Reidster
Contributor
Roatan Trip Report: April 2-9, 2011
Dolphin dive, zipline, shark dive and so much more!!!!
We made our first trip to Roatan, Honduras and it proved to be our best dive vacation to date-probably our best vacation EVER! We flew from Detroit to Atlanta, Atlanta to Roatan, where we stayed at Anthony's Key Resort. We stayed on the "Key" in a Superior bungalo with AC. No TV, no phone. It had more than enough room and my wife Carlenda and I shared a porch with Todd and Mary, who we travel and dive with once a year. It was perfect! The view from the porch offered spectacular sunsets each and every night. The weather was perfect all week - sunny and mid to upper 80s every day. It did get windy a few days, preventing the boats from heading to one of the dive sites on the southwest part of the island.
Water Conditions. Temperature ranged from 79 - 82 degrees - depending on whose computer you looked at. Most dive sites the visibility ranged 80-100 ft- a couple a little less.
Our dive master Hector gave us a thorough description of the dive/dive site prior to our dive and were told the dives would be 40-45 minutes, but on most dives we exceeded those times. Jimmy was our captain and was very helpful, friendly and had a great sense of humor!!! The name of our boat was the Andrea.
We dove Nitrox and unfortunately the compressor went down the last 2 days of the trip, but we were credited appropriately. Overall, I made 19 dives during the week. Each dive was different and had its own unique characteristics. I've listed the highlights of each dive below.
Day 1: April 3. (3 dives)
#1. Melissa's Reef. 67 ft/47 minutes.
Some huge snapper, a few lionfish, huge crab and lobster.
#2. Overheat Reef. 48 ft./26 minutes.
A short dive as my tank had a leak at the base of the neck - down to 1500 PSI after only a few minutes.
Missed the nurse shark and orange moray eel the others saw.
#3. White Hole Reef. 54 ft./55 minutes.
Pretty dive. A lot of grouper at the mooring line. One turtle on this dive.
Day 2: April 4. (3 dives)
#1. Wayne's Place. 76 ft./51 minutes.
Again, a lot of grouper. Dove to an area of "mountains" of coral. Reminded me somewhat of diving in Cozumel.
#2. Harvey Fantasy Reef. 56 ft./52 minutes. Drift Dive.
6 turtles on this dive - love to see the gracefulness of the turtles. One swam with us for a long time. Some barracuda and a large school (20-30) of horse-eye jacks.
We did our surface interval at Maya Key, another little island owned by Anthony's Key Resort. Had a nice lunch poolside then a walk around to see the various rescued animals-
jaguar, ocelot, monkeys, and birds on the island. We spent a little over two hours there.
#3. Mandy's Eel Garden. 74 ft./51 minutes.
Swim through at the beginning of the dive to a sandy area with dozens of garden eels poking out of the sand. Toward the end of the dive we saw permit and flounder as well as dozens of squid (I counted over 60!) near the surface in about 13 feet of water.
Day 3: April 5. (4 dives)
#1. Aguila Wreck /Deep Eel Garden Reef. 107 ft. / 38 minutes.
Very cool to see the shape of the ship as we descended. Started at the bow - peered inside, one short little swim through then to the stern. The mid section has been broken down due to a hurricane. Following a pass by the stern over to the reef. Several grouper and a couple of lionfish and a very large barracuda.
#2. Peter's Place Reef. 76 ft./ 49 minutes.
Cool swim through at the beginning of the dive - came out to the wall and saw my firstever Spotted Eagle Ray off in the deep water.
#3. Front Porch Reef - "Dolphin Dive". 52 ft./53 minutes.
Spent 10-15 minutes learning about and interacting with a dolphin and trainer prior to the dive. We then took a short boat ride out to the reef where 2 of the dolphins -"Paya" and "Richie"- followed us. They swam in and around us for a good portion of the dive - very playful. A spotted eagle ray also cruised by during the dive. AWESOME!
#4. Green Out House Reef. 55 ft./45 minutes. Night Dive.
Dropped my camera on descent, but thankfully it went straight down. Several lobster
moving out and about, 3 lionfish and one octopus moving from one piece of coral to
another - put on a nice little show for us.
Day 4: April 6. (4 dives)
#1. Butcher's Bank Reef. 95 ft./50 minutes. Drift Dive.
