Trip Report Trip Report: Roatan West Bay 1/2021 - Bottom Time Scuba

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chiggins

Registered
Messages
62
Reaction score
73
Location
TX
# of dives
200 - 499
I’d like to share my experience from a great week on Roatan in mid-January. As a somewhat frequent visitor to Cozumel where I dive with Aldora, I have learned to appreciate the buoyancy characteristics and long dives from their steel tanks. When planning my recent trip to Roatan, I came across Bottom Time Scuba as the only (known) operator on Roatan to use steel tanks. Its a boutique, single boat operation run by expat couple Jay and Lavina who also operate a 3 unit bed and breakfast where I stayed. Sun Country Airlines has a Friday non-stop flight to Roatan from Minneapolis that made getting to the island easy; times are great with a mid morning departure from MSP and the return leaves Roatan after 4pm, so you can still go diving the day before and have plenty of time before the flight back.

This was my first trip to Roatan and I was pleased with the quality of the diving. Although the the usual suspects for the Caribbean were abundant on the reef, I also felt that there was a bit more diversity than Cozumel. We encountered green and hawksbill turtles, numerous eels, tons of fish including some large barracuda and groupers which I haven’t seen recently in Cozumel, and macro life like whip coral shrimp, abundant Peterson shrimp, and some slugs and nudis. January is still rainy season for Roatan, and that held true for this trip. Most of the rain occurred at night, but this led to some dives with visibility that wasn’t the best, but I understand for most of the year, visibility rivals Cozumel. 1 diving day was lost due to weather; a trip was offered but Jay explained that site selection was limited, diving would likely be affected by visibility and we might be uncomfortable during a choppy, wet boat ride. I’m normally going to trust the knowledge and experience of the captain and divemaster in a situation like that but appreciated the honesty and ability to make the choice not to dive.

Most of the diving was in the area between west bay and west end. The quality and selection of sites was very good. I had the opportunity to dive 2 sites on the southwest side and enjoyed being able to see both sides. I felt that the sites on the southwest may have been a little better in terms of coral growth and I think a dive at a site called “Swing” was one of the better dives of this trip. I wanted to dive a site called Texas at the recommendation of other divers. Unfortunately currents and visibility did not favor a dive there this trip, but it gives me something to look forward to next time.

Bottom Time uses steel 100’s and dives were all over an hour, mostly 75-85 mins. They normally operate from a pier in West Bay but do have access to another pier in the Flowers Bay area where they will depart from if conditions warrant. Other divers were a mix of locally based expats, vacationers, and long term visitors to the island. It really was a wonderful mix of friendly and compatible divers on the boat. The groups were small but still offered great experiences for everyone whether photography, lion fish hunting, or training. I will certainly dive with Jay and Lavina at Bottom Time on my next trip and recommend their operation for anyone looking for individual attention or a patient and experienced instructor for training. Being a small, single boat operation, they could fill up, so I’d recommend contacting them before your trip.

The bed and breakfast accommodations were very comfortable and set in a peaceful, shaded area that’s an easy 10 min walk from West Bay beach. While not on the beach, I think the units are well equipped for either a short or extended stay with an efficiency kitchen including a full sized refrigerator, microwave, dishes, and some small appliances; there was no stove, but did see a hot plate. Lavina and Jay were great host and very helpful during my stay. They seemed well connected to supportive of the local community and can make excellent recommendations for places to dine.

I was able to beat the the new testing requirements before coming back to the US, but it appeared there would be no problem getting a rapid test on the island. Several larger places of accommodation appeared to have arrangements for testing on site, and there was availability in West Bay. PCR tests are going to be more expensive and not as readily available, but the USA does not (currently) require PCR; rapid/antigen testing is just fine. Covid protocols were in place where required; many establishments required a temperature check and use of hand sanitizer to enter. And personally, I felt much better about being in a sunny, warm location with plenty of fresh air and ocean breezes than being stuck indoors with recirculating air.

All said, I look forward to visiting Roatan again someday. Its certainly provides a convenient, but a bit less developed alternative to Mexico. My thanks and recommendation go to Jay and Lavina for a great week of diving.
 
Nice report and in the new format! Love that you could take a non-stop flight. Is the airport close to where your accommodations were in West Bay?
 
The walk looks short enough but a bit dangerous on a two lane road with no shoulder edge or sidewalk. How was it in reality?

How is the wifi strength? Everyone offers wifi but that can mean you can stream a netflix movie to you might eventually get a facebook page to load if you are persistent and patient.

Since it's a bit away from things, did the dive shop keep your gear and have it on the boat ready for you? Did you walk to the boat?
 
