Thinking of Roatan for newish divers

[tarponchik]

On our last trip there were at least a couple of times when we got to the site, found two boats parked and another one waiting, and went somewhere else.

I.e. even if they tell you where they're going, it doesn't mean you'll get to dive there when you get there.

Well, at least they tried.

 

[tarponchik]

BTW, had anyone dived with Roatan Yacht Club and Dive Center? Last year we were diving with Blue Island Divers. We liked them except for one thing: they do not dive on Sundays, and we do not want to skip one whole day of diving.

 

[coweyman]

Roatan is a great place for diving. I have dove with bananarama, mayan princess/divers fantasy island, and Clearwater. All great outfits to dive with

 

[Carlymegsmom]

Given you have visited Curacao and enjoyed it, I would consider Bonaire for a trip. The shore diving is so easy, and you can see a lot without going below 60'. We try and go for 2 weeks each year, our 6th trip is coming up in late October. We have been to Roatan once, and made the mistake of going at the end of October which was the start of rainy season. Lost two days of diving to rough seas/storms. The days we dove were very nice. We are planning another trip there this spring to give it another chance. LOL Just this week I requested availability at CocoView and they were already booked for late April.

 

[Bali1]

My daughters learned diving at Cocoview though they were certified already. After a few years they got Advanced Open Water with Dockside and I then took them to Indonesia. I never had to worry about them at all. (well diving-wise anyways). I think Roatan and especially CCR is a terrific place to dive a lot and gain experience.

 

[darkdelta]

I've been to Roatan 3 times, stayed twice at CocoView and most recently at Mayan Princess. The only thing I can compare it to is diving in Florida, (West Palm Beach and Jupiter).

Roatan was warmer. I dove there wearing shorts and a rashguard, (October and April). That was okay for August in Jupiter but I needed a 3mm wetsuit when I dove WPB in February.

Current in general in Roatan was significantly less, I did a few "drift" dives, but most were moored drops. Visibility was in general good, (except for right after a hurricane), and there are plenty of walls to swim along with lots to see above 60 feet.

CCV has often been referred to as "dive camp". If you're diving, it's great - if you're interested in anything else, not so much. For me it was perfect, minimum of four dives a day, sometimes more. They have morning and afternoon boats, each drops you on a site, then you stay on boat for surface interval, and they drop you again and you swim in following a wall. You can shoredive any time, walk out and there's a wreck in their "front yard".

Mayan Princess was more suited for me traveling with my non-diving wife. All-inclusive resort, multiple dining options, alcohol, entertainment, and a lovely front beach to suntan on.

There are lots of postings in this forum about resorts/operations I haven't been to and can't speak to, Anthony's Key comes to mind immediately.

You might want to look into nitrox certification, it works well for extended dives at medium depths.

Thinking about Roatan, and Mayan Divers. Just a few of questions:

1. How many boats do they have? How many divers do they place one one boat?
2. How long were the boat rides?
3. Did you stay at the Mayan Princess resort?
4. Would you go back there

 

[Allen-1]

Thinking about Roatan, and Mayan Divers. Just a few of questions:

1. How many boats do they have? How many divers do they place one one boat?
2. How long were the boat rides?
3. Did you stay at the Mayan Princess resort?
4. Would you go back there

I went to Mayan Princess as a member of a group from a dive shop. The people on the boat I was on were all from that group, and most if not all of the people on the other boat were from our group. I do not know if they were running other boats.

Given that as context - I saw two boats, the one I was on had around 10 people on it to my recollection.
Boat rides were fairly short.
Yes, we stayed at the resort.
And yes, I would go back; considering it for 2026.

We dove local sites, with the exception of Tuesday when we took a shuttle over to the other side of the island due to weather.

 

[darkdelta]

I went to Mayan Princess as a member of a group from a dive shop. The people on the boat I was on were all from that group, and most if not all of the people on the other boat were from our group. I do not know if they were running other boats.

Given that as context - I saw two boats, the one I was on had around 10 people on it to my recollection.
Boat rides were fairly short.
Yes, we stayed at the resort.
And yes, I would go back; considering it for 2026.

We dove local sites, with the exception of Tuesday when we took a shuttle over to the other side of the island due to weather.


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Many thanks for all the valuable info.