Reidster
Contributor
Here's a link to a video I took of an octopus:
057.MOV - YouTube
If anyone could explain how to load pictures into a post, I'd appreciate it! I always run into problems whenever I try!
Roatan Trip Report: March 31 - April7, 2012
After having such a great time last year at AnthonysKey Resort in Roatan, Honduras, my wife Carlenda and I decided to make a returnvisit with our friends, Todd and Mary, who we travel and dive with once a year. We flew from Detroit to Atlanta, and Atlantato Roatan, arriving on Saturday afternoon. We requested the same bungalows we stayed in last year and upon arrivalwere pleased to find that our wish was granted. We stayed on the "Key" in a Superior bungalow with AC. No TV, No Phone - Perfect!!! We shared a porch with Todd and Mary. The porch offered spectacular sunsets eachand every night as our bungalow sits on the west side of the Key. The weather was perfect all week - mid toupper 80s all week. No rain, but it didget a little breezy a few of the days we were there.
Water Conditions. My computer read 79 - 81 degrees, my wife's slightly higher 82 - 84degrees, depending on the dive site and depth. We have the same computer so not sure why the difference. In any case, it was quite comfortable. Visibility was 60 - 80 feet on most divesites - some a little higher, some maybe a little less. We did many drift dives as there was someconsiderable current on most of the sights - not Cozumel current, but enough tonotice if you were to swim into it for any considerable time.
Our Dive Master, Calderon, gave us a thoroughdescription of the dive site before each dive and would constantly count diversduring the dive. He pointed out manythings during the dives and is overall just a real nice guy. We requested Jimmy and his boat the Andrea, aswe enjoyed his sense of humor last year. He did not let us down on this trip! He had us laughing so much, yet when it came down to safety, it was hisnumber one priority.
We dove Nitrox for the week. I made 20 dives during the week and my wifemade 13. It was our first time divingsince Cozumel last summer when my wife experienced some panic and could notdive at all. She spent a few sessions inthe pool over the last few months working on skills to build her confidenceback up and I'm proud to say that she did Great!!! We also got her a housing for her Canon pointand shoot camera and she found taking pictures to be a lot of fun.
The AKR dive shop is a well-run operation. The daily schedule is like this: 1stdive-8:00/8:30 depending on the site, 2nd dive: 10:00/10:30 and 3rd dive:2:15. After each dive, the boat returnsto the dock. Night Dives are offered onTuesday and Thursday nights at about 6:00. Shore diving is available off of thenorth side of the Key from 3:00-9:00. There also is a Channel dive in the lagoon where boats pass through ontheir way to the docks. A description of the highlights of the dives/sites follows:
Day 1: April 1. (3 dives)
#1.Green Out House Wall. 72 feet/46 minutes.
Not avery fishy dive, but glad to be back in the water
! Supposed to have been anout and back dive, but ended being a drift dive as therewas some considerable current.
#2.CanyonReef. 61 feet/52 minutes. Beautiful dive. 2 Turtles. Spotted Moray eel. One of the largest spotteddrum fish I've seen. Only one lionfish.
#3.Gibson Bight (Drift Dive). 55 feet/52 minutes.
Onevery large crab under a ledge and another one out along the wall. Very "fishy" at the end of the dive. One large grouper which looked like to have abig dark spot along the side of its head.
Day 2: April 2. (4 dives)
#1.Odyssey Wreck. 103 feet/30 minutes.
Verycool to see the shipwreck to appear as you descend. Went through a walkway toaround the stern to find a turtlemunching away. Enjoyable dive, but tooshort!
#2.Mary's Place. 115 feet/32 minutes.
Along boat ride, but well worth it. Dropped to along the wall then went up through a crevice then turned left and up throughanother crevice only to be greeted by a free swimming green moray eel! Took videogoing through the crevice and got a couple decent shots of the eel.
Followingthis dive we went to Maya Key, where they have a pool, some Mayan ruins and a sanctuary for animals that have beeninjured or abandoned. AKR, who operatesMaya Key had lunch for usthere.
#3.Pablo's Place. 67 feet/50 minutes.
