Made my first dives in Roatan, now wifey thinks it's caput

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swimbody

Caribbean Connoisseur
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
197
Reaction score
55
Location
Houston, Texas
# of dives
200 - 499
Hey y'all, I've been pining for a trip to my beloved Roatan but the last time we were there was 6 years ago after my wife and I hit it up over 5 times straight. We were completely smitten with RTB and made numerous trips to other locales and nothing ever measured up. Now fast forward 6 years and many other places visited and I'm wondering what has changed with the island? The wife hears that the beaches on the west side are clogged with smoky boats near the piers and that there is a steady stream of non-stop harassment by local folks selling their wares, no doubt a symptom of cruise ship infestation.

Is it anything like she is hearing? Has the cruise ship industry poisoned my hippie island of Roatan? Is it worth it to look into an Aggressor trip or perhaps luxe it up at AKR for a week? Coco View? Any other suggestions? Anyone take Tropic Air from Belize City to RTB? I fly Southwest so could make it to BZE for free and then take the puddle jumper.

Tanks! Swimbody
 
I heard they paved main street in the West End.

afaik AKR is still offering the BOGO - we're using it for the SB 2020 Invasion.
 
I will miss the muddy potholed sand trail that once was. I love the BOGO deal going on. We visited AKR one year with our son just to check it out and said we'd do it one of these years...well here we are.
 
Don't go June 13-20 2020 unless you want to dive with a lot of SB members. Or join the Invasion...

I won't miss getting dusted over sitting at one of the bars when some fool goes by too fast on a quad.
 
The road is paved. This makes me sad and the expats and locals glad.
A friend sent me photos of the amazing transformation of Sundowners, now a 2 story!

The last time I went, I'd intended to go straight from Belize but it was actually a better deal for me (because of points) to fly back to do an overnight in Houston and then fly into Roatan the next day. Time drag though, sigh.

Other than that, I haven't been for awhile and also pine from time to time. My hope is that you return and tell us all about it :wink:
 
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It hasn't changed that much in the last 6 years, less than many places but change is inevitable and the cruise ship crowds are not to my taste.
want real, old world caribbean? Utila is only an hour on the ferry from Roatan or 10 mins by plane. Go to Treasure Beach on Utila' south shore. An empty beach, calm water with a reef starting only 15' from shore, great diving with Utila Cays Diving and NO CRUISE SHIPS. Here are some pictures of Treasure Beach and the 2 rental homes.
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We did Utila about 5 years ago. It had a great vibe and an incredible wonderfully developed reef system but no fish. We all know why that is the case... I've checked off the boxes for whale sharks as a got to swim with over a 100 of them on a trip to Isla Mujeres. If Utila would just practice something like what the CCA does in the states we'd be devotees
 
Stayed at Turquoise Bay and dove with Subway, would do again. No issues like you described. If we caught a deal on airfare, we would go in a heartbeat!!

Safe travels,
Jay
 
Having lived on Utila on and off for the last 12 years, the larger fish stocks can seem to come and go literally from month to month but large schools of pelagic fish are indeed few and far between near the reef but are plentiful around the off shore sea mounts. That said we see dolphins virtually every week and have been in the water with pilot whales, whale sharks and mantas in the last few weeks, so all is not lost !
 
We go once or twice a year. Wife and kids are heading down in a couple of weeks for the month of July. I'll head down for the end of the trip. Yes they've paved, yes Sundowners is now two stories, and yes there have been numerous other changes, but nothing too major. You still get the few kids and female masseurs/ hair braiders walking the beach, but if you see 5 in a day that's a lot! Maybe on cruise day it's more prevalent.

The diving is still excellent. The food is pretty much the same, as are the shops. Our family really likes the West End neighbourhood!
 

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