Looking for a great Roatan dive shop – West End/West Bay - 5 ppl/1 week

[Sally Fletcher]

West End Divers (www.westenddivers.info) has taken great care of us every time we have visited. They always dive in small groups (no more than 6 I believe) and have a couple of boats, so its never crowded. They have a great crew of instructors who will take care of your mother in law. They have been pretty flexible with us in the past, arranging dive sites where our whole family (also with a variety of skill levels) can dive safely together. We contacted them via email (westenddivers@gmail.com) prior to our visit, and they helped us out a lot, even before we arrived. Enjoy!

 

[jlevine]

Las Rocas (Roatan - Las Rocas Resort & Dive Center, Bay Islands of Honduras) could help you. They have 2-3 boats and can arrange for extra DMs if needed.

I have a concern, though, about the location. Distance-wise, you may think that you could walk between West End and West Bay. Practically, it may be somewhat challenging depending on what time of the year you go. The path along the beach isn't always easy. There are some rocky outcroppings along the way that can be slippery and difficult to cross. Also, when I was there in April, the metal bridge that crosses over one of the residences was on its last leg. I don't know if it has been replaced. Some of the steps were literally gone and I had to climb on the side railings to make it over. Yes, you may see the locals doing that trip but if someone in your team is elderly, please, please be careful. The dive shop may be willing to pick you up at the dock but make sure you check this beforehand and confirm it.

 

[Jason McAnear]

Living here in West End.... KNOWING all of these Dive Shops and how they operate.... you won't go wrong with any of the recommendations. HOWEVER.... for the best experience, absolutely you have to go with Reef Gliders. smaller boat, smaller group, more "Family" atmosphere than pretty much all of the others.

Look me up when you get here...

JMac

 

[Doc]

...Look me up when you get here...

JMac

Grab the DeLorean, you're gonna need a time machine set for March 2012.

While you're there, check out his mother-in-law. Maybe take her for a ride in the DeLorean, too.

Happy to give a March 2012 Trip Report. I think Coconut Tree was a good rec, but I ended up diving with 2 other ops due to specific circumstance of our trip, including our location, where it was extremely useful to have an shop that could pick us up at our rental house in a small boat.

I'm a Roatan noob, so I don't know the frequency of WE/WB shops not going out, but I was told it was fairly unusual, expecially for that time of year, and I didn't have easy access to the operations on the South side (although some West Bay and West End shops were running vans). We were told it was too rough to dive on Sunday (the day the Reef Gliders boat sank) and could see white caps on the reef. We didn't try on Mon -- took a tour of the island instead amid the intermittent pouring rain. We did run into a group from Henry Morgan at the south side Gio's who said it was glassy and good viz where they dove on that side. On Tuesday, though, we got up and started working the phones trying to find someone going out and found basically no one accessible to us. Subway said they were but they were full and Barefoot I believe said they were but couldn't accommodate us on short notice.

So finally on Weds. I got out for 2 dives with Native Sons in the a.m. and then went out with Tyll's for the late dive Weds and all of Thurs and Fri. I highly commend DM Jenny and Captain Samuel (as well as Kelvin, who was doing OW instruction with my mother in law) at Tyll's. Smaller op and probably not right for everyone, but they were brilliant with us.

Personally I don't agree that dive boats sink all the time, at least not with divers aboard. It's something I've never heard of happening in all my dive experience in U.S., Mexico, Thailand, Australia, Southeastern Europe, BVI, USVI, Tobago etc. A boat "wearing out" is one thing. Grab your stuff and swim to shore is another. Anyway it was an interesting dive experience.