I staying in West End diving with West End Divers.
Info and Discussion...Roatan Dive Sites
- Thread starter CajunDiva
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OP
CajunDiva
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Awesome. We need some input from that side of the island 
Be sure to come back and discuss dive sites when you return!
Be sure to come back and discuss dive sites when you return!beluga2
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OP
CajunDiva
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Were you there in a club group?
Let's see the reality of that "16" number when PeeWeeDiver returns.
Yes, up to 16 divers can be assigned to a 55' boat with room for 72 tanks, but after Day 1 or 2, they seem to disappear and do shore dives instead...they're that good.
16 or 6 divers, FusterClucks will indeed propagate depending upon the skill sets of divers. CCV usually attracts divers with quite a few logged, but people do tend to bunch up, for physical and social reasons. I am in no rush. I tend to hang to the back of most groups and have a long look-see as they depart. I have some fair spotting skills, so sometimes if the DM tells me what he's looking for, I'll stay with him and help search. When he finds something, I'll flashlight it from 10' off the wall as he bangs his tank then quickly departs to look for the next big thing- like leap frog.
Here's a small group of 9 competent divers who could have been bumping into each other....
CCV seems to assign a max of 13 per boat, unless a separate group needs to all go together. Sometimes if the resort is full (they shoot for 65/72 occupancy rate to allow for room maint), and if a boat is out of service for a day or more, yes, even with fleet if 6 huge boats, stuff happens, but rare.
Let's see the reality of that "16" number when PeeWeeDiver returns.Yes, up to 16 divers can be assigned to a 55' boat with room for 72 tanks, but after Day 1 or 2, they seem to disappear and do shore dives instead...they're that good.
16 or 6 divers, FusterClucks will indeed propagate depending upon the skill sets of divers. CCV usually attracts divers with quite a few logged, but people do tend to bunch up, for physical and social reasons. I am in no rush. I tend to hang to the back of most groups and have a long look-see as they depart. I have some fair spotting skills, so sometimes if the DM tells me what he's looking for, I'll stay with him and help search. When he finds something, I'll flashlight it from 10' off the wall as he bangs his tank then quickly departs to look for the next big thing- like leap frog.
Here's a small group of 9 competent divers who could have been bumping into each other....
CCV seems to assign a max of 13 per boat, unless a separate group needs to all go together. Sometimes if the resort is full (they shoot for 65/72 occupancy rate to allow for room maint), and if a boat is out of service for a day or more, yes, even with fleet if 6 huge boats, stuff happens, but rare.
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OP
CajunDiva
Contributor
So now I'll mention another of my favorite dive sites in Roatan, but it's a different kind of favorite.
In 2009, an earthquake hit Roatan. The damage wasn't huge, but there was one dive site that was deeply affected: Anka's Place. (Located near CocoView and Fantasy Island) This was a beautiful wall with an overhang section filled with cool things to look at. The day of the earthquake, the whole overhang, including the wall, went tumbling down onto the ocean floor.
We arrived at Fantasy Island one week after that tragic event. Our divemaster and friend, Daren, took us over to inspect the damage. It was incredible. The whole wall was...GONE. In it's place was a blank slate. Just a whole "new" wall of...NOTHING. It looked like bare sand.
Since that time, we have made it a point to go back and visit Anka's Place on every trip, just so we can monitor what it's like to see the reformation of a reef. It's been a really cool process. With each visit we see more and more cool stuff growing on the wall.
Our buddy Daren is now managing Subway Watersports, the dive op at Turquoise Bay Resort, but his son (also Daren - we call him "Junior") is one of the divemasters with Aqua Adventures, the dive op at Media Luna Resort. I have watched this boy...now a man...grow since he was 9 years old. We had a Cajun party at his house and cooked gumbo. He actually ate it
He has grown up as a diver under the expert tutelage of his father. The kid has eagle eyes and a willing spirit. Our relationship has become incredibly special - he calls me "mom" 
So our latest trip was for 10 days and we had a group of 11 divers. I was busy making sure everyone was taken care of and happy. You know...dive, dive, dive. I hadn't even slowed down to think about Anka's place. My best dive buddy (hubby) came down with bronchitis a couple of days before departure, so the last day I was diving with one of our new buddies from Denver.
