Roatan experts

[Doc]

Here's a doodle I did- pretty close to reality....

 

[John_B]

Isn't that the former NatGeo plane? He goes to CCV, AKR, and elsewhere on Roatan, he's not restricted to customers from the north side of the island.

Edit: The YouTube video on his homepage at the 0:35 mark is actually him taking off from CCV. :cool2:

Personally, I'm most interested in diving Cayos Cochinos but I'll try any warm-water dive site once.

 

[KLSanford]

Wow, thanks for the map!

 

[KLSanford]

Thanks for all the interesting info about Roatan. Definitely no fretting here - we are just excited to see a new place. I am very curious to see how different it is compared to other Caribbean diving as somebody mentioned. We are used to cold water diving up here in the Pacific NW where sometimes you can barely see your hand in front of your face, and other times the viz is quite nice. It's all good! (Especially in a warm, tropical location!)
Thanks again.

 

[DandyDon]

Something with Deet in it. Deep Woods Off worked well for me. And I'm a bug magnet. Don't forget to reapply it late afternoon, that's when they're the worst. And something was under the table at dinner those nights we had a tablecloth. Got pretty bit up the one night I forgot. We were there the 1st week of May 2008.  

I've had DEET work there, and I've had it fail. Maybe I had a bad can? Since then tho, I've learned that DEET kills coral, and it doesn't take much so I won't wear it before diving. One of the local ladies on Utila said she prefer baby oil, and it seemed to work for her.

We were in Utila end of March for Whaleshark research and the only days we saw them it was rougher, deeper water. One of the researchers thought it might've been because it moves the plankton up near the surface. The Whaleshark season on Utila is Feb-May. The peak times within that timeframe are mid-March-end of April.

Given that it's a couple hours each way plus you'd arrive late morning when it's already hotter, (Whalesharks stay deep when it gets too warm) it could be a nice all day boat ride with seeing a whaleshark as a bonus. Most days we had a spotter boat out looking for them in addition to our boat and we only found them two mornings out of a week of looking. The Utila operators give the location over the VHF when they spot one, I don't know if Subway would be party to those conversations. Sometimes they also give misleading directions as some of the trips are just day tourists and tip better when put on a shark.

And you can't dive with them, it's snorkel only. Just so you're not disappointed, when you jump they almost always turn away from you and go deep. So it's a 10-15 sec. encounter typically. And a lot of time sitting on the boat waiting for one to re-surface.
Upside would be if you did see one, you'll remember it forever. We saw 6, 5 12-18' juveniles and one larger female - it was like swimming next to a bus. It's something I'll definitely do again but probably in Belize.

I wonder if your experiences were because they were juvies? I've swam with several east of Holbox and none of them seemed to mind, none dived, it was hot in August, but they were pretty big ones. How big, I'm not sure. Some clips of me trying to keep up with them...
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[diversteve]

I've had DEET work there, and I've had it fail. Maybe I had a bad can? Since then tho, I've learned that DEET kills coral, and it doesn't take much so I won't wear it before diving. One of the local ladies on Utila said she prefer baby oil, and it seemed to work for her.

Nowhere did I mention putting it on before diving. I've read Cactus Juice works also.

I wonder if your experiences were because they were juvies?

Maybe, all I know is every time we dropped (quietly) in front of them, they would almost immediately turn away or dive deep once we were seen. The longest encounter we had was one where one turned around the boat and came back for a second pass. One of the researchers mentioned that there was a predominance of juvenile males often spotted in the area.

 

[DandyDon]

Ok, TY. I used to put on DEET before leaving the room in the morning until I read about how it kills coral.

I guess the Dominoes are just different west of Cancun. They had a record turn out this year I heard. Utila is a fun place to visit with great scuba, but going there in hopes of swimming with the Dominoes simply pales in comparison with easier & cheaper travel and guaranteed encounters at the north end of the Yucatan - in different peak months. Some Utila dive ops really promote the Whale Shark encounters and they do indeed get some, but the experiences seem to be far less.

As far as crossing from Roatan to Utila in a small boat to look for them, I did try that once. It was completely wrong time of year, but I didn't know that and the Op didn't care - nor did he care about his boat, i.e. no fire extinguishers, no PFDs for a channel crossing, bad transmission. We didn't get far before the trip was aborted so it was my eventual good fortune that I got in some dives back at the resort.

The only way I will travel to Utila now is flying from Roatan. Adventures are fun, but I like to get to the destination and enjoy it and would suggest that for any Utila visit.

 

[nomoresnow88]

I did my DM and Instructor training with Subway Watersports who runs the dive shop at Turquoise Bay. Dolphin's Den is a wonderful dive site that has a sad history. It is a shallow cavern system that got its name because it was rumoured to have been a site where Dolphin skeletons were found, either because they went there to die or because they lost their way in the caverns. Unfortunately 2 years ago Subway divers confirmed this rumour when they found 12 Dolphins inside the caverns. Sadly they had all died. There are a few bones and skulls left in the cavern from this tragic event.

For those of you who know Tim Blanton he has made an incredible film about this event.

Beyond this sad history it is a beautiful dive site both inside and out of the caverns.

My suggestion is to forego the Whale Shark tour and go on the 3-tank safari to the East End sites. There are a minimum # of divers, or minimum cost, required for these special trips but Patrick at Subway will be able to help you out.

 

[Bay Island Diver]

I regularly see wild dolphins all over the island, south and north shore.

Here is some video we took last week in the lagoon between West End and West Bay. Jose Silva was the cameraman, he teaches at Coconut Tree Divers.
YouTube - Dolphins off West End, Roatan

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=165899025434&saved#/video/video.php?v=165899025434