Planning first trip to Roatan

[Biotech Diver]

This was my first trip to Roatan. The diving was excellent! Doc was right that the visibility was not amazing. There was one dive where we had over 100 feet of visibility but all the other dives were between 50-70 visibility. Water temperature was 79F. I only wore a 1 mm Bare top and shorts the first dive and got pretty cold so I went to the Mares dive shop in Westin and bought a 3/2 shorty that I wore over the Bare and that worked pretty well.

My favorite dive site was “Hole in the Wall”. The marine life is about the same as South Florida but SF has more of the big stuff. The corals and underwater formations are amazing but there was some bleaching on some of the Brain Corals. There is also a lot of fire corals so keep that in mind when you are diving. Saw very few jellyfish and the sargassum was light. Saw Hawksbill Turtles on every dive and also lots of lobsters. Saw some barracuda, Bonita, Tuna, Groupers, a Scorpion Fish (poisonous rock fish), Seahorses, and schools of Yellow Tail Snapper. We also did the shark dive out of Turquoise Bay. It was a great experience but it was basically a cattle boat with most of the divers not being very experienced. Coming up the line at the end of the dive and getting back up the ladder was a complete cluster F#%*.

Every single local I met or dealt with were super nice, friendly, and helpful. I can’t say enough good things about the locals. I have to say they are among the nicest people I’ve met anywhere. I never felt like I was being hustled or worried about my safety, although some locals did warn me to to walk alone at night in some places between West Bay and Westin.
The water taxis were generally about $3 a head to or from West Bay/Westin. Some wanted $5 and others wanted $10, but I just went to the next one or paid the $5 out of convenience.

Everybody here uses WhatsApp so that a must have when you get here. I saved the numbers of some taxi drivers and boat taxis and just let them know when I was ready to be picked up.

My favorite restaurant had to be Happy Harry’s. The food was great and the service was even better! I highly recommend them!

Lastly, I went with Blue Planet for all my dives and couldn’t have been more happy with them. Tom is a really good guy and he’s very accommodating to diving where you want to go. He has a beautiful female Czech German Shepherd named Pepper, so anyone that has a German Shepherd is A Okay in my book, but of course I’m a biased GSD owner. His Dive Master Andrea was also awesome! She has eagle eyes and quickly spots the most camouflaged creatures and points them out for the others. The boat captain and dive crew were equally outstanding.

I had a great time and will be back again in a year or two.

 

[Doc]

This was my first trip to Roatan.
...

Thank you for the return favor...a trip report!

Before you left, in your questions, you were seeking availability of 100cuft tanks. What did you find out about this fairly often asked question?

 

[Biotech Diver]

Thank you for the return favor...a trip report!

Before you left, in your questions, you were seeking availability of 100cuft tanks. What did you find out about this fairly often asked question?

I dove with aluminum 80s and 32% NITOX the whole time and did just fine with my bottom time , even on some of the deeper dives. One thing people should know is that if you have a DIN regulator, you should bring your own adapter because the whole island seems to use the YOKE style and the tanks don’t have that center hex nut you can take out to convert the tank to DIN.

 

[Doc]

Not the whole island, but what could it hurt?

 

[Jimchris]

CocoView seemed to have plenty of din convertible valves when I visted in 2019. Got to meet and have a nice chat with @Doc that trip too.

 

[Biotech Diver]

Not the whole island, but what could it hurt?

Yeah, I would recommend people bring their own if they are not 100% sure the outfit they will be diving with either has one for them or has the tanks that can be converted. I wouldn’t want to get to Roatan with a DIN regulator only to find out at the last minute you can’t use it because either the dive operator doesn’t have one for you or because the dive shop is all out.

 

[Biotech Diver]

I should have mentioned that the Mares Dive Shop in Westin had surprisingly good prices on the items I looked at. Some of the prices were actually lower than what Leisure Pro or the local dive shops here in South Florida sell these items for.

 

[KatieMac]

It was a great experience but it was basically a cattle boat with most of the divers not being very experienced. Coming up the line at the end of the dive and getting back up the ladder was a complete cluster F#%*.

Too bad. There are some awesome dive shops there and I don't think I've been on a boat with more than 8 divers (including me and the DM)

Sometimes, going with the most popular shop doesn't do you any favors.

The water taxis were generally about $3 a head to or from West Bay/Westin. Some wanted $5 and others wanted $10, but I just went to the next one or paid the $5 out of convenience.