When Junior asked me where I wanted to go, I thought it would be nice to go out and dive Missing Link or 40 Ft. Point. I love to play with the Atlantic Spadefish during the safety stop . They come and clean themselves on your fins if you just hang there and let them! So we did 1:07 minutes at Missing Link. After our surface internal I asked Junior where he was taking me for my last dive of the trip. Without missing a beat, he replied "Anka's Place Mom". Now THAT'S a special divemaster. I know...there are LOTS of special divemasters on Roatan, but this one's mine
We did a leisurely 1:12 minute dive and I was happy to find a beautiful yellow tunicate (LOVE my tunicates!) growing on the wall at Anka's Place. It was the perfect end to a great trip. Most divers consider it boring to look at a largely blank wall and have no interest in Anka's Place. I consider it one of the most fascinating things I've ever witnessed - the rejuvenation of life. I guess you had to be there...
Our underwater high-five:
In 2009, an earthquake hit Roatan. The damage wasn't huge, but there was one dive site that was deeply affected: Anka's Place. (Located near CocoView and Fantasy Island) This was a beautiful wall with an overhang section filled with cool things to look at. The day of the earthquake, the whole overhang, including the wall, went tumbling down onto the ocean floor.
We arrived at Fantasy Island one week after that tragic event. Our divemaster and friend, Daren, took us over to inspect the damage. It was incredible. The whole wall was...GONE. In it's place was a blank slate. Just a whole "new" wall of...NOTHING. It looked like bare sand.
Since that time, we have made it a point to go back and visit Anka's Place on every trip, just so we can monitor what it's like to see the reformation of a reef. It's been a really cool process. With each visit we see more and more cool stuff growing on the wall.
Our buddy Daren is now managing Subway Watersports, the dive op at Turquoise Bay Resort, but his son (also Daren - we call him "Junior") is one of the divemasters with Aqua Adventures, the dive op at Media Luna Resort. I have watched this boy...now a man...grow since he was 9 years old. We had a Cajun party at his house and cooked gumbo. He actually ate it
He has grown up as a diver under the expert tutelage of his father. The kid has eagle eyes and a willing spirit. Our relationship has become incredibly special - he calls me "mom" So our latest trip was for 10 days and we had a group of 11 divers. I was busy making sure everyone was taken care of and happy. You know...dive, dive, dive. I hadn't even slowed down to think about Anka's place. My best dive buddy (hubby) came down with bronchitis a couple of days before departure, so the last day I was diving with one of our new buddies from Denver.
When Junior asked me where I wanted to go, I thought it would be nice to go out and dive Missing Link or 40 Ft. Point. I love to play with the Atlantic Spadefish during the safety stop . They come and clean themselves on your fins if you just hang there and let them! So we did 1:07 minutes at Missing Link. After our surface internal I asked Junior where he was taking me for my last dive of the trip. Without missing a beat, he replied "Anka's Place Mom". Now THAT'S a special divemaster. I know...there are LOTS of special divemasters on Roatan, but this one's mine
We did a leisurely 1:12 minute dive and I was happy to find a beautiful yellow tunicate (LOVE my tunicates!) growing on the wall at Anka's Place. It was the perfect end to a great trip. Most divers consider it boring to look at a largely blank wall and have no interest in Anka's Place. I consider it one of the most fascinating things I've ever witnessed - the rejuvenation of life. I guess you had to be there...
Our underwater high-five:
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Anka's Place kind of did an "earthquake slide", what was left was the "substrate" sheets of ages-old dead white coral.
Within a day, the Banded Coral Shrimp were all over it like Mosquitos.
As CajunDiva says, there was a whole lot to see in what most saw as nothingness.
Posters here on SB decried the END OF DIVING ON ROATAN!!!
I guess not.
Within a day, the Banded Coral Shrimp were all over it like Mosquitos.
As CajunDiva says, there was a whole lot to see in what most saw as nothingness.
Posters here on SB decried the END OF DIVING ON ROATAN!!!
I guess not.
OP
CajunDiva
Contributor
I suppose everyone has their own dive personality. Most like to visit new places each trip. What does it for me is forming relationships with people at the places I visit. Those fun relationships and the reefs of Roatan keep me coming back for more diving year after year!
OP
CajunDiva
Contributor
When it comes to Mary's Place, it's not JUST about swimming through the crack:
There are also some pretty cool critters to find if you take your time and look around:
There are also some pretty cool critters to find if you take your time and look around:
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