Planned to go to Mary's Place on the south side of the island, but when we got to the point, it was too rough. Lobster and crab sitting together and a few feet away 3 lionfish. Then a turtle cruised by swimming into the current.
#2. Dive Master's Choice. 59 ft./ 50 minutes. Drift Dive.
MY 100th DIVE!!!!!!!! 2 turtles - one munching a way on the coral while a queen angelfish was gathering up the scraps. My dive buddy Todd had an issue with his BC inflator hose, we each orally inflated our BC as we reached the surface and waited for the boat to pick us up.
#3. Bear's Den Reef. 69 ft. / 50 minutes.
Cool dive! Long swim through at the beginning of the dive out to a wall. As we came out, 2 southern stingrays cruised by (I only saw one of them. . .). On the way back to the boat, we went through another swim though and Todd (6'5" & 240), behind me, made a wrong turn and got "stuck" for several seconds in a narrow crevice. I watched him back his way out. He remained very calm throughout the moment, but admitted that his heart rate went up a bit!!! I wondered how the hell did he miss the turn!!!
#4. Front Porch Reef. 47 ft./ 50 minutes. Shore Dive.
So glad I found someone to do a shore dive with as no one from my group wanted to go. Chris and Tim from St. Louis and I enjoyed this dive a lot. Found a small juvenile drum fish in a small crevice and some lobster and a couple of lionfish. Also, a turtle, large midnight parrotfish and what we think, a small scorpionfish (?) that seemed to "walk" along the bottom. Nice dive.
Day 5: April 7. (3 dives)
#1. Odyssey Wreck /Chaz Place Reef. 90 ft./35 minutes. Drift dive.
Again so cool to see the image of the huge wreck come into view. From the stern to the bow and over to the reef. Very fishy reef.
#2. Canyon Reef. 65 ft./ 55 minutes.
Cool swim through at the beginning of the dive down to 50 feet. Some barracuda. Two more swim throughs on the way back to the boat. Very fishy on top of the reef.
Spent the afternoon doing the Zipline Tour through the canopy of the rain forest. Lots of fun doing this and amazed as to how fast you get going!!! Nice little van ride to get a glimpse of another part of the island.
#3. Front Porch Reef. 49 ft./53 minutes. Shore Dive.
Another juvenile drum fish, an arrow crab, turtle, midnight parrotfish and maybe the biggest grouper of the trip! A few lionfish as well.
Day 6. April 8. (2 dives)
#1. Cara A Cara Reef. SHARK DIVE!!!! 73 ft. / 36 minutes.
AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! 6-8 foot swells made the 50 minute boat ride seem even longer, but was well worth it. Followed the mooring line down through a pretty strong current. Kneeled at the wall until everyone got down the we were given the ok to swim about as about 12 - 15 caribbean reef sharks swam among us for several minutes!!! So cool!! Then we went back to the wall while Dive Master Sergio prepared the chum bucket. After the bucket was opened, the feeding frenzy began and only lasted a few seconds-but it was crazy! Shortly after, the sharks left the area we made our way back up the line to our boat. Fantastic experience!!!
#2. Pillar Coral / Overheat Reef. 54 ft. / 52 minutes. Drift Dive. Last dive . . . bummer!!
The visibility was probably the lowest of any dive all week. Still a pretty dive. 3 turtles on this dive and a nice sized porcupine fish.
Accomodations: Superior Bungalow on the key with AC, huge porch with hammocks, no TV or phone. Gorgeous sunsets!!!
Food: Very good. Breakfast-fresh fruit always available and could order hot breakfast if you had time. Lunches, as well as dinners, usually offered a soup, salad and choice of two entrees - usually a fish and a type of meat.
Dive Operation: Ran very smoothly and you really didn't feel overcrowded even though a good portion of the resort was full. They staggered dive trips to prevent this.
Other activities: The pool was nice sized with a bar. My wife, Carlenda, and Mary went horseback riding one afternoon and also did some kayaking as well. The fiesta on the Key Wednesday night was a lot of fun with fire dancers, limbo contests and crab races.
We met some terrific people on our boat: Tim and Chris from St. Louis, Will and Beth from Phoenix, Dave and Donna from Pennsylvania, Dave from Kentucky and a couple from another boat, Don and Meg and their family from Seattle. We had a GREAT time talking and laughing with everyone and made our trip much more memorable. It was VERY difficult to leave on Saturday and make the trek home to Michigan. We'll definitely be back!!!
