Tjack
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Roatan Dive Notes, May 3-15 2008
South side diving
Just back from 12 days of excellent diving on Roatan, thought Id share some observations and recommendations. First of all the diving. Dove 6 days on the South Shore out of Fantasy Island Beach Resort. The South side has spectacular wall diving reminiscent of Little Cayman for its topography. Visibility ranged from 80-100 feet. Valley of the Kings was my favorite with a big dog snapper hanging around the mooring and spectacular wall with 100+ vis. Tons of overhangs and swim throughs, as well as chimneys and other interesting contours are found along the south side. This is some serious wall diving, yee haa. We only did one real drift dive where the boat followed the divers. The Prince albert wreck which is a shore dive from both FIBR and Cocoview resort is a fun Night dive. Hunting Jacks and Tarpon were there to meet us at the FIBR Gazebo at the end of the dive. I did not encounter the Hammerhead which was spotted twice along the south side while I was there. By the end of the week the South East trade winds were coming up so the diving was done close to the resort.
Fantasy Island Beach resort
Fantasy Islands dive op was quite good with decent old boats and good Crews. Darrin our DM for the week on the Little Kem was excellent, finding us at least 4 sea horses. Good safety protocols, well run. They do 3 Boat Dives a day, out and back, as well as unlimited shore dives with a small out board to drop you on the wreck. The Resort itself is ok with spacious well maintained grounds. The staff varied from very helpful to somewhat lethargic. The food was good but by the end of a week I think most people were thoroughly sick of it. IMHO a week at any one place is too long and I will not do another all inclusive any time soon. FIBR was $900 after taxes for 7 nights, 6 days unlimited diving and food, not that great a deal in my opinion. Cocoview did have a live band Friday night and their boats seemed to run more frequently, they dive the same excellent area so that might be a great option for people who like all inclusive and want to dive their buts off. Overall I liked FIBR but a week was too long, 4 days might be perfect?
West End diving
My next stop was West End, Roatan for something completely different. The diving on the west end was a good change from the south side. Here they have 2 large wrecks, the 300 Odyssey and the 200 Aguila. They were both planted for artificial reefs and have yet to gather a lot of growth. I like wrecks so these were both a blast with some interesting penetration options. Also the Aguila is adjacent to a nice sloping reef with huge resident Black Groupers. The Reef here is highly varied. to the west we dove Butchers Bank sloping patchy reef with Turtle and Southern Stingrays. As one goes along the north shore there is more big wall diving but the coral is slightly less abundant as compared to the South Shore and visibility was not as good while I was there. One of my favorite dives of the trip was Melissas reef West End,which has a sloping wall with tons of little notch canyons leading into it. These form a coral labyrinth which is amazing to explore. I had a Saddled Blenny do a dance for me on a small coral head at the end of the dive.
Pura Vida dive shop
At West End I was diving with Pura Vida which is a fine outfit. Friendly international dive staff. They have a big boat as well as skiff diving. 3 dives daily out and back. Helen the manager was very helpful in getting me on the shark dive my last day with short notice. My original intention was to dive with Coconut Tree but their boat was fully booked. They told me check back in the morning, twice, but I didnt like the vibe I was getting from their rather scruffy looking office manager. Pura Vida on the other hand were very friendly and accommodating. The only advantage I could see diving with Coconut Tree was that they do two tank boat dives in the mornings.
My final dive of the trip was the Shark dive out of Las Palmas on the south side. I find shark feeds to be a little off putting but this one is excellent, and swimming with the sharks is a thrill. Truly magnificent creatures, not to be missed. All the shops on the island will arrange this for you but prices vary. $75 if you pay cash without ground transportation was the best price I found through Pura Vida.
West End topside
West end is a very different experience from an all inclusive and much more to my taste
There is a regular bar circuit, my favorite being the Purple Turtle with an interesting melange of Euro backpackers. The North American expats tend to frequent Sundowners which was less friendly. Fubar has Nitrous balloons when they are open. Also Bare Feet at the far end of town has live island music Sundays. Fosters is akin to a disco and might be a great place for dancing with their massive speakers, but was quite slow when I was there.
The large verity of restaurants was a treat. The Thai place was excellent as well as the Rotisserie chicken, but my favorite was Bare Feet at the far end of town which has traditional island cuisine. The fried Chicken and Coconut fish were superb. For lunches the Lighthouse and Cannibal Cafe both had reasonable prices and good food.
Half Moon Bay Cabins was recommended to me and ended up being a great deal at $38 a night with AC, low season special, if you bargain a bit. It is at the quiet end of town on the water with excellent snorkeling right off the dock. From what people were telling me they were paying at Isis and other in town places this was a way better deal. The highlight of Half Moon Bay Cabins is if you follow an overgrown path out to the point there is a truly tranquil spot to watch the sun set.
Overall the diving off Roatan was surprisingly good compared to my two previous trips to Utila. I really like the backpacker pirate vibe on Utila, but for the diving Roatan is more varied and reefs seem more healthy. Utila is a lot less expensive, especially when it comes to lodgings, but Roatan can be done for less money than most other Caribbean destinations. Honduras is a little edgy and that's the way I like it, Viva Honduras.
