Mary’s Place, what is hidden

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Doc

Was RoatanMan
Scuba Instructor
Messages
10,954
Reaction score
4,120
Location
Chicago & O'Hare heading thru TSA 5x per year
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Mary’s Place has a lot of unknowns- both in history and geography. It is subject of a lot of dive magazine (MUST DIVE!) hype, it has an add-on cost from most dive-ops.

In an era (1990’s?) when the locals (pre-RMP) were beginning to realize that their biggest resource (dive travel) was being quickly degraded, they decided to shut down MP to any diving access. Their reaction, which I believe was ill-conceived and knee-jerk, completely ignoring the largest factor in reef loss- silt and runoff from the commercial harbor just behind MP. But ‘the ban’ was put in place, lasting maybe 4 or 5 years?

I first dove MP in 1984, and looking at those images, yes- a lot had changed. During the ‘shut down’ period, I dove MP many times assisting in surveys with its assigned caretaker, Doc Radawski. In that period, anecdotally, I really noticed no regrowth. I do not know what the official record offered, but we looked and counted stuff in those 1 meter square roped-off locations. Only man’s hubris allows him to think in hours or years, not millennia.

The resultant scientific study and survey aside, money talks.

Due to commercial dive-op pressures, a plan was concocted to allow access. The requirements included a buoyancy check, a video presentation, all sorts of well intentioned stuff- including a posted schedule of dive boats to limit volume of divers. This went to absolute $#*T very fast.

This rule was unenforceable when dealing with Cruise Ship divers, most every other low-end shoestring day dive op ignored the rules, even dumping their own new moorings Willy-Nilly. Even today, it is not uncommon to have 6-pac boats live-drop divers over a scheduled group’s heads.

The majority of Roatan’s divers stay and play with West End day-dive ops. A ticket punch dive at the South side’s Mary’s Place allows them to say, “Sure, I’ve dove the South side!”. That is a real stretch, but the log book rules.

A quick note on the geography. The Bay Islands get hit by fairly substantial earthquakes quite often. There is a frequent epicenter about 65 miles to the NNE. Divers note the loud cracks on occasion, sometimes large sheets of vertical walls sheave off- most notably on the South side where the unique shallow straight-up vertical walls have built over eons. In about 2009- at Anka’s Place. It is now un-noticeable, but for a while it was a bleak white expanse. This caused a hue and cry on social media, even posts in ‘chapbooks’ announcing the end of diving on Roatan. Everybody relax.

These earthquakes are how Mary’s Place got its deep cavernous slits. It started out as one solid big coral head, then a good earthquake began making it a fun structure for fish and Fred Flintstone…. A long time ago! Nature has her way.


Most divers fly through MP way too fast. If your face is hitting my flips, it is not because I am going too slowly. Slow down, bring a flashlight, not a camera. (Cameras are still technically banned). There are many creatures in there that are seen nowhere else. A good DM will show you, but they’re too busy herding cats. Because of the dive plan, a minimum of 2 DMs should be leading. Inarguably, a marginal dive-op, otherwise.

After having visited MP maybe 20x, I did some exploring of the immediate area. Now at 100+ visits, I doodled out this alternative dive brief map.

Unless you have done MP a lot, unless you have it together- do not stray off the standard led dive. If you do, always advise your DM. Most DMs do not know of these other paths. The notation shown for Mary’s Crack… is an overhead environment by any definition.

Having an Advanced Card is irrelevant. This is big kid stuff. You better know the standard Mary’s Place path perfectly, first.

8376C161-A23A-49A5-BC9C-A3189861ADB6.jpeg


I tell my DM of my dive plan,
and then drop down to the wall @45fsw, heading North
slip through Mary’s Crack
return to Mary’s Place entry
enjoy it alone w/ my buddy
Hey! make that 90 degree hard left!
under the arch, exit @55fsw
go right, SSW along wall
turn NNE into Mary’s Slot, stay shallow
exit to blue water on left
watch depth, ascend
follow wall, ascend to top & mooring

Know your SAC rate, watch your gas, your profile and ascent rate, do not dive beyond your abilities.
 
I really like this area.
About four years ago a DM took a couple of us through the crossover and went through Mary's Crack in reverse and met the group at the entrance. The rest of the group was a little confused as to how and when we passed them.
As you mentioned divers go through MP too fast and miss things. When that happens, I usually sneak over to Mary's Crack, with DM's knowledge, while everyone's lurking around the mooring anchor at the end.
 
Very cool, Doc! thanks for posting. I'll check it out if we end up over there next week. Where's the calvin's map mentioned above?
 
Very cool, Doc! thanks for posting. I'll check it out if we end up over there next week. Where's the calvin's map mentioned above?
9F90F90B-D7BE-4EAC-BA9A-C0B8773262F0.jpeg
 
oh, but can I be part of the gang if i've never been? Lol. I might do it someday but my one stay at an "all exclusive" turned me off big time. I know CCV is different but...
 

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