LaCuda
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Humuhumunukunukuapua'a:
Check this out as an introduction to an alternative to other "local flavor".
www.aboututila.com.
Regards,
Just returned from Roatan!
- Thread starter chazpraz
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Check this out as an introduction to an alternative to other "local flavor".
www.aboututila.com.
Regards,
Chazpraz, I think I understand what you are saying. Diving at CCV is like diving on a live-a-board. Most of us who go there want to max our time underwater, like the one member of your party. If you are diving 4-5 times a day it is almost impossible to do any dryland touring. CCV like a live-a-board is isolated, in a way, so if you want to tour the island, see the dryland sites you have to plan it. My wife and I have had some guilt regarding the countries we have traveled to and only seen from underwater, but that is the nature of the addiction.
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There is a culture, much as I am on a diet.
Do not misunderstand what I am writing: Roatan is a lovely place to do a dive vacation. Know this (or not):
The island is English. The ruling class is English. These people all have cousins in Cayman. True. The "Spaniards" come from the mainland. Some are like guest workers, most are blamed for all the crime. At least the crime where people get hurt, versus where people get ripped off in business (The English have that franchise). The Blacks are the Garifuna who were dumped around the Caribbean after their masters grew tired of their strength and self reliance.
The government of Honduras (the country) is Spanish. In language, culture, heritage and people. They come to the Bay Islands to help out. (Like when Roatan Airport couldn't pay to keep their lights and a/c on even though they sent the $25 fees you paid to Tegucigalpa on the mainland. Do the math.)
The music is island reggae pop rap noise. You can't hear a Central American flute to save your life. The Garifuna put on a folklorico for the cruise ships. You can see them eeking out their existence in Punta Gorda- nothing traditional. The LDS school also does a mainland Honduras Spanish folklorico with the kids.
It pains me to say, that the island culture is horribly racist and sexist. I have indeed spent considerable time in Honduras, largely in the Bay Islands, with substantial time spent in service to the local govt as well as several and various NGO's. I know the drill fairly well, at least from my biased perspective.
This should have no real impact on the visitor, because, yes, you will be happily insulated from the reality of the pecking order (see above).
Honduras was created at the behest of the United Fruit Company. They are the USA guys who marketed bananas then pineapples to the US citizens- quite the novelty they were at the time. "We" (at their monetary urging) sent our boys and engineers down to Honduras to kick some butt and build railroad tracks. These tracks and transport hubs did absolutely no good for the population, nor any commercial interest other than United Fruit.
When you walk into Banana Republic, know that Honduras was the banana republic. The one, the only.
During WW2, we garnered cheap manpower to staff the merchant marine. Seen the monuments and plaques at cayman and Bay Islands for the lost seamen? As the war ended and the men stayed on, sending home their comparatively large checks to "mom", they priced themselves out of the merchant marine market. Our shipping fat cats looked to new impoverished islands where the boys came cheaply. (The northen coast of South America became a recruiting ground)
When you tell people that you're going to Honduras, they immediately say "what about the war?" You and I know that ended twenty years ago, but to distance itself, the islands rarely use the name Honduras... they went to great lengths to teach people the correct way to say it.... "Raaaah-ah-tahn" ... Well, the "English" way to say it.
The war was hundreds of miles south, over a mountain range. Once again, like United Fruit, we came in and used her and paid her and left her... again.
Then Red Lobster discovered the place. Then after overfishing they dumped her.
We have poured so much money into this country, then withheld it... it is a product of our torment. How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen MTV? And see it, they do- everyone knows where the nearest sat tv is located. There is a stream of people legally moving North and in with their Aunts in Tampa. (Little Honduras)
Much as Chicago benefited architecturaly from being burned down atthe advent of glass/steel skyscraper tech- the Bay Islands have become instantly connected by cell phones. The technology changed the place overnight, more than the paved roads and military surplus construction gear they got after the Nicuraguan war.
You can find the most interesting, fascinating, loving people on the planet. It is not hard. Many of them are your DM's (who rate pretty high on the local socio-economic scale!). But to say that there is a representative island culture- that is just no longer the case. It is an odd melange of pop-gangsta-afro-rasta wannabe... even for the Latins. If that's what passes for a "culture", I aint seeing it, other than in a stricly academic sense.
Quick, go to Utila. I give it 2 years if the present economy keeps up.
But then again, what do I know. I just sit my pasty white @ss on the barstool at my secluded AI resort and drink diet cokes. See... I am on a diet!
Do not misunderstand what I am writing: Roatan is a lovely place to do a dive vacation. Know this (or not):
The island is English. The ruling class is English. These people all have cousins in Cayman. True. The "Spaniards" come from the mainland. Some are like guest workers, most are blamed for all the crime. At least the crime where people get hurt, versus where people get ripped off in business (The English have that franchise). The Blacks are the Garifuna who were dumped around the Caribbean after their masters grew tired of their strength and self reliance.
