Roatan must dives

[CajunDiva]

What is the diving at Sea Mount and Cayos Cochinos like ?

It's actually quite fabulous.

Our friends at Aqua Adventures have taken us there on day trips...not a Monday-Wednesday thing. We departed from West Bay beach and made the trip across. Twice we went to Cayos Cochinos and once to Coco's Sea Mount. There's not enough time to spend all day diving there, but the process is to make the trip over, dive one pinnacle near Cayos Cochinos, go to the island and visit the local tribe and have lunch, then go back out to the second pinnacle for a second dive before immediately heading back to Roatan.

Of course, these excursions are COMPLETELY weather dependent. During the one trip we did to Coco's Sea Mount, weather was brewing and we didn't have time for a relaxing lunch before heading back to Roatan. One dive...surface interval...next dive...get the heck out of dodge. Safety was first, dive gratification second, visiting the island...meh But we got back "home" safe and ahead of the storm.

Gary McLaughlin (co-owner of Aqua Adventures) is quite a boat captain/fisherman and knows the seas well. He gets us there safely and knows exactly how to read sea conditions. I would (and do, often) trust him with my life.

It's always an amazing experience and you never know what you'll spot along the way. On one trip we came across a pod of Pilot Whales...snoozing on the surface! Of course when we all jumped in to check them out, they woke up and moved along

The diving on the sea mounts is really pristine and colorful. Fish life was really nice, but for me it's all about the coral. The reef formations are absolutely beautiful. These are sea mounts that rise from the ocean floor to within 40 ft. of the surface. There's lots of life and activity...turtles, eels, sharks, etc. along with tons of cool small critters. Given the opportunity, any diver should be happy to make these dives.

That being said, I have to confess that I'm MUCH more partial to a different day trip that our friends at Aqua Adventures offer. They take us all the way out east and across to Morat Wall and Pigeon Cay. I'm all about the wall diving! This wall is so pristine and offers so much to see that I can't imagine choosing any other dive opportunity over it. It's all about perspective

Anyway, they offer these trips for $165 for the day, space available and weather dependent.
Aqua Adventures Roatan, Daily Diving, Padi Scuba Courses, Bay Islands Tours & Sport Fishing

I will try to go back through my pictures and see what I can find from our trips there...

 

[CajunDiva]

I didn't mention anything before because his trip had not yet been announced, but we will be joining Stephen Frink aboard the Roatan Aggressor from Sept. 23-30, 2017. He is the editor of DAN's Alert Diver Magazine and will be taking pictures for an upcoming issue. I have nothing but admiration for him and there's not a doubt in my mind that this will be a spectacular trip.

It's a great time to book a week on the Roatan Aggressor - only $1,995 from June thru September. I hope it will be successful in the long run, because this will give divers the opportunity to experience some dive sites that are not normally visited from land based operations. I can't wait

Stephen Frink
29 mins ·
We've just announced a live-aboard charter to the Bay Islands aboard the new Roatan Aggressor. A terrific destination, and actually some places I haven't dived before in my years of resort diving there.

Roatan Aggressor - Short Notice/Great Deal
Roatan Aggressor - Short Notice/Great Deal
US6.CAMPAIGN-ARCHIVE1.COM

 

[Damselfish]

I still think there is a place for a liveaboard in the Bay Islands if someone would/could do it right. With the various islands to potentially hit it's perfect in that way. We're in the camp that prefers to do a liveaboard in most cases, for the ease of doing 4-5 a day, in a variety of areas, and don't mind paying more than land-based to do it. In the Bay Islands it is also a fine way way to avoid the bugs - a subject close to my heart at the moment, having just returned yesterday. (And yes we've been to Cocoview, and while I like some things about it, for other reasons it's not really our cup of tea.)

