Mary’s Place can be done with a max depth of 85fsw if you want to go under/thru the final bridge-swim through, about a 6’x6’ transition just at the end of the standard tourist route.
You can enjoy the dive by ghosting above the bunny hopping line of divers by staying at anywhere from 45’ to 60’ instead. There is no “reason” to go beyond that 85’ final exit depth as you make your way over the middle section which offers a 115’ hard bottom.
Mary’s Place popularity is a function of its former “closed to divers” status and the nattering l.c.d. adverorials in the dive rags. It is, for the majority of visitors, a picturesque dark, narrow fissure in the reef structure....a bleak, shadowy architectural canyon. Most divers will note nothing alive to either side through the transition- largely blinded by their camera viewfinders which divers May or me not be advised as a prohibited act...but never enforced. When you are on the ‘standard route”, you will be within 150’ of an intricate overhead environment (hidden in plain sight at 45’ just to the East of the MP entry point) that most DMs do not know of, but they will (to the West at 65’, after your 85’ exit) lead you right past another, even more interesting crevice, that one they will eschew because of most diver”s air reserve. I mention all this for the week-long visitor who might have other options than the standard tour, notably from Coco View where we sometimes do a total of three dives from the mooring, but all quite different.
It is called “advanced” because it can be a rough surface, some current atop the shallow reef mooring, the bogey of the “beyond 60’ depth/death limit”, and here’s the big one: increased air consumption due to the way tours are led- forcing divers to wait and hover (or more likely scull and paddle) at 70’ waiting for the DM to cue buddy teams to enter and begin the tour. Lotta air being burned, not unusual to see divers at 2,000 psi at that very early point. Most groups do a 35-40 minute BT.
Big Stuff? That’s not really what Roatan is about. But...if you exit MP and as you slowly ascend, look into the blue. With the Cara a Cara Shark Dive just next door, guess who’s coming to dinner?
The standard MP tour is memorable, certainly more worthwhile than the similar holy grail of the Caribbean, the Belize Blue Hole. It is the single best sales tool Roatan has for dragging divers off a cruise ship for instead spending a weeklong stay.
Using a dive op that uses boat landings on West or North is a bad idea if you can access from a South side cruise ship operator like Barefoot Key (BFK). Why endure a 45+ minute thrash each way? BFK will be just fine. AKR (a West/North operation) also keeps a stable of boats adjacent to the RTB airport on the South side.
Nearby are two other very shallow placed wrecks that are quite intact. Wrecks are best seen as structures for critters, but most divers see ships, nothing more. Slow down, have a closer look. Be very amazed. The two:
Mr Bud is an 85’ shrimp boat resting in 65fsw. It is crawling with micro/macro life. The rest of the dive can get quite deep.The wall 250yds to the East is spectacular but very rarely dived, lying offshore of Little French Key (LFK).
Prince Albert is a 140’ oil tanker placed in 1984, also quite intact. It tops out in 22’ with its nose in 35’ and tail in 65’, Due to its shallow Sunlit repose, it is no longer “just” a steel hull, it is a living pulsing organic structure that looks like a ship. I can and do spend hours on her with a magnifying glass. If all you see is a ship, you’ll enjoy that for a few minutes , too.
There are other South side wrecks that do exist but as for those extant in 2019, they are not very inviting. The South side is shallow, Sunlit and macro oriented. Go with that.
Come, dive Mary’s Place, but plan a return, week-long trip. Roatan is much more that this one “log book” dive.