South side diving
Just back from 12 days of excellent diving on Roatan, thought Id share some observations and recommendations. First of all the diving. Dove 6 days on the South Shore out of Fantasy Island Beach Resort. The South side has spectacular wall diving reminiscent of Little Cayman for its topography. Visibility ranged from 80-100 feet. Valley of the Kings was my favorite with a big dog snapper hanging around the mooring and spectacular wall with 100+ vis. Tons of overhangs and swim throughs, as well as chimneys and other interesting contours are found along the south side. This is some serious wall diving, yee haa. We only did one real drift dive where the boat followed the divers. The Prince albert wreck which is a shore dive from both FIBR and Cocoview resort is a fun Night dive. Hunting Jacks and Tarpon were there to meet us at the FIBR Gazebo at the end of the dive. I did not encounter the Hammerhead which was spotted twice along the south side while I was there. By the end of the week the South East trade winds were coming up so the diving was done close to the resort.
Fantasy Island Beach resort
Fantasy Islands dive op was quite good with decent old boats and good Crews. Darrin our DM for the week on the Little Kem was excellent, finding us at least 4 sea horses. Good safety protocols, well run. They do 3 Boat Dives a day, out and back, as well as unlimited shore dives with a small out board to drop you on the wreck. The Resort itself is ok with spacious well maintained grounds. The staff varied from very helpful to somewhat lethargic. The food was good but by the end of a week I think most people were thoroughly sick of it. IMHO a week at any one place is too long and I will not do another all inclusive any time soon. FIBR was $900 after taxes for 7 nights, 6 days unlimited diving and food, not that great a deal in my opinion. Cocoview did have a live band Friday night and their boats seemed to run more frequently, they dive the same excellent area so that might be a great option for people who like all inclusive and want to dive their buts off. Overall I liked FIBR but a week was too long, 4 days might be perfect?
West End diving
My next stop was West End, Roatan for something completely different. The diving on the west end was a good change from the south side. Here they have 2 large wrecks, the 300 Odyssey and the 200 Aguila. They were both planted for artificial reefs and have yet to gather a lot of growth. I like wrecks so these were both a blast with some interesting penetration options. Also the Aguila is adjacent to a nice sloping reef with huge resident Black Groupers. The Reef here is highly varied. to the west we dove Butchers Bank sloping patchy reef with Turtle and Southern Stingrays. As one goes along the north shore there is more big wall diving but the coral is slightly less abundant as compared to the South Shore and visibility was not as good while I was there. One of my favorite dives of the trip was Melissas reef West End,which has a sloping wall with tons of little notch canyons leading into it. These form a coral labyrinth which is amazing to explore. I had a Saddled Blenny do a dance for me on a small coral head at the end of the dive.
Pura Vida dive shop
At West End I was diving with Pura Vida which is a fine outfit. Friendly international dive staff. They have a big boat as well as skiff diving. 3 dives daily out and back. Helen the manager was very helpful in getting me on the shark dive my last day with short notice. My original intention was to dive with Coconut Tree but their boat was fully booked. They told me check back in the morning, twice, but I didnt like the vibe I was getting from their rather scruffy looking office manager. Pura Vida on the other hand were very friendly and accommodating. The only advantage I could see diving with Coconut Tree was that they do two tank boat dives in the mornings.
My final dive of the trip was the Shark dive out of Las Palmas on the south side. I find shark feeds to be a little off putting but this one is excellent, and swimming with the sharks is a thrill. Truly magnificent creatures, not to be missed. All the shops on the island will arrange this for you but prices vary. $75 if you pay cash without ground transportation was the best price I found through Pura Vida.
West End topside
West end is a very different experience from an all inclusive and much more to my taste
There is a regular bar circuit, my favorite being the Purple Turtle with an interesting melange of Euro backpackers. The North American expats tend to frequent Sundowners which was less friendly. Fubar has Nitrous balloons when they are open. Also Bare Feet at the far end of town has live island music Sundays. Fosters is akin to a disco and might be a great place for dancing with their massive speakers, but was quite slow when I was there.
The large verity of restaurants was a treat. The Thai place was excellent as well as the Rotisserie chicken, but my favorite was Bare Feet at the far end of town which has traditional island cuisine. The fried Chicken and Coconut fish were superb. For lunches the Lighthouse and Cannibal Cafe both had reasonable prices and good food.
Half Moon Bay Cabins was recommended to me and ended up being a great deal at $38 a night with AC, low season special, if you bargain a bit. It is at the quiet end of town on the water with excellent snorkeling right off the dock. From what people were telling me they were paying at Isis and other in town places this was a way better deal. The highlight of Half Moon Bay Cabins is if you follow an overgrown path out to the point there is a truly tranquil spot to watch the sun set.
Overall the diving off Roatan was surprisingly good compared to my two previous trips to Utila. I really like the backpacker pirate vibe on Utila, but for the diving Roatan is more varied and reefs seem more healthy. Utila is a lot less expensive, especially when it comes to lodgings, but Roatan can be done for less money than most other Caribbean destinations. Honduras is a little edgy and that's the way I like it, Viva Honduras.