Dolphin dive, zipline, shark dive and so much more!!!!
We made our first trip to Roatan, Honduras and it proved to be our best dive vacation to date-probably our best vacation EVER! We flew from Detroit to Atlanta, Atlanta to Roatan, where we stayed at Anthony's Key Resort. We stayed on the "Key" in a Superior bungalo with AC. No TV, no phone. It had more than enough room and my wife Carlenda and I shared a porch with Todd and Mary, who we travel and dive with once a year. It was perfect! The view from the porch offered spectacular sunsets each and every night. The weather was perfect all week - sunny and mid to upper 80s every day. It did get windy a few days, preventing the boats from heading to one of the dive sites on the southwest part of the island.
Water Conditions. Temperature ranged from 79 - 82 degrees - depending on whose computer you looked at. Most dive sites the visibility ranged 80-100 ft- a couple a little less.
Our dive master Hector gave us a thorough description of the dive/dive site prior to our dive and were told the dives would be 40-45 minutes, but on most dives we exceeded those times. Jimmy was our captain and was very helpful, friendly and had a great sense of humor!!! The name of our boat was the Andrea.
We dove Nitrox and unfortunately the compressor went down the last 2 days of the trip, but we were credited appropriately. Overall, I made 19 dives during the week. Each dive was different and had its own unique characteristics. I've listed the highlights of each dive below.
Day 1: April 3. (3 dives)
#1. Melissa's Reef. 67 ft/47 minutes.
Some huge snapper, a few lionfish, huge crab and lobster.
#2. Overheat Reef. 48 ft./26 minutes.
A short dive as my tank had a leak at the base of the neck - down to 1500 PSI after only a few minutes.
Missed the nurse shark and orange moray eel the others saw.
#3. White Hole Reef. 54 ft./55 minutes.
Pretty dive. A lot of grouper at the mooring line. One turtle on this dive.
Day 2: April 4. (3 dives)
#1. Wayne's Place. 76 ft./51 minutes.
Again, a lot of grouper. Dove to an area of "mountains" of coral. Reminded me somewhat of diving in Cozumel.
#2. Harvey Fantasy Reef. 56 ft./52 minutes. Drift Dive.
6 turtles on this dive - love to see the gracefulness of the turtles. One swam with us for a long time. Some barracuda and a large school (20-30) of horse-eye jacks.
We did our surface interval at Maya Key, another little island owned by Anthony's Key Resort. Had a nice lunch poolside then a walk around to see the various rescued animals-
jaguar, ocelot, monkeys, and birds on the island. We spent a little over two hours there.
#3. Mandy's Eel Garden. 74 ft./51 minutes.
Swim through at the beginning of the dive to a sandy area with dozens of garden eels poking out of the sand. Toward the end of the dive we saw permit and flounder as well as dozens of squid (I counted over 60!) near the surface in about 13 feet of water.
Day 3: April 5. (4 dives)
#1. Aguila Wreck /Deep Eel Garden Reef. 107 ft. / 38 minutes.
Very cool to see the shape of the ship as we descended. Started at the bow - peered inside, one short little swim through then to the stern. The mid section has been broken down due to a hurricane. Following a pass by the stern over to the reef. Several grouper and a couple of lionfish and a very large barracuda.
#2. Peter's Place Reef. 76 ft./ 49 minutes.
Cool swim through at the beginning of the dive - came out to the wall and saw my firstever Spotted Eagle Ray off in the deep water.
#3. Front Porch Reef - "Dolphin Dive". 52 ft./53 minutes.
Spent 10-15 minutes learning about and interacting with a dolphin and trainer prior to the dive. We then took a short boat ride out to the reef where 2 of the dolphins -"Paya" and "Richie"- followed us. They swam in and around us for a good portion of the dive - very playful. A spotted eagle ray also cruised by during the dive. AWESOME!
#4. Green Out House Reef. 55 ft./45 minutes. Night Dive.
Dropped my camera on descent, but thankfully it went straight down. Several lobster
moving out and about, 3 lionfish and one octopus moving from one piece of coral to
another - put on a nice little show for us.
Day 4: April 6. (4 dives)
#1. Butcher's Bank Reef. 95 ft./50 minutes. Drift Dive.
Planned to go to Mary's Place on the south side of the island, but when we got to the point, it was too rough. Lobster and crab sitting together and a few feet away 3 lionfish. Then a turtle cruised by swimming into the current.
