Question Help choosing dive shop in Roatan

[MainSail1865]

Reef Gliders is a cool shop tucked in with bar. The people at RG are awesome too.

 

[diverswifey]

anyone familiar with Island Diving or Brisas del Mar in West End? thanks for feedback.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

This is like shopping for a tie at Macy's. Too many choices, so little brain capacity. I feel like this is just going to be a game of "pin the tail on the donkey".

 

[Doc]

This is like shopping for a tie at Macy's. Too many choices, so little brain capacity. I feel like this is just going to be a game of "pin the tail on the donkey".

Not really. You must be clear in your own mind as to what you really want. Then you must articulate it to get viable responses.

Then, responders will extoll how wonderful their choice was and would be for you, too. Right or wrong. And sorry to say, there is a right and wrong answer.

The big problem with Roatan: Very few visitors have been with more than one dive-op. Those who have- they’ve been to xerox copies. Few have dived in more than 1 of 4 very distinct u/w zones. (Altho by having done one dive “over there”, they believe they have). Dunning/Krueger.

START WITH: What do you want from your diving?

A direct complete answer to that simple question might disqualify Roatan completely.

NEXT: I dissect these Roatan searches by simple analytical questions. There’s no shame here, but do you want a vacation with diving…or a dive vacation?

1) how many dives per day do you want?

2) in a week, how many dive days?

3) are night dives desired? How many?

4) is night life/bars important?

With a simple answers to the above, it cuts your Roatan option list down to manageable very quickly.

Another layer of questions follow. They relate more to your diving style, experience, service needs (beyond the pure BS term: Concierge Diving), non-diving spousal units, that list.

With honest answers i could give you a list of choices that would work.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Not really. You must be clear in your own mind as to what you really want. Then you must articulate it to get viable responses.

Then, responders will extoll how wonderful their choice was and would be for you, too. Right or wrong. And sorry to say, there is a right and wrong answer.

The big problem with Roatan: Very few visitors have been with more than one dive-op. Those who have- they’ve been to xerox copies. Few have dived in more than 1 of 4 very distinct u/w zones. (Altho by having done one dive “over there”, they believe they have). Dunning/Krueger.

START WITH: What do you want from your diving? wonder and awe

A direct complete answer to that simple question might disqualify Roatan completely. too late.

NEXT: I dissect these Roatan searches by simple analytical questions. There’s no shame here, but do you want a vacation with diving…or a dive vacation? dive vacation

1) how many dives per day do you want? minimum 3

2) in a week, how many dive days? six

3) are night dives desired? How many? yes, two.

4) is night life/bars important? not even remotely

With a simple answers to the above, it cuts your Roatan option list down to manageable very quickly.

Another layer of questions follow. They relate more to your diving style low key, take my time, experience more than some, less than others, service needs (beyond the pure BS term: Concierge Diving) a ladder to get out of the water, non-diving spousal units no fam on this trip, that list.

With honest answers i could give you a list of choices that would work.

answers above in mauve.

 

[Doc]

answers above in mauve.

West end would be my immediate go to for that.

the second set of q’s is all but impossible online.

Have you seen all of your barracudas, parrotfish, lobster etc/

I’m betting yes.

If that is the big thing, you want something unique and different, it would be more southside.

what month/ that’s part of the equation

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

West end would be my immediate go to for that.

the second set of q’s is all but impossible online.

Have you seen all of your barracudas, parrotfish, lobster etc/

I’m betting yes.

If that is the big thing, you want something unique and different, it would be more southside.

what month/ that’s part of the equation

In three weeks.

I've never thought of it like that but yes, I've seen enough of those. Squirrel fish still make me smile, though. Go figure.

So South side, you say?

 

[Doc]

In three weeks.

I've never thought of it like that but yes, I've seen enough of those. Squirrel fish still make me smile, though. Go figure.

So South side, you say?

As far as dives reqd: 3x day x 6 days? Hard to maintain that cadence at any day-dive operation, and still have time to eat. Multiple Night dives? Go Ai, easier and cheaper per dive.

Timing of your trip: worst possible choice. Rainiest period November and Northers cause wind shut downs on West/North. (This eliminates the Northside Ai Turqouise Bay). AKR West/North does move it’s boats to the South Side requiring a bus trip, no night diving, and their already dubious “shore dive” is a non-starter. Go South

You’ve seen all the common stuff? Roatan’s Biggest variety and abundance of odd stuff? South

Look at Barefoot, Coco View, Reef House. (Fantasy is decayed, skip it). There are a very few others but diving is an afterthought for them.

Again- that is for your very specific wants.

 

[bryankwatts]

I just dove with Barefoot this past week and they run a great operation. Ron was our DM and Tati runs the dive operation there. The visibility is not very good right now though. All the boats on the West/North side of the island are now on the East/South side of the island and the diver operators are shuttling divers back and forth. We were diving with Coconut Tree earlier in the week and they did a good job as well. The cost at Barefoot was about $55 a dive and Coconut Tree was around $35 a dive.

 

[bdyslm]

As far as dives reqd: 3x day x 6 days? Hard to maintain that cadence at any day-dive operation, and still have time to eat. Multiple Night dives? Go Ai, easier and cheaper per dive.

Timing of your trip: worst possible choice. Rainiest period November and Northers cause wind shut downs on West/North. (This eliminates the Northside Ai Turqouise Bay). AKR West/North does move it’s boats to the South Side requiring a bus trip, no night diving, and their already dubious “shore dive” is a non-starter. Go South

You’ve seen all the common stuff? Roatan’s Biggest variety and abundance of odd stuff? South

Look at Barefoot, Coco View, Reef House. (Fantasy is decayed, skip it). There are a very few others but diving is an afterthought for them.

Again- that is for your very specific wants.

I know the weather is ever-changing but I noticed your comment about worst possible time to go...which was about a week ago. Last Christmas I went to Coz for 17 days and had about 2-3 days including Christmas where diving was shut down due to the wind and northers. The rain those 3 days flooded the streets.

I'm planning on pulling the trigger in the next 48 hours for a trip to roatan and utila from roughly 12/19-1/3. It will be my first time there. Is this a bad idea and wasted trip? I dont mind a few days being nixed or some rain but if >/= 50% of days will be scrapped, I dont want to waste my time and money. Will it be much different than Coz? Seems like most places in the northern Caribbean would be the same. Even if i did mainland riviera maya. When the weather report shows rain is it like normal island/florida rain where it rains for 15-30 minutes and then done for the rest of the day, or does it typically hang around all day this time of year. I could find anything showing the rain accumulation totals for the next 10 days.

Thanks!