We did this boat in 2014 during it's Caribbean Pearl phase. It was a nice enough trip in some ways but had it's share of issues. Our A/C was broken much of the trip despite several attempts to fix, and greywater and sewer smells frequently backed up into some of the cabins. I slept in the dining area quite a few nights. When they ran, the DMs came from their Utila resort and they weren't familiar enough with the Roatan sites, even missing Mary's place one dive. Starting from Utila was just stupid given the airport being on Roatan and getting to Utila being a pain. (Maybe they thought that that would encourage people to also stay at their resort on Utila, and fly on their plane? Was told the guy that owned the boat and resort owned the plane we flew on too. Maybe convenient/cheaper place for them to keep the boat? Maybe convenient for them otherwise? From the point of view of a potential customer, not so much.) Only booking groups and not making it available to individuals made it rather hard to get on and limited the market, making not running much a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I think not running it continuously contributed to many of their problems in various ways.

We didn't go to the seamounts which were advertised in their itinerary, and should certainly be part of the attraction of a liveaboard there. I understand this would be weather dependent and when I asked about it was told conditions weren't right, though it was pretty darn nice when we were there. Cynical side of me thinks they just didn't want to bother or burn the fuel and I wondered if they ever went. (I say this because it was never mentioned and I never got the impression they were actually trying to go. Unlike say a Cayman Aggressor trip where the crossing to Little Cayman and the possibility of making it or not seems to be always out there and discussed.)

 

[beluga2]

The seamounts are a special place. Within five minutes of my first dive, I had a nurse shark surprise me. Didn't get a good picture. You see the usual suspects everywhere and there is a good chance to see something rare.

Here are some photos from the seamounts taken Oct 2016.

 

[CajunDiva]

I still think there is a place for a liveaboard in the Bay Islands if someone would/could do it right.

I agree! And I think that the Aggressor Fleet is the best opportunity to find out. There's no doubt in my mind they will do it right. There's a reason for their great success all around the world. It's all about the business plan. If you don't have very happy divers/customers, you won't have a successful dive business. While I'm sure the issues you encountered aboard the previous boat with A/C and Sewage were VERY frustrating, I can't imagine they will put this boat into service until it is completely refurbished and ready for service.

Stephen Frink has a history with the Aggressor Fleet, and I don't think he would be willing to charter the entire boat for a week if he didn't trust they had a good product. So this is one opportunity I'm more than willing to jump in and enjoy. Just watching Mr. Frink work will be reward enough for me!

Looking at the pictures, I really like the layout of the dive deck. I think doing 4 or 5 dives a day off of this boat will be splendid Good point about the sand fleas! Guess they won't be an issue on this trip. I'm also happy that the cruise departs from French Harbor. This is our "home turf" in Roatan. French Harbor is on the way to Media Luna Resort, so we go through there every time we visit the island. The dock is in a really convenient location, and I think this will be the key to making this a successful venture. Ease of access will be greatly enhanced.

Hopefully beginning in June we'll start seeing trip reports so we'll have more details about this new itinerary. If not, you'll certainly have a detailed trip report after my September trip!

 

[CajunDiva]

avoid the bugs - a subject close to my heart at the moment

@Damselfish - have you tried Cactus Juice?

 

[Damselfish]

I agree! And I think that the Aggressor Fleet is the best opportunity to find out. There's no doubt in my mind they will do it right. There's a reason for their great success all around the world. It's all about the business plan. If you don't have very happy divers/customers, you won't have a successful dive business. While I'm sure the issues you encountered aboard the previous boat with A/C and Sewage were VERY frustrating, I can't imagine they will put this boat into service until it is completely refurbished and ready for service.

I don't have the same faith as you in Aggressor anymore. I assume being one of their franchises or whatever will drastically improve the booking/availability situation. But the other stuff seems like a crapshoot dependent on the actual operator, and they've certainly had some fails. (Do remember, there were Bay Islands Aggressors in the past, at least one of which I think we saw rotting in a Roatan harbor.) We will see.

@Damselfish - have you tried Cactus Juice?

yes, I brought some I had bought in Utila before. Not sure where we (mostly me) got bitten up actually. We were staying on Dunbar Rock, where theoretically they shouldn't be a problem. We did a beach picnic one day, half covered in cactus juice and half in wetsuit, and it was pretty windy so the theory was the bugs wouldn't be a problem anyway. But some bites are where my wetsuit was even. Sat around the airport a good while waiting to leave, but bites were before then. Maybe not enough juice on the beach, and the rest I dunno.

(And yes before someone asks, I will write a Dunbar Rock review soon.)