Hello / Roatan / Max Diving Depth

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Joe Seven

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I've been lurking here for awhile, just wanted to say hello!

I'm heading to Utila and Roatan in April to go diving. Will probably spend about 2 weeks there.

I was just looking at all the cool dive sites off Roatan, and noticed than many of them had a max depth of 80, 90, or 100+ feet. Currently I have my PADI open water certification, which apparently will allow me to go to depths of 60 feet. Does that mean that I won't be able to go deeper than that on some of the deeper dives? How stringent is this particular rule? The last time I went diving was at Lighthouse Reef, and I'm pretty sure I went deeper than 60ft.

That brings me to my next question... if I am confined to 60ft, where is a good place on Roatan to get my advanced open water? I'd like to complete it in no more than 2 days.

Thanks!

Joe
 
Joe,

Having been to Roatan three times, all spent at Fantasy Island, you won't have to worry about the scuba police enforcing the strict 60'. Most of the dives started around 90-100' then back up to 50-60' for the second and 50-35' on the third.

Dive to the depth you are comfortable and inform your DM of your experience. Just about any dive shop will give you a AOW in under 2-3 days.

FWIW, having experience is more important than an advanced C-Card.

Don't forget to have your inoculations up-to date and take the malaria meds.

Regards,
Dave (aka "Squirt")
 
Pretty much what Dave said but don't let them take you places you don't want to go or are not comfortable with. I am quite capable of 100ft+ dives but when on Roatan I usually let the rest go deep and I stay up on the reef dropoff ....30-40 ft. The dives are for the most part wall dives so it's very easy to stay with the group by following their bubbles while remaining a lot shallower. IMO there is more to see and I don't have to worry nearly as much about NDL's or getting low on gas. Find a buddy with same interest and stick shallow with them if you so choose.

Welcome to the board.
 
Length isn't important. Well- that's what they say, but I want to tell you- Deep is irrelevant, especially on the South side of Roatan.

The best stuff is shallow.

I have logged a few dives in the Bay Islands and I have seen darned near 85% of the Humann/DeLoach Fish/Critter/Coral ID books without going below 45fsw.

Fantasy Island, as mentioned above, is on the South side of Roatan. This is an area that is quite unique in the Caribbean. the reef walls begin their vertical drop in very shallow water. The depths of the "break" on the South side reefs are from 3~45 fsw. The first sand flat is often found at about 95fsw. I have logged maybe 170+ dives below that level, and I have seen very little to recommend it. If a DM or expert wants to show you something very cool that is of a sedentary nature, if you are capable and comfortable with it, if you advise your DM of your intentions, have at it.

Otherwise, the cool stuff is above 45 fsw.

Your post was very vague, but the map you hotlinked is of the West and North sides.

Other dive ops from other resorts will access the reefs nearer to them. On the West end, wrapping round to the North, they will take you to dive spots in the 'protected Marine park'. In this area, you will likely see larger fish of the common Caribbean varieties: Groupers, Parrot Fish, Baracudas, as well as Lobster and Crab. On the South side, critters of this size will be less plentiful, but you will likely see them. Dives in this N&W area tend to be deeper as the character of the reef puts such interesting stuff deeper.

Back on the South side, you will be shallower, but you'll be seeing Pipefish, colorful camouflaged miniature Crustaceans (both Shrimp and Crabs), and lots of juveniles of the species hiding in the intricate reef structure. Just as the big storms strike to the North and west, the South side is the protected side- where the shallow wrecks are and where the florid reef is. In that the wrecks are shallower, you can spend more time on them, and they have a lot more life on them as critters depend upon sunlight. You get a lot more when you are shallow...and axposed to the Southerly track of the sun.

This shallow reef runs from Mary's Place then East to Port Royal. On the way, you'll go past the Yacht Club, Subway Watresports, Fantasy Island, CoCoView, and the Reef House to name the major players. The North side is services by Anthony's Key, bay Islands Beach resort, Inn of the Last Resort and several day-dive ops.

I may have left some out. i'm old and have a lot of Nitrogen in my brain ;)

Most everyone gets to dive Mary's Place, which~ although it is the "trademark dive" of Roatan, it really is only a long deep crack through a reef. After many, many dives there- I was recently taken through by a world class expert who had done Mary's Place some 400 times.. She showed me 1 unique critter inside of it, 1 ten feet after the end, and that was it. We spent the rest of the dive poking around the shallows and found tons of cool stuff.

Stay shallow, see the cool stuff. Perfect your buoyancy, take a class. Pick your DM well, stay with them like a magnet. Bring a small flashlight and be ready to hand it to your DM. many times I have looked at what he was pointing at and still unable to see it. A flashlight really helps. If your dzm isn't showing you at least on e SeaHorse each day, politely change DM's. If he feeds fish in any way, this should be discouraged. Some DM's do this very discreetly, but if you see a pack of fish following your DM- this is what he is doing- as well as impressing you with the numbers of fish he showed you. A good man uses simply a sharp eye.

There is no need to go deep.
 
fantasy island is no fantasy for sure south side of the island is better
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard, Joe.... Enjoy your trip to Utila and Roatan in April....
 
I'm going to be at Anthony's on 2/29. What would be the best dives sites to visit in my 8 days there?

Greg
 
Thanks RoatanMan, and everyone else, for responding. It's good to know that the best stuff is not super deep... that usually means it's brighter and you can stay under longer. I enjoy going deep if there is a reason too... amazing views of walls etc, but am not hell bent on it.

Mary's Place sounds like the Blue Hole off Belize... mostly hype. Although I haven't been to either so I really shouldn't judge.

I think I'll be staying on West Bay beach... I'm considering Los Rocas, Bananarama, and another independent stay-only cabana. Seems like it would be convenient to stay/dive at the same place. In anycase, I'm excited!.. it's currently -15c here in Toronto Canada.

On the south side... "Key Hole" sounds really cool...
 
Joe,
I am going to Roatan at the end of March, and staying at Bananarama, but you should check out the deals at Los Rocas right now... Really cheap. The only drawback is their boats are one tank dives. I know the boat rides are short but that seems like a pain in the butt to have to come back and get another bottle and then go back out.

Bruce
 

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