West Bay dive shop reco

[Scooterman9]

Some of the recommendations are a bit dated. Am staying in West Bay and was leaning towards diving with West End but realized it is further from my hotel than I expected. What are the preferred shops in West Bay? We prefer smaller groups (6 per DM).

Any insights are greatly appreciated.

 

[KatieMac]

Yes, West End Divers is a car or water taxi ride from West Bay although West End Divers is a great shop.

I’ve been diving is Roatan for years and haven’t really heard a bad review of any of the shops in West Bay although I haven’t dove with them.

Which hotel are you staying at?

 

[Scooterman9]

Staying at the Kimpton.

Been reading up on Bananarama and West Bay Divers. Hoping some one has dove at a west bay within the last year.

 

[Barry S.]

Have dove with Bottom Time Scuba for three trips and am returning in February for a 4th. Small shop that doesn’t pay for beachfront store but boat is right on west bay beach. Never had more than 5 ppl on the boat.

 

[therookie]

Welcome to ScubaBoard, @Scooterman9 !

"Preferred" is difficult to comment on since preferences vary so widely, but there are several dive ops close to where you are staying that all have good recent reports from ScubaBoard members. (One of my favorite features of ScubaBoard is the search function - so much good information available once you get the hang of how to use it)

Closest to you is West Bay Divers that you mentioned, which is affiliated with the Kimpton where you are staying. Here's a report from an SB member in September:

Thread 'Roatan in September'

Sep 19, 2024

We’ve been to Roatan so many times since the ‘80’s. This was the 1st time in September! The weather was PERFECT, the water so warm that even a skin wasn’t needed but I worn one for protection from scrapes…. We dove with West Bay Divers for the 1st time and they were awesome! Very nice boats, 6 divers max (one trip was only us, a guide, and the boat captain), and long bottom times. We were there for 10 days and from now on, it’ll always be September!

• renalea
• west bay divers
• Replies: 9
• Forum: Bay Islands

• 

Next closest is Infinity Divers, just up the beach a bit at the Infinity Bay resort. Here's a report from June 2024:

Post in thread 'Roatan - Infinity Divers'

Jun 22, 2024

How was your experience? I am considering using them. Thanks. Jeff

Hi Jeff, just wrapping up my trip. I was able to do 3 dives with them (I’m the only one in my family who dives so couldn’t devote the entire trip to diving).

Great experience- 2 day dives and one night dive. They have your kit prepped and waiting for you on the boat, and they had 2 dive masters for each dive, with no more than 10 divers. Very professional compared to some dives I’ve been on when it came to splitting the divers into groups, assigning each group a dive master and going over the dive plan...

• jay040

Just up the road from Bananarama is Naboo Resort and Dive Center. We dove with them earlier this month (December 2024), just after a period of intense rain that resulted in visibility on both the north and south sides of the west end of the island that varied from poor to fair. They have two small boats, and six per DM is their max. The DMs and boat captains did a great job of working around the visibility conditions (and at times congestion at dive sites which resulted in throwing their initial plans out the window in favor of less crowded mooring points). This is the shop we have the most experience with, and we keep going back because the experience has always been excellent. We had an awesome trip in spite of the mediocre visibility.

Between those three (and Bananamara which you also mentioned) you should have no trouble at all finding a shop that suits you nicely.

Enjoy your trip!