Oct Roatan trip

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kradatzke

Registered
Messages
22
Reaction score
2
Location
Vancouver
# of dives
100 - 199
I am looking at going to Roatan in late Oct for a one week dive trip. After seeing a package on the Padi travel site staying at the Paradise Beach Hotel I am looking at making it a dive trip for the fall. I have a few questions I'm hoping a few people may be able to comment on.

Roatan Oct …… good time to dive/ go?

Paradise Beach Hotel- it looks pretty good from the web site & reviews etc. I'm not looking for a Hilton experience just a nice / clean place on the beach with a few different eating places within walking distance

Cayuco Divers looks like the onsite dive op, it is the one offered through the Padi travel package. I do prefer smaller dive shops with smaller boats/ groups , 8-10 divers seems to be a nice number. Any comments / opinions on Cayuco? I also see Blue Planet Divers is well reviewed about and appears they maybe ran out of the Paradise beach Hotel previous

Lastly Any comments on booking through Padi travel , price seems very good for the package with Cayuco Reef Divers but I don't want to get there and have problems or reservation issues , has anybody booked through Padi travel? is it better to book direct with Hotel / Dive shop?

Kelly
 
October is often rainier than other months. Not that you can really tell as it rained pretty often. Not enough to impact any of our dives.

IDK the hotel but it's on West Bay Beach which is probably the nicest one there. Probably wade out to the boat(often pangas) to go diving. Some really good dives are off the point near there - Texas and Bucho's Bank among them.Plus from there shops are more likely to go around to the south to dive Mary's Place - a signature Roatan dive.It's also fairly close to the shark feed (also on the south side near the airport) if you want to do that - Cayuco can set that up. Or the dolphin dive at Anthony's Key - probably about 20mins drive east.

You'll be able to walk along the beach to restaurants/bars etc. Gumbalimba Park nearby has a zipline if that's of interest. I think Argentinean Grille has a 2nd location in West Bay now - good steaks

More of the nightlife tends to be in the West End which is about 5 mins. by cab or water taxi. The water taxi will pick you up off the beach/nearby dock but thay don't run after dark. You can always find a cab in the West End till very late where the main road enters the area.

I know nothing about Cayuco. Unless there's a dock nearby - unlikely in West Bay - most of the boats tend to be smaller panga styles with side boarding ladders.
 
Anthonys in late Sept....any must see's?
 
Weather? Rain....September is iffy, October is yucky, November is ugly. (In terms of historical rain volume, from bad to worst, Sept to Nov)

But...the Bay Islands offer your best shot at passable weather compared to the entirety of the Caribbean. It is a good gamble.

AKR has the deep infrastructure to bus you to their own South side boat landings, where these effect of these passing Tropical Storms will be mitigated. Tiny West End Day Dive Ops, no.


Anthonys in late Sept....any must see's?

As far as dive sites?

They’re going to sort you out by abilities and take you to the dive sites they trust your skills to handle. It is mostly an issue of depth as many dive sites West/North present 110’ bottoms, certainly the remnants of the placed wrecks. AKR can also do a few longer jaunts that offer (kind of) overhead-ish environments. Neither of these two types of dive sites will be offered on day 1 or 2.

So, if you’re inquiring about “must see dive sites”, that would be each and every dive that is offered. You can’t see anything at the bar or in a beach lounge chair.

At AKR, you’re in one of three still existing real-deal dive resorts on the island. Make every boat departure, do the night dives, those are the must see’s of Roatan.
 
But...the Bay Islands offer your best shot at passable weather compared to the entirety of the Caribbean. It is a good gamble.
As for the entirety of the Caribbean, at that time of year, I think the "most passable" is going to be Bonaire and Curacao. Both are below the hurricane belt.

@kradatzke - If you have this window of time available and are looking for a dive vacation, let us know exactly what the entire PADI package entails (in terms of cost for what is included). We may be able to offer some alternatives. As for booking through PADI travel, I would not have any qualms or concerns with them specifically, -- but you may be able to do better and give yourself some additional options if you give us a little more info.
 
October can be nice but more likely you will have rain, and maybe alot of rain.

I tend to minimize washouts and only go in dry seasons. Vacation time and money are too variable to me to take the risk.

YMMV
 
I have spent many rainy seasons (october-december) in the bay islands and unless you're lucky late October will be very wet, if you're unlucky it can be downright monsoon like (ie. hour upon hour, day after day of continuous heavy rain).
 
Thank you all for the comments, I may have to rethink things. I'm on the same page as YMMV ..... vacation time & money to valuable , may have to either plan for a bit later or somewhere else.

Thanks again
 

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