FIBR is usualy done by appointment. They motor you out in a large pram at sunset and you do a backroll over the wreck (larger groups get a dive boat, moored). You do your dive, and with no less than 1200psi (IF you absolutely know your way back, 1800 if not...) you get to the DC3 and grope along a 3/4" steel cable in the murk to get back for your shore exit at the FIBR gazebo.
If I am heading back to CCV I usualy leave the upper structures of the PA (22fsw) at no less than 800 psi, and I'll make it back with a few hundred psi. You get shallow pretty quick. I usualy leave the PA at 1500 psi and take maybe 25+ minutes to dawdle back in... octopus and squid and critters abound at night... an eagle ray or who knows what you'll find.
Two different dives, at any rate, but for the experienced diver, you should have no problem... at either resort just understand the underwater landmarks and "ropes" that attach all of the identifiable objects to your exit- best learned in the daylight- thus the true object of CCV's "orientation dive".
In that specific environment, plenty of air is only a few feet above your head. Speaking of your head- watch out for the rental jet ski guests from FIBR that use this marked dive area for racing through. Among the guests there, you may find a buddy, but I wouldn't sweat it. Again- don't forget a night dive (IF there is no wave action) on the TOP of Newman's Wall. Octopus City.
have fun.
