This seems to be the problem with other threads on Roatan, the diving there seems to be very political....at least on this board.
You all have provided some good incites but are also apparently emotionally or professionally tied to various resorts or outfits.
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I really don't think you'll hear from anyone that responds about Roatan that has any financial connection that isn't announced in their signature line or in their avaitar thingie. Emotional? You bet.. and for a lot of reasons.
First and foremost: Dive ops on Roatan are some of the single most hospitable, friendly and welcoming. You rarely ever hear anything short of adjectives such as "friendly, family feeling, the nicest", etc. The state of the economic development of the island puts many DM's at the top of the food chain in the working class. Why not have a nice day? They are! These are really cooperative, interesting people. They do, at the same time, suffer from a Honduran malady- they will tell you always what you want to hear as an answer to any question, whether trite or deeply probing. It is the way.
I would guess that the impressions that you get about posts of these Bay Islands comes from pure ignorance upon the part of the posters- rife on every board, but magnified when it comes to Roatan for several reasons. But first, a parable:
Seven blind men were lead to an Elephant, and they were then challenged to describe the beast. The fist says (as he was touching the tail) "It is that of a rope!". The second man was touching the trunk and says, "It is like a snake!", the third was touching the leg and thought, "It is the trunk of a tree!" and so on...
Seven blind men have gone to Roatan and they are posting madly on the internet. No-one understands if they have had a bad experience if this is the only experience that they have ever had! Note the posts from people on their first dive trip to Jamaica or Grand Bahama and are absolutely sure that it's the best place ever! Think about it.
No one, after sepending money and time at a dive resort on vacation cares to think that they may possibly have had less than a stellar experience. Combine with that the varying expectations that travellers have about their trips. I myself want one thing, diving. Other people may want varying degrees and quantities of diving combined with other activities... but few will admit to wanting to drink all night. Presenting oneself as a "diver" first is very important for many people. I have no problem with folks who want less than 4x a day plus 1 night dive, but those who I dive with, I call divers. My standards. The others? They call themselves what they want, I enjoy yacking with them after my night dives!
It is an unfortunate thing that one can't instantly see by the stripes on a poster's arm
what their base and breadth of experience is as they are relating their perceptions of a resort. (remember the blind guys above?)
If you read a poster's report, look at their prior posts and determine this knowledge base- that's your only way to know who or what you're dealing with.
All in all, you're going to find more accurate, less biased, and better qualified info here on Scuba Board than any other source. The internet usenet newsgroup called rec.scuba.locations is excellent, but not all that well attended. An internet search using Google Groups, utilizing search words of : rec.scuba roatan will get you a wealth of information.
Many folks think that Undercurrent and the Chapbook, or another large internet source ScubaDiving dot com is the cats meow for dive destination information. I do not.
You've got the right website, ScubaBoard, just understand that almost everyone is in love with the last resort that they spent a week. It's universal- nothing more sinister than that.