Alittle more fishier on this dive than the others. Lots of huge pillar coral stands and many barrel sponges. One large turtle onthis dive and unfortunately, many lionfish too.
Idropped my weight from 8 pounds down to 6 pounds.
#4.AKR Channel Dive. 32 feet/48 minutes.
Afuselage of an airplane was sunk. Wewere told that the visibility on this dive might only be a few feet, but today it was about 30-40feet so I hooked up with a family from Wisconsin (no one in mygroup wanted to do it!). It was wellworth it. Several arrow crabs andlobster along with a golden tail eel on this dive. Many little lionfish on this dive. Normally they offer this dive at about 6:00, but since the visibility was so good they suggested going outat 4:30.
Day 3. April 3. (4 dives)
#1.Cara A Cara. Shark Dive. 73 feet/33 minutes.
Anotherlong (45 minute) boat ride-not as choppy as last year, but the current wasstronger.
14divers made it a little hectic with the current and all. Once we all assembledat the bottom, we knelt for a fewminutes then given the ok to swim out and about with 7-8 caribbean reef sharks. After a few minutes ofthat, we went knelt back by the reef while the chum bucket was opened. The sharks did not seem asinterested as they were last year, still a cool experience. My wife gotthe courage to do this diveand she is glad she did.
#2.Four Sponges. 71 feet/48 minutes.
Beautifuldive. Visibility was very good. Yellowhead jawfish in an area beneath theboat. Watchedthem for awhile. A small turtle on this dive. Lots of barrel sponges. Spotteddrum hanging out with a green morayeel. About a week or so before we gothere, a hammerhead shark was captured on video attacking a spottedeagle ray during a routine dive at this site. They were showing the video intheir Photo Shop. Quite an experiencefor those divers on that dive!
#3.Front Porch Reef (Shore Dive). 52 feet/ 43 minutes.
Prettydive. Just 3 of us. A few grouper and ahuge crab sitting under a ledge.
#4.White Hole Reef (Night Dive). 56 feet/ 54 minutes.
Didnot take my camera- bummer! 2 octopi put on a little show and a large crab wasclinging to a sea fan. Many lobster out and about. In one sense it was kind of nice not takingthe camera, as I found myself justleisurely moving along and not worrying about getting in the right position to get that perfectshot.
Day 4. April 4. (3 dives).
#1. DiveMaster's Choice. 74 feet/42 minutes.
Anotherlesson learned. I changed batteries inmy strobe the night before in a not-so-well-lit room and did notcheck my seal carefully enough. It turnsout I did not have the cover on correctlyand thus flooded my Sea andSea YS-27 strobe. Dummy me did not checkthings when I put it on the boat in themorning. So I was pretty pissed duringthis dive, so about the only thing of interest I remember seeing is a spotted moray eel along the wall.
#2.Barry's Reef. 75 feet/62 minutes.
Longestdive of the trip, but I didn't record anything in my logbook so I don't recallwhat I saw!!
I wasstill bumming about my strobe!!!!
#3.Peter's Place (Drift Dive). 61 feet/54 minutes.
BeautifulDive. This dive was very fishy. Largemidnight parrotfish, hogfish, large schools of blue tang, several gray and frenchangelfish.
Day 5. April 5. (4 dives)
#1.Aguila Wreck. 108 feet/ 42 minutes.
Oneof my favorite dives of the week. Dropped down on the reef, Deep Eel Garden Ibelieve, to probably 12 - 15very large grouper. From the reef wedescended down to the stern up and throughpart of it and as we were about halfway to the bow a green moray eel popped outof the stern for a few of the divers in the back to see. I got a short glimpse. After heading around the bow we headed over to the reefto hang out with the grouper and tons of smaller fish- very pretty dive.
#2.Harvey Fantasy Reef. (Drift Dive). 63 feet/ 51 minutes.
Anotherbeautiful dive. 4 turtles, barracuda, grouper, lobster, spotted drum. Got a couple of shots with Toddand a turtle. One turtle had a"bump" on his shell. Love the turtles!
#3.Front Porch Reef. (Shore Dive). 49 feet/ 42 minutes.