The government of Honduras (the country) is Spanish. In language, culture, heritage and people. They come to the Bay Islands to help out. (Like when Roatan Airport couldn't pay to keep their lights and a/c on even though they sent the $25 fees you paid to Tegucigalpa on the mainland. Do the math.)
The music is island reggae pop rap noise. You can't hear a Central American flute to save your life. The Garifuna put on a folklorico for the cruise ships. You can see them eeking out their existence in Punta Gorda- nothing traditional. The LDS school also does a mainland Honduras Spanish folklorico with the kids.
It pains me to say, that the island culture is horribly racist and sexist. I have indeed spent considerable time in Honduras, largely in the Bay Islands, with substantial time spent in service to the local govt as well as several and various NGO's. I know the drill fairly well, at least from my biased perspective.
This should have no real impact on the visitor, because, yes, you will be happily insulated from the reality of the pecking order (see above).
Honduras was created at the behest of the United Fruit Company. They are the USA guys who marketed bananas then pineapples to the US citizens- quite the novelty they were at the time. "We" (at their monetary urging) sent our boys and engineers down to Honduras to kick some butt and build railroad tracks. These tracks and transport hubs did absolutely no good for the population, nor any commercial interest other than United Fruit.
When you walk into Banana Republic, know that Honduras was the banana republic. The one, the only.
During WW2, we garnered cheap manpower to staff the merchant marine. Seen the monuments and plaques at cayman and Bay Islands for the lost seamen? As the war ended and the men stayed on, sending home their comparatively large checks to "mom", they priced themselves out of the merchant marine market. Our shipping fat cats looked to new impoverished islands where the boys came cheaply. (The northen coast of South America became a recruiting ground)
When you tell people that you're going to Honduras, they immediately say "what about the war?" You and I know that ended twenty years ago, but to distance itself, the islands rarely use the name Honduras... they went to great lengths to teach people the correct way to say it.... "Raaaah-ah-tahn" ... Well, the "English" way to say it.
The war was hundreds of miles south, over a mountain range. Once again, like United Fruit, we came in and used her and paid her and left her... again.
Then Red Lobster discovered the place. Then after overfishing they dumped her.
We have poured so much money into this country, then withheld it... it is a product of our torment. How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen MTV? And see it, they do- everyone knows where the nearest sat tv is located. There is a stream of people legally moving North and in with their Aunts in Tampa. (Little Honduras)
Much as Chicago benefited architecturaly from being burned down atthe advent of glass/steel skyscraper tech- the Bay Islands have become instantly connected by cell phones. The technology changed the place overnight, more than the paved roads and military surplus construction gear they got after the Nicuraguan war.
You can find the most interesting, fascinating, loving people on the planet. It is not hard. Many of them are your DM's (who rate pretty high on the local socio-economic scale!). But to say that there is a representative island culture- that is just no longer the case. It is an odd melange of pop-gangsta-afro-rasta wannabe... even for the Latins. If that's what passes for a "culture", I aint seeing it, other than in a stricly academic sense.
Quick, go to Utila. I give it 2 years if the present economy keeps up.
But then again, what do I know. I just sit my pasty white @ss on the barstool at my secluded AI resort and drink diet cokes. See... I am on a diet!
sidwise:
No problem Sid, maybe I just had a bad week.
Could some of the regulars tell me what the "normal" vis is in the grass area. It was always less than 3 ft all week starting around the area where the sand slope starts to give way to the grass. I am quite sure there is a lot of life in the grass area but at least the week I was there anything more then 2 or 3 ft away was not visable. At no time could you see from one bottle on the chain the the next bottle. Many times the chain was not visable at all and I had to use my compass to navigate back to the beach. I almost ran head long into the platform several times, you could not see it more than 2 ft away. The airplace was not visable from the Prince Albert and there was always a 10-20 ft thick layer of brownish water at the surface over the Albert. Is this the normal vis for CCV or did I just pick the worst week of the year?
As with any place vis will vary. Most of the time I was there late last February The vis was great. In the area you are questioning in the front yard, I would say 50 feet was probably about the average. One day while I was there the vis got bad enough that I couldn't see the DC3 from the Prince Albert, but was back to probably 100 feet or better the next day. As for schools of fish? You may not get all of the bigger varieties, but schools in the hundreds would pass so often it was like clouds in the water going by. The small stuff is still the best though. The grass coming in from the PA is where it is like a nursery for almost everything bigger seen in the deeper water. The little barracudas are a blast to watch, so much attitude!
I think you probably had an extremely bad week. Far from the norm.
Later, Hawk.
I think you probably had an extremely bad week. Far from the norm.
Later, Hawk.