Not really a hustle. They all do that. You can usually just tell them you will pay the going rate ($3) and they will agree. But it's been a tough year for many there. It was nice that you paid $5/ride.

couldn’t have been more happy with them.

Hmm, I can't square these two - cattle boat cluster F#%* and "couldn't have been more happy"

 

[Biotech Diver]

Too bad. There are some awesome dive shops there and I don't think I've been on a boat with more than 8 divers (including me and the DM)

Sometimes, going with the most popular shop doesn't do you any favors.



Not really a hustle. They all do that. You can usually just tell them you will pay the going rate ($3) and they will agree. But it's been a tough year for many there. It was nice that you paid $5/ride.



Hmm, I can't square these two - cattle boat cluster F#%* and "couldn't have been more happy"

Let me clarify...The shark dive was not with the same dive shop I did all my other dives with. From what I know, the outfit I did the shark dive with out of Turquoise Bay is the only one that does it so all the other shops book it through them. Blue Planet was awesome. Hope this clarification squares it for you.

Another clarification for you...when I used the term “hustle” I was not referring to the water taxi prices, I was referring to dealing with local businesses, vendors, people in general, etc. Hope you understand better now. I guess I assumed folks already knew that the shark dives are scheduled through one outfit and that each dive shop is not doing their own.

 

[Doc]

Let me clarify...The shark dive was not with the same dive shop I did all my other dives with. From what I know, the outfit I did the shark dive with out of Turquoise Bay is the only one that does it so all the other shops book it through them..

“Cara a Cara” is the Roatan Shark Dive.

As with most any canned, pay-per-gawk dive, it attracts divers who are of every level.

If you embrace that fact, operating this dive in a way that might cause some to hang the titles of “cattle boat”, as ill-defined as that may be... running it as a cattle boat is likely the single most appropriate way to do this.

The DMs have any number of divers who:

- have difficulty in organizing their pre-dive routine
- entering the water upon command
- can not safely execute a negative entry or
- require exaggerated time on surface before descent
- require additional time equalizing
- have buoyancy issues at bottom during the show
- inability to space out on the ascent line
- difficulty in re-entry of ladder
- challenge throughout by mild current often found at dive site

All this is complicated by heavy air consumption likely due to the above, plus the Sharky-Sharks excitement.

Then, the DMs have to control the Go-Pro Pros. Stop flailing, don’t leave your assigned position...hey...what are you doing?

There are several ways to access the Shark Dive. TBR is but one. They are essentially all the same.

The differences between the various charters become apparent when you see the specific competence levels of divers that they attract or service. Some simply will not bring “walk-ins”, such as cruise ship divers or divers they have not hosted on previous dives. TBR requires only that you show up.

The original guys who did this were referred to as “the Italians”. They put 10 divers in a small, open boat, at the dock you were instructed to “get yourself together”, and off you went. At the mooring, “get in, go down”. Ascend on the mooring line at 1000psi minimum, or earlier. Get yourself into the boat with the assist of the Captain.

That methodology works well if all have adequate skills. Since that is no longer the case, since the dive now attracts (and accepts) divers with paper c-cards, the world has to slow down to accommodate.

it has become, as with any similar tour dive, similar to Mary’s Place, into one of those “ok, kids, hold the string” outings.

This is not to defend or attack any dive op, nor diver, it’s just the way things have to be.

Many visiting divers ask for (want) an “extra special experience” over and above the norm.

This “good stuff” is really only offered by knowledgeable DMs who have evaluated your abilities over multiple trips, over some years. Then they know (hope, believe) they can handle our ineptitude in difficult situations.

On Roatan, right next to your well known dive spots, there are hidden environments that include crazy-tight squeezes, prolonged overhead environments, stuff you simply are not even told about. Many DMs have never themselves seen them, they’re so busy leading tourist dives.

Whether it is their reluctance to taking you near delicate shallow coral gardens or not knowing that you by-god will hold onto that line in current, they avoid complications. Normal.

The Roatan Shark Dive, just as any Shark dive, worldwide, is best handled as a cattle boat.


All that being said...I’ve been along on maybe 20+ Shark Rodeos. The Roatan model is among the best experiences, to a great degree due to the serendipity & confluence of a number of factors, not the least of which is the local reef structure.

It is well worth the experience. But, the first time you have a chance, in “the wild” encounter, you will quickly relegate this to a been-there-done-that got-the-t-shirt experience.