#2. Dive Master's Choice. 59 ft./ 50 minutes. Drift Dive.
MY 100th DIVE!!!!!!!! 2 turtles - one munching a way on the coral while a queen angelfish was gathering up the scraps. My dive buddy Todd had an issue with his BC inflator hose, we each orally inflated our BC as we reached the surface and waited for the boat to pick us up.
#3. Bear's Den Reef. 69 ft. / 50 minutes.
Cool dive! Long swim through at the beginning of the dive out to a wall. As we came out, 2 southern stingrays cruised by (I only saw one of them. . .). On the way back to the boat, we went through another swim though and Todd (6'5" & 240), behind me, made a wrong turn and got "stuck" for several seconds in a narrow crevice. I watched him back his way out. He remained very calm throughout the moment, but admitted that his heart rate went up a bit!!! I wondered how the hell did he miss the turn!!!
#4. Front Porch Reef. 47 ft./ 50 minutes. Shore Dive.
So glad I found someone to do a shore dive with as no one from my group wanted to go. Chris and Tim from St. Louis and I enjoyed this dive a lot. Found a small juvenile drum fish in a small crevice and some lobster and a couple of lionfish. Also, a turtle, large midnight parrotfish and what we think, a small scorpionfish (?) that seemed to "walk" along the bottom. Nice dive.
Day 5: April 7. (3 dives)
#1. Odyssey Wreck /Chaz Place Reef. 90 ft./35 minutes. Drift dive.
Again so cool to see the image of the huge wreck come into view. From the stern to the bow and over to the reef. Very fishy reef.
#2. Canyon Reef. 65 ft./ 55 minutes.
Cool swim through at the beginning of the dive down to 50 feet. Some barracuda. Two more swim throughs on the way back to the boat. Very fishy on top of the reef.
Spent the afternoon doing the Zipline Tour through the canopy of the rain forest. Lots of fun doing this and amazed as to how fast you get going!!! Nice little van ride to get a glimpse of another part of the island.
#3. Front Porch Reef. 49 ft./53 minutes. Shore Dive.
Another juvenile drum fish, an arrow crab, turtle, midnight parrotfish and maybe the biggest grouper of the trip! A few lionfish as well.
Day 6. April 8. (2 dives)
#1. Cara A Cara Reef. SHARK DIVE!!!! 73 ft. / 36 minutes.
AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! 6-8 foot swells made the 50 minute boat ride seem even longer, but was well worth it. Followed the mooring line down through a pretty strong current. Kneeled at the wall until everyone got down the we were given the ok to swim about as about 12 - 15 caribbean reef sharks swam among us for several minutes!!! So cool!! Then we went back to the wall while Dive Master Sergio prepared the chum bucket. After the bucket was opened, the feeding frenzy began and only lasted a few seconds-but it was crazy! Shortly after, the sharks left the area we made our way back up the line to our boat. Fantastic experience!!!
#2. Pillar Coral / Overheat Reef. 54 ft. / 52 minutes. Drift Dive. Last dive . . . bummer!!
The visibility was probably the lowest of any dive all week. Still a pretty dive. 3 turtles on this dive and a nice sized porcupine fish.
Accomodations: Superior Bungalow on the key with AC, huge porch with hammocks, no TV or phone. Gorgeous sunsets!!!
Food: Very good. Breakfast-fresh fruit always available and could order hot breakfast if you had time. Lunches, as well as dinners, usually offered a soup, salad and choice of two entrees - usually a fish and a type of meat.
Dive Operation: Ran very smoothly and you really didn't feel overcrowded even though a good portion of the resort was full. They staggered dive trips to prevent this.
Other activities: The pool was nice sized with a bar. My wife, Carlenda, and Mary went horseback riding one afternoon and also did some kayaking as well. The fiesta on the Key Wednesday night was a lot of fun with fire dancers, limbo contests and crab races.
We met some terrific people on our boat: Tim and Chris from St. Louis, Will and Beth from Phoenix, Dave and Donna from Pennsylvania, Dave from Kentucky and a couple from another boat, Don and Meg and their family from Seattle. We had a GREAT time talking and laughing with everyone and made our trip much more memorable. It was VERY difficult to leave on Saturday and make the trek home to Michigan. We'll definitely be back!!!
