Rainy Season Roatan ?

[robint]

thank you robint, really enjoyed reading your trip report, looks awesome
we're booked at Mayan Princess for the week of november 12, can hardly wait, maybe we get lucky and have good weather

oh, I thought you were going to CCV.
FYI - I don't know where Mayan Princess is located, north or southside. We did see boats from the dive ops on the northside of the island diving over on the southside several days. We were told that the seas were too rough up there, much calmer on southside (where CCV is located).

 

[Chaseh]

What's disappointing during the rainy season isn't the actual drops that may come and go, but the persistently bad viz and lower light while diving. It's overall dark and murky that time of year. Although this is based on what I've seen that time of year on the South side and the West End. Been diving in Roatan 5 times and only once during rainy season. That was enough.

 

[t4e]

oh, I thought you were going to CCV.
FYI - I don't know where Mayan Princess is located, north or southside. We did see boats from the dive ops on the northside of the island diving over on the southside several days. We were told that the seas were too rough up there, much calmer on southside (where CCV is located).

its on the west end

What's disappointing during the rainy season isn't the actual drops that may come and go, but the persistently bad viz and lower light while diving. It's overall dark and murky that time of year. Although this is based on what I've seen that time of year on the South side and the West End. Been diving in Roatan 5 times and only once during rainy season. That was enough.

hmm dark and murky you say?...so that's going to feel like diving in Ontario minus the cold water lol

 

[robint]

As I said before.... dark and murky day 1. Day 2 was better. Day 3-6 were decent. Yes, when it was raining it was dark and murky, but honestly that is true anywhere you are diving.
In between rain showers though, the seas would turn to glass....

 

[RTBDiver]

. Yes, when it was raining it was dark and murky, but honestly that is true anywhere you are diving.

True BUT, Lest be real, The chances of this bad vis and murkey water is much higher when visiting in the rainy season. Sure, it is weather and anything CN happen bt the odds are much more in favore or rain and poor vise in the rainy season so lets not sugar coat it

 

[robint]

okay... well back here at home, when I dive in 60 degree or colder water, and it is gloomy and murky and dark... I have zero fish to look at. At least Roatan diving, when dark and murky, there is something swimming around besides other divers!


so here is the video I shot the 1st day on our trip, Nov 2008
[video]https://vimeo.com/album/55251/video/2766966[/video]

It was raining hard all day and had been for over 24 hours. This was the worst DAY of the trip. From here it got better, considerably better.

my husband Ron's underwater photos as proof:
http://www.rnrscuba.net/CCV_Roatan_2008/CCV_photos_videos.html




robin

 

[Doc]

...my husband Ron's underwater photos as proof:
CoCoView Resort Photos & Videos

That points up one big truth of murky viz... the cool little stuff is always there.

Visibility is a holy grail for divers who have not yet figured out what Ron's pictures accurately portray.

 

[t4e]

ooh well, murky or not murky i agree with robint, at least there's pretty stuff to see
as long as is not murky that i can't see my own fins, like in one of the quarries here, i'm ok with it lol

will report back once we return from the trip

 

[robint]

And quite honestly, I had some of my best ever sealife encounters at Roatan last trip.
We had a school of 2 dozen squid meet us under the boat at the end of a dive. Everyone else had gotten back on the boat but me, Ron, and one other photographer. The 3 of us played with the squid, who obviously didn't want us to get back on the boat yet! When we got back on the boat, we asked the other divers if they saw the school of squid under the boat.... "what squid?" LOL

Then on the dropoff dives on 2 different days, Ron and I found seahorses on the walls. One day CCV wall, one day the Newman's wall. The majority of other divers were just swimming on by us, towards the resort, not stopping to even look for anything. The next dropoff everyone from our boat followed me and Ron, so we could point things out to them. Sure enough, we pointed out the seahorse on CCV wall to them all. It was so funny to realize that some people can't find fishlife unless a DM is pointing it out to them.

There on the shore dive, near the safety stop buoy, we always saw squid or something else cool, every dive. There were also garden eels to watch. One again, divers swimming over to do safety stop, practically running into the squid without "seeing" them. LOL

I wish ALL divers would slow down, and hover in front of a coral head, and then count how many different fish they see. I do this all the time.... find a small coral head, and plant myself for 15 minutes. The fish get used to you being there, and they come out, sometimes come right up to your mask to check YOU out. I have had my best fish encounters doing this. Some fish are shy, but most are okay with you if you MOVE SLOWLY or stay STILL. (I learned this by being a videographer. I have so many fish come right up to the camera lens to look at their reflection!)

This is one reason DMs either love us or hate us. Ron and I like to take our time on dives. On DM led dives, I am always at the end, because I can find things on my own and also like to watch fish when I find something cool. I am not in a race. Our DM at CCV last trip saw it the first day, and loved it. In fact, we helped him find stuff at times for the rest of group. He would watch me and Ron, see one of us signal the other, then come over to see what we found. Once we took our photos, then the DM would call over the rest of group.

In Cozumel, with drift diving, I am not popular with the DMs. LOL I just can't stay with the group all the time. Some get used to it, some don't. So it is great when Ron and I can do lots of shore diving, when we don't have a DM babysitter watching us. WE can do our own thing, have 60-90 minute dives just hovering around a couple of coral heads if we want.

robin