Herman, It must have been a really off week a CCV. When I was there at the beginning of October (as Wilma was forming offshore), it was wonderful diving. You say that you didn't see many anemones, I was seeing so many of them that I stopped photographing them after the 2nd day, there were just too many of them. I saw at least a dozen Cyphoma's (Flamingo Tongues), many seahorses, octopus, squid, small shrimp and crabs, large shrimp and crabs and an abundance of fish, including blue tang. I thought that most of the reefs we visited were in excellent shape, and some rivaled the south pacific in their proliferation.
I didn't do any of the excursions away from CCV because I was there to dive only, so I can't comment on the rest of the island.
Sorry it was not what you expected, but give it another try when you are not getting racked by a Hurricane.
I didn't do any of the excursions away from CCV because I was there to dive only, so I can't comment on the rest of the island.
Sorry it was not what you expected, but give it another try when you are not getting racked by a Hurricane.
parrotheaddiver
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herman:
While the viz is not Cayman or Cozumel clear....when we dove the North side last week we had 80' viz...the south side had been kicked up by hurricane Wima and yes the viz was not good on a lot of dives. The front yard went from 1' to around 10' back to 1' while we were there....one day we were at the 30 degree marker and had to use compass to find the ship the next day same place we could see the whole ship.
The currents were unusally fierce as well at Mary's place the mooring was under water and couldn't be seen the currents had pulled it under. Never have seen currents in Roatan like that and it happed on several dives....the Shark dive was cancelled due to fast currents....weird weather indeed last week...
Guess I just got the week from hell.
Honestly, no time during the week could you seen the wreck from the 30 drg marker, most days you had to go about 1/2 the distance before you could begin to make it out. Arms length was the best the vis got at Front Porch. On most 15 ft safety stops you could not see the bottom at 35-40 ft and I don't recall ever being able to see the boat from the bottom on the shallow portion of the dives.
I tend to be a slow diver doing mostly macro shots with anemones being some of my favorite subjects so I am use to looking for them. Normally I would have done several dives in a spot like Front Porch just hanging around in one spot for an hour or so but with 2-3 ft vis I did not bother.
How about trumpet fish? I am use to seeing at least 4 or 5 on a given dive and 3 different colors, yellow, purple and brown. I only saw 1 or 2 on each dive and all were the brown ones.
I know my opinion can easily be written off as just an internet diver with some reason to complain. To put my observations in perspective, this was my 4th dive trip this year, the Keys, Cozumel and Curacao were the other 3...5th if you count a couple of NC offshore dives. All had more life and better vis than this particular trip. What I am trying to determine is if I really did just have a very bad week or am I expecting more than other divers. All in all, even with the hurricane it was not a bad trip, guess I am going to return and see if I find it different the second time.
Honestly, no time during the week could you seen the wreck from the 30 drg marker, most days you had to go about 1/2 the distance before you could begin to make it out. Arms length was the best the vis got at Front Porch. On most 15 ft safety stops you could not see the bottom at 35-40 ft and I don't recall ever being able to see the boat from the bottom on the shallow portion of the dives.
I tend to be a slow diver doing mostly macro shots with anemones being some of my favorite subjects so I am use to looking for them. Normally I would have done several dives in a spot like Front Porch just hanging around in one spot for an hour or so but with 2-3 ft vis I did not bother.
How about trumpet fish? I am use to seeing at least 4 or 5 on a given dive and 3 different colors, yellow, purple and brown. I only saw 1 or 2 on each dive and all were the brown ones.
I know my opinion can easily be written off as just an internet diver with some reason to complain. To put my observations in perspective, this was my 4th dive trip this year, the Keys, Cozumel and Curacao were the other 3...5th if you count a couple of NC offshore dives. All had more life and better vis than this particular trip. What I am trying to determine is if I really did just have a very bad week or am I expecting more than other divers. All in all, even with the hurricane it was not a bad trip, guess I am going to return and see if I find it different the second time.
DeputyDan
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I was there the same week as Herman.
Most of the week when you walked from the dining hall to the hammocks out front you could not see the bottom due to the water being murky. A couple of days you could see the bottom there.
Standing on the boardwalk you could look out and see where the water would turn from reddish/brown to murky to blue. Just looking out one could tell excatly where the wall started based on water clarity.
DD
Most of the week when you walked from the dining hall to the hammocks out front you could not see the bottom due to the water being murky. A couple of days you could see the bottom there.
Standing on the boardwalk you could look out and see where the water would turn from reddish/brown to murky to blue. Just looking out one could tell excatly where the wall started based on water clarity.
DD
parrotheaddiver
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kinda off subject...while we were there last week our DM looked all week for a pipefish never found one...on our last drop off dive we were at the 30 degree marker and I was
poking around some lettuce coral and found 2 together swimming in and out of the coral. I am not a photog but my friend and buddy is but he was not able to get a picture of them....it was a great find on our last dive there.
poking around some lettuce coral and found 2 together swimming in and out of the coral. I am not a photog but my friend and buddy is but he was not able to get a picture of them....it was a great find on our last dive there.
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