Roatan Jan - Feb: accessing north vs south side dives

[JossRincon]

Hello -

2 of us will be hanging out in Roatan for most of Jan. and the first week + of February. We know it's not prime season for calm waters - we live 1/2 time in Puerto Rico, so we're used to that - but our PR neighbors are gutting their interior with jackhammers and we decided to escape the LOUD . And get a few dives in, meanwhile! We're both AOW and have been to some amazing Roatan spots via a trip on the Aggressor (2023), which is part of what made us want to come and hang out for a bit.

I've been reading through the various Roatan-focused posts and am maybe just hoping for more info on specific shops/boats that are good to dive with.

Our rental is in the West Bay Area, and we'll have a car. I'd love to know about recommended dive shops on all areas of the island, as there will definitely be days it's better in one area or another, and then any recommendations about West Bay Area dive shops. West Bay Divers seems to be really popular, and we will likely do a day out of Anthony's Key Resort (if not just stay there at the end of our trip). Our rental is near a spot called "Las Rocas Resort/Dive Center" and I'd love any feedback about experiences with them, as well!

We're both more focused on coral/marine life and less concerned about deeper dives, and will prefer boat dives to shore dives in general (although we're open to hear about anything that is worth a trip.)

Given the season, who knows what the waters will be like, but fingers crossed for some good days to go out - thanks for any insights or advice!

Joss

 

[therookie]

Hi @JossRincon

With that amount of time, and having a vehicle, the island really is your oyster on this trip. Gotta say, I'm a little jealous...

You probably already came across this SB thread, but there is an excellent relatively recent write-up about various dive shops on the south side of Roatan. There are also a number of other excellent suggestions in other posts in the thread...

Doc's post on south side Roatan diving

His reference to "Dive Pangea" is appealing to me - he classified them as "worth the schlepp". From Doc, that is high praise, because it is a long schlepp, especially from West Bay. They are a LONG ways from where you are staying (like as in count on well over an hour's drive to get there from West Bay and the last part of the road is - well, let's just say it is "slow going"...) From their website they say they are "flexible" so you may be able to negotiate the departure time with them so as to not have to leave West Bay at a crazy early hour to make their normal departure time. I would love to dive in that area, just because it so relatively remote. It's one of the more "exposed" areas of Roatan though (subject to winds out of the north, east or west), but Doc did say that their location "allows them to play to weather quite effectively". You'd have to talk with them if you're interested in "schlepping" up that way.

For specific shops in West Bay:

• Bottom Time Scuba is an operation close to where you are staying - just up the road from Foster's. Small operation, single boat - there's a good review on them here on SB as well. They have HP100 tanks available (actually I think that's excusively what they use) which is appealing. I haven't dove with them personally but would like to at some point.
• Naboo Resort and Dive Center. A relatively new addition to West Bay, opened in 2021 I believe. Another fairly small operation - two small-ish boats, 12 divers (plus DMs and captain, of course) per boat, limit of six divers per DM. We like this crew - the DMs are excellent at critter spotting and they are a lot of fun to dive with.

Both of those shops can dive on the south side of the island if the weather makes diving the north/west not advisable.

For Las Rocas - we dove with them in December 2021. Single boat, they too were a really fun operation to dive with. Maybe a little more "island-like" in terms of organization than some other shops, but super skilled and fun DMs / instructors.

There are scads of other good shops on Roatan, but others here will have first-hand experience which I lack. You will definitely have time to sample a variety while you're there.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[JossRincon]

Hi @JossRincon

With that amount of time, and having a vehicle, the island really is your oyster on this trip. Gotta say, I'm a little jealous...

You probably already came across this SB thread, but there is an excellent relatively recent write-up about various dive shops on the south side of Roatan. There are also a number of other excellent suggestions in other posts in the thread...

Doc's post on south side Roatan diving

His reference to "Dive Pangea" is appealing to me - he classified them as "worth the schlepp". From Doc, that is high praise, because it is a long schlepp, especially from West Bay. They are a LONG ways from where you are staying (like as in count on well over an hour's drive to get there from West Bay and the last part of the road is - well, let's just say it is "slow going"...) From their website they say they are "flexible" so you may be able to negotiate the departure time with them so as to not have to leave West Bay at a crazy early hour to make their normal departure time. I would love to dive in that area, just because it so relatively remote. It's one of the more "exposed" areas of Roatan though (subject to winds out of the north, east or west), but Doc did say that their location "allows them to play to weather quite effectively". You'd have to talk with them if you're interested in "schlepping" up that way.

For specific shops in West Bay:

• Bottom Time Scuba is an operation close to where you are staying - just up the road from Foster's. Small operation, single boat - there's a good review on them here on SB as well. They have HP100 tanks available (actually I think that's excusively what they use) which is appealing. I haven't dove with them personally but would like to at some point.
• Naboo Resort and Dive Center. A relatively new addition to West Bay, opened in 2021 I believe. Another fairly small operation - two small-ish boats, 12 divers (plus DMs and captain, of course) per boat, limit of six divers per DM. We like this crew - the DMs are excellent at critter spotting and they are a lot of fun to dive with.

Both of those shops can dive on the south side of the island if the weather makes diving the north/west not advisable.

For Las Rocas - we dove with them in December 2021. Single boat, they too were a really fun operation to dive with. Maybe a little more "island-like" in terms of organization than some other shops, but super skilled and fun DMs / instructors.

There are scads of other good shops on Roatan, but others here will have first-hand experience which I lack. You will definitely have time to sample a variety while you're there.

Enjoy your trip!

Thank you so much for such a thoughtful reply! We're both very grateful to have the time and ability to escape the noise in PR for a bit, and to explore a beautiful island and surrounding waters.

I'll definitely check out the options you mentioned, and read through the link as well to Doc's post - it will be worth it to check out the south side a bit more, and maybe Pangea depending on the weather. To be honest, I'm also looking forward to the opportunity to snorkel on non-dive days and have gotten some great tips on spots that I'll be interested to explore.

A month seems like a good long time, but... I know it's going to go fast, and we'll be hungry to continue exploring after that. But I'll also enjoy heading back to PR for some "home" dives at our favorite spots.

Life is good. Thanks so much for the tips/links/leads and kindness!

J