Thanks for your report. I've been trying to get info on recent dive conditions on Roatan. While I usually prefer the diving in Cozumel, San Miguel is a little too slick for me and I always enjoy the eclectic atmosphere of West Bay.
 
Nice report and in the new format! Love that you could take a non-stop flight. Is the airport close to where your accommodations were in West Bay?

the airport is about a 25 min drive to West Bay. Road was in pretty good shape, (apparently just paved in the last 5-7 years), although it was narrow with no shoulders or sidewalks for most of the way.

the non stop flight was super easy and i hope it continues
 
The walk looks short enough but a bit dangerous on a two lane road with no shoulder edge or sidewalk. How was it in reality?

How is the wifi strength? Everyone offers wifi but that can mean you can stream a netflix movie to you might eventually get a facebook page to load if you are persistent and patient.

Since it's a bit away from things, did the dive shop keep your gear and have it on the boat ready for you? Did you walk to the boat?

The walk to west bay really wasnt bad. Not much traffic while I was there and the few cars out there were considerate and not driving excessively fast. I walked around the end of the island to explore and to west bay several times. I did spend a few hours in west end; got a ride there (10 min drive) and water taxi back to west bay. West End has a bit more going on with a more restaurants/bars and some tourist shops. Seemed like it could attract younger crowd although there was not much happening while I was there.

To/from the boat, the shop provided a ride since I stayed on their property. They took care of hauling all gear and equipment to the boat, setting it up, rinsing and it securing it at night. Rental gear looked like it was was quality and well cared for.

The only wish for the shop would have been Nitrox but I think its in the works. When you are getting 75-85 min long dives, 3 in a day is enough to tire me out. Although I definitely prefer it whenever available, nitrox wasnt necessary with the sites or profiles we dove.
 
Thanks for your report. I've been trying to get info on recent dive conditions on Roatan. While I usually prefer the diving in Cozumel, San Miguel is a little too slick for me and I always enjoy the eclectic atmosphere of West Bay.
I hope to go back to Roatan outside of rainy season for a better perspective. Cozumel had a tough fall with harbor closures and hurricanes. January can get some windy days from my experience, so I gave a Roatan chance knowing it was still rainy season. Diving was good but Id like to see it during a better season.
 
How is the wifi strength? Everyone offers wifi but that can mean you can stream a netflix movie to you might eventually get a facebook page to load if you are persistent and patient.
Regarding the wifi on property, it was comparable to DSL speed. You wont be able to live stream in 4K and even basic streaming might have some hickups. No problems getting websites and email nor did I have any issues keeping connecting to my VPN at work and running several remote/citrix applications on my laptop. I did not do an internet speed test on property so I can't give you an exact speed. I set up some shows and movies to download while I was out diving so that I could watch later. Verizon WiFi calling on my phone worked fine at the property.

I did purchase a local SIM card at the convenience store in the strip mall because roaming data with Verizon was expensive and not very fast... With a SIM card, a data package was cheap. I think I got the SIM for $5 and 5GB for $5-10. Tigo had a good LTE signal in west bay and may have been a little faster than the wifi at times. I did take several Teams meetings and calls while connected to cellular data and had no issues.
 
Thanks for your report. I've been trying to get info on recent dive conditions on Roatan. While I usually prefer the diving in Cozumel, San Miguel is a little too slick for me and I always enjoy the eclectic atmosphere of West Bay.
Oops, sorry. I mean West End. West Bay is is too classy for the likes of me.
 
Regarding the wifi on property, it was comparable to DSL speed. You wont be able to live stream in 4K and even basic streaming might have some hickups. No problems getting websites and email nor did I have any issues keeping connecting to my VPN at work and running several remote/citrix applications on my laptop. I did not do an internet speed test on property so I can't give you an exact speed. I set up some shows and movies to download while I was out diving so that I could watch later. Verizon WiFi calling on my phone worked fine at the property.

I did purchase a local SIM card at the convenience store in the strip mall because roaming data with Verizon was expensive and not very fast... With a SIM card, a data package was cheap. I think I got the SIM for $5 and 5GB for $5-10. Tigo had a good LTE signal in west bay and may have been a little faster than the wifi at times. I did take several Teams meetings and calls while connected to cellular data and had no issues.

Thanks. Being able to connect to work VPN and handle a few meetings is exactly what I had in mind.

Their website lists nitrox at $12/tank, so you're saying that it wasn't actually available?

Mind if I ask approximate cost on things like taxi/water taxi to West End, and dive/stay package?
 

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