Justthe 4 of us. A few grouper, barracuda, lobster, a couple lionfish, arrow crab.My wife got hit in the head by a kayaker as we headed intoshore. She thought that was prettyfunny-so did the rest of us!
#4.Green Out House Wall. (Night Dive). 51 feet/ 51 minutes.
Oneof my top 3 dives of the week! Turtle was out an about early in the dive.Sleeping parrot fish, TONS oflobster - all over. Very cool to seetheir eyes in the light. Several littleshrimp as well and they are quick! Another huge crab moved quickly from one spotto another. The highlight though was watching and videoing the octopus for acouple of minutes. They are just socool!
Day 6. April 6. Last Day (2 dives).
#1Butcher's Bank. (Drift Dive). 73 feet/ 54 minutes.
Anothergreat dive! 2 huge crabs, big lobster, a southern stingray, one turtle. At theend of the dive 2 grouper thatlooked like they were up to something - turns out a green moray eel must have peaked their interest becauseout he popped from one side of the reefto the other side- I watched this allunfold as I was on my safety stop.
#2.Overheat Reef. (Drift Dive). 60 feet / 60 minutes.
Gorgeousdive! Very fishy at the beginning of thedive. Huge crab sitting down in acrevice. Then it became turtle city. 4 turtles - one huge one in which I was ableto get some of my better pictures of - close head shots. Justa wonderful dive to end the week with.
Accommodations: Superior bungalow on the Key with AC, huge porch with hammocks. No TV orphone. The location of our bungalowoffered spectacular sunset views and were as secluded from the other bungalowsas much as any on the key.
Food: Verygood. Breakfast - fresh fruit bar alwaysavailable and you could also order a hot breakfast (eggs, pancakes, frenchtoast, oatmeal, etc.) if you so desired. Lunch and dinners usually offered a bread basket (very good, warmrolls), a salad and/or soup and a choice of two entrees - usually a fish orsome type of meat. The wait staff wasvery accommodating and their service was efficient.
Anthonys Key Resort is a fabulous place to stay and dive. Make it your dive destination one day!
057.MOV - YouTube
If anyone could explain how to load pictures into a post, I'd appreciate it! I always run into problems whenever I try!
Roatan Trip Report: March 31 - April7, 2012
After having such a great time last year at AnthonysKey Resort in Roatan, Honduras, my wife Carlenda and I decided to make a returnvisit with our friends, Todd and Mary, who we travel and dive with once a year. We flew from Detroit to Atlanta, and Atlantato Roatan, arriving on Saturday afternoon. We requested the same bungalows we stayed in last year and upon arrivalwere pleased to find that our wish was granted. We stayed on the "Key" in a Superior bungalow with AC. No TV, No Phone - Perfect!!! We shared a porch with Todd and Mary. The porch offered spectacular sunsets eachand every night as our bungalow sits on the west side of the Key. The weather was perfect all week - mid toupper 80s all week. No rain, but it didget a little breezy a few of the days we were there.
Water Conditions. My computer read 79 - 81 degrees, my wife's slightly higher 82 - 84degrees, depending on the dive site and depth. We have the same computer so not sure why the difference. In any case, it was quite comfortable. Visibility was 60 - 80 feet on most divesites - some a little higher, some maybe a little less. We did many drift dives as there was someconsiderable current on most of the sights - not Cozumel current, but enough tonotice if you were to swim into it for any considerable time.
Our Dive Master, Calderon, gave us a thoroughdescription of the dive site before each dive and would constantly count diversduring the dive. He pointed out manythings during the dives and is overall just a real nice guy. We requested Jimmy and his boat the Andrea, aswe enjoyed his sense of humor last year. He did not let us down on this trip! He had us laughing so much, yet when it came down to safety, it was hisnumber one priority.
We dove Nitrox for the week. I made 20 dives during the week and my wifemade 13. It was our first time divingsince Cozumel last summer when my wife experienced some panic and could notdive at all. She spent a few sessions inthe pool over the last few months working on skills to build her confidenceback up and I'm proud to say that she did Great!!! We also got her a housing for her Canon pointand shoot camera and she found taking pictures to be a lot of fun.
The AKR dive shop is a well-run operation. The daily schedule is like this: 1stdive-8:00/8:30 depending on the site, 2nd dive: 10:00/10:30 and 3rd dive:2:15. After each dive, the boat returnsto the dock. Night Dives are offered onTuesday and Thursday nights at about 6:00. Shore diving is available off of thenorth side of the Key from 3:00-9:00. There also is a Channel dive in the lagoon where boats pass through ontheir way to the docks. A description of the highlights of the dives/sites follows:
Day 1: April 1. (3 dives)
#1.Green Out House Wall. 72 feet/46 minutes.
Not avery fishy dive, but glad to be back in the water
! Supposed to have been anout and back dive, but ended being a drift dive as therewas some considerable current.#2.CanyonReef. 61 feet/52 minutes. Beautiful dive. 2 Turtles. Spotted Moray eel. One of the largest spotteddrum fish I've seen. Only one lionfish.
#3.Gibson Bight (Drift Dive). 55 feet/52 minutes.
Onevery large crab under a ledge and another one out along the wall. Very "fishy" at the end of the dive. One large grouper which looked like to have abig dark spot along the side of its head.
Day 2: April 2. (4 dives)
#1.Odyssey Wreck. 103 feet/30 minutes.
Verycool to see the shipwreck to appear as you descend. Went through a walkway toaround the stern to find a turtlemunching away. Enjoyable dive, but tooshort!
#2.Mary's Place. 115 feet/32 minutes.
Along boat ride, but well worth it. Dropped to along the wall then went up through a crevice then turned left and up throughanother crevice only to be greeted by a free swimming green moray eel! Took videogoing through the crevice and got a couple decent shots of the eel.
Followingthis dive we went to Maya Key, where they have a pool, some Mayan ruins and a sanctuary for animals that have beeninjured or abandoned. AKR, who operatesMaya Key had lunch for usthere.
#3.Pablo's Place. 67 feet/50 minutes.
Alittle more fishier on this dive than the others. Lots of huge pillar coral stands and many barrel sponges. One large turtle onthis dive and unfortunately, many lionfish too.
Idropped my weight from 8 pounds down to 6 pounds.
#4.AKR Channel Dive. 32 feet/48 minutes.
Afuselage of an airplane was sunk. Wewere told that the visibility on this dive might only be a few feet, but today it was about 30-40feet so I hooked up with a family from Wisconsin (no one in mygroup wanted to do it!). It was wellworth it. Several arrow crabs andlobster along with a golden tail eel on this dive. Many little lionfish on this dive. Normally they offer this dive at about 6:00, but since the visibility was so good they suggested going outat 4:30.
Day 3. April 3. (4 dives)
#1.Cara A Cara. Shark Dive. 73 feet/33 minutes.
Anotherlong (45 minute) boat ride-not as choppy as last year, but the current wasstronger.
14divers made it a little hectic with the current and all. Once we all assembledat the bottom, we knelt for a fewminutes then given the ok to swim out and about with 7-8 caribbean reef sharks. After a few minutes ofthat, we went knelt back by the reef while the chum bucket was opened. The sharks did not seem asinterested as they were last year, still a cool experience. My wife gotthe courage to do this diveand she is glad she did.
#2.Four Sponges. 71 feet/48 minutes.
Beautifuldive. Visibility was very good. Yellowhead jawfish in an area beneath theboat. Watchedthem for awhile. A small turtle on this dive. Lots of barrel sponges. Spotteddrum hanging out with a green morayeel. About a week or so before we gothere, a hammerhead shark was captured on video attacking a spottedeagle ray during a routine dive at this site. They were showing the video intheir Photo Shop. Quite an experiencefor those divers on that dive!
#3.Front Porch Reef (Shore Dive). 52 feet/ 43 minutes.
Prettydive. Just 3 of us. A few grouper and ahuge crab sitting under a ledge.
#4.White Hole Reef (Night Dive). 56 feet/ 54 minutes.
Didnot take my camera- bummer! 2 octopi put on a little show and a large crab wasclinging to a sea fan. Many lobster out and about. In one sense it was kind of nice not takingthe camera, as I found myself justleisurely moving along and not worrying about getting in the right position to get that perfectshot.
Day 4. April 4. (3 dives).
#1. DiveMaster's Choice. 74 feet/42 minutes.
Anotherlesson learned. I changed batteries inmy strobe the night before in a not-so-well-lit room and did notcheck my seal carefully enough. It turnsout I did not have the cover on correctlyand thus flooded my Sea andSea YS-27 strobe. Dummy me did not checkthings when I put it on the boat in themorning. So I was pretty pissed duringthis dive, so about the only thing of interest I remember seeing is a spotted moray eel along the wall.
#2.Barry's Reef. 75 feet/62 minutes.
Longestdive of the trip, but I didn't record anything in my logbook so I don't recallwhat I saw!!
I wasstill bumming about my strobe!!!!
#3.Peter's Place (Drift Dive). 61 feet/54 minutes.
BeautifulDive. This dive was very fishy. Largemidnight parrotfish, hogfish, large schools of blue tang, several gray and frenchangelfish.
Day 5. April 5. (4 dives)
#1.Aguila Wreck. 108 feet/ 42 minutes.
Oneof my favorite dives of the week. Dropped down on the reef, Deep Eel Garden Ibelieve, to probably 12 - 15very large grouper. From the reef wedescended down to the stern up and throughpart of it and as we were about halfway to the bow a green moray eel popped outof the stern for a few of the divers in the back to see. I got a short glimpse. After heading around the bow we headed over to the reefto hang out with the grouper and tons of smaller fish- very pretty dive.
#2.Harvey Fantasy Reef. (Drift Dive). 63 feet/ 51 minutes.
Anotherbeautiful dive. 4 turtles, barracuda, grouper, lobster, spotted drum. Got a couple of shots with Toddand a turtle. One turtle had a"bump" on his shell. Love the turtles!
#3.Front Porch Reef. (Shore Dive). 49 feet/ 42 minutes.
Justthe 4 of us. A few grouper, barracuda, lobster, a couple lionfish, arrow crab.My wife got hit in the head by a kayaker as we headed intoshore. She thought that was prettyfunny-so did the rest of us!
#4.Green Out House Wall. (Night Dive). 51 feet/ 51 minutes.
Oneof my top 3 dives of the week! Turtle was out an about early in the dive.Sleeping parrot fish, TONS oflobster - all over. Very cool to seetheir eyes in the light. Several littleshrimp as well and they are quick! Another huge crab moved quickly from one spotto another. The highlight though was watching and videoing the octopus for acouple of minutes. They are just socool!
Day 6. April 6. Last Day
(2 dives).#1Butcher's Bank. (Drift Dive). 73 feet/ 54 minutes.
Anothergreat dive! 2 huge crabs, big lobster, a southern stingray, one turtle. At theend of the dive 2 grouper thatlooked like they were up to something - turns out a green moray eel must have peaked their interest becauseout he popped from one side of the reefto the other side- I watched this allunfold as I was on my safety stop.
#2.Overheat Reef. (Drift Dive). 60 feet / 60 minutes.
Gorgeousdive! Very fishy at the beginning of thedive. Huge crab sitting down in acrevice. Then it became turtle city. 4 turtles - one huge one in which I was ableto get some of my better pictures of - close head shots. Justa wonderful dive to end the week with.
Accommodations: Superior bungalow on the Key with AC, huge porch with hammocks. No TV orphone. The location of our bungalowoffered spectacular sunset views and were as secluded from the other bungalowsas much as any on the key.
Food: Verygood. Breakfast - fresh fruit bar alwaysavailable and you could also order a hot breakfast (eggs, pancakes, frenchtoast, oatmeal, etc.) if you so desired. Lunch and dinners usually offered a bread basket (very good, warmrolls), a salad and/or soup and a choice of two entrees - usually a fish orsome type of meat. The wait staff wasvery accommodating and their service was efficient.
Anthonys Key Resort is a fabulous place to stay and dive. Make it your dive destination one day!
