Roatan, Honduras

[waltj11]

I just planned a vacation to Roatan Honduras for this summer to SCUBA dive. Has anyone dived here? I heard it's great.

[Woodchuck12]

Not SCUBA, but I did go snorkeling there a few years ago. It is beautiful, and the weather is great. It rained a little every day but only for 30 minutes at a time. I highly recommend it. Wear Sunscreen and have a good vacation!

[waltj11]

GReat! I'm so excited. Ill post some pics i take.

[ackee]

Take lots of good inscect repellent for the tiny sand fleas that are abundant in sandy areas, eapecially at dusk, and which leave a nasty welt. Google Roatan and 'noseums' or
Roatan sand fleas" for more info about brands, etc. This is vital.
A wonderful place, but beware of those bugs. Also, avoid the mainland. Very dangerous these days. Roatan is relatively safe, but avoid traveling through the mainland.

[waltj11]

Yeah i did some research about the safety, fortunately, Im staying on a resort in the west end which is the safest area. And yes, i will bring repellent!!!

[mayjong]

cocoview rocks!!!

[Diverjohn]

The diving is really good. If you want to dive with sharks do Cara a Cara. Its a line descent but it's worth it. Usually 10-20 reef sharks crazing around. The barrel sponges are huge since Roatan is out of the hurricane belt. Enjoy the diving and like the others said, sunscreen and bug spray.

[Helfrichs Chic]

I did a dive (shallow) in Honduras last year. It was disappointing as it had been raining for a couple days and the run off made the water horrible vis. I can imagine it would be GREAT with clear water. I did manage to get some decent photos WAY out of MASSIVE brain corals and beautiful purple sea fans. I saw some of my FAVORITE gobies, (sharknose) on the giant 4ft round brain corals and was pretty much mezmorized by them and their antics with each other over territory most of the dive. Saw a few large eels also, no sharks: bummer.

I will say its a BEAUTIFUL place! Because we loved the Caribbean so much on all of our trips there, (Cayman, Belize, Honduras, PR, Bahamas etc) were moving from AZ to St. Croix this year LOL. SO beware you will likely end up wanting to move there.

Here are a couple above water pics in Honduras: I DID take underwater ones but the vis just made them terrible. Have FUN, I would do the shark dive that Diver John talked about. Awesome!

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/HelfrichChick/33759_1532787038601_6322201_n.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/HelfrichChick/72573_1532790158679_7849086_n.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/HelfrichChick/71661_1532777638366_772084_n.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/HelfrichChick/71559_1532787598615_2534158_n.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/HelfrichChick/72583_1532785998575_448508_n.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/HelfrichChick/33638_1532788438636_3679912_n.jpg

[mayjong]

here are some pics of Roatan

[slbaucom]

I had a GREAT diving experience at Anthony's Keys. I actually finished my certification there. I completed my pool dives at home, and then did my open water certification there. The staff was amazing being a begining diver the staff really took care of me. I had problems equalizing and the divemasters would actually help me descend slowly. There were a number of vetern divers on my boat that spoke of how amazing the dives were. I feel so lucky so have had such a great first experience. 2mnths later I went to Cozumel and was disappointed compared to Hondurus. I think the coral, fish life everything was better in Hondurus

[waltj11]

Hi everyone. I just got back from Roatan. I had such a great time. I stayed at Fantasy Island right across from Cocoview resort. I was there for a little more than a week and I dived 13 times. All dives were great. There was a little hurricane which hit not really near Roatan but we got a little storm, no big deal, lost a dive or two. There was also a earthquake haha but all was great. I took a ton of pictures, that is, before a monkey banged my camera against a tree. but here they are:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45932
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45931
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45899
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45900
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45905
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45906
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45907
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45909
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45910
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45912

[waltj11]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45913
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45914
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45916
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45917
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45918
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45919
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45920
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45921
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45922
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45923

[waltj11]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45925
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45926
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45928
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45929
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6653&pictureid=45930

[xmen0075]

Great shots!

[Woodchuck12]

Man, my experience there seems like a lot less fun than you guys's. Which I personally think was awesome. The closest I came to squid there was a jellyfish invasion. OUCH. No earthquakes or real storms while I was there. And no camera stealing monkeys. :lolspin:

[waltj11]

Haha I don't know. The weather was not really that great except for the last few days. I had an obsoletely awesome dive master. The dive shop at Fantasy Island is amazing. There was no need not to follow him around under water. I would have missed so much if it wasn't for him. we saw 5 seahorses that were tiny, but beautiful--definitely would have missed them if i wasn't with him. Also another really fun thing to do, which i sat out on, haha but i still dived to watch was lion fish hunting. The lion fish are becoming a huge problem down there and in most places in the Caribbean. Hunting them is hard, but it looked fun. And they taste really good. I would recommend Fantasy Island to everyone, this was one of my first tropical dives but i got used to it really fast.

[Made2Rock]

Friends of mine, Scott and Patti Chandler, run this fish identification program and lead dives on Roatan and Bonaire every summer. Scott has this amazing ability to see things most people miss so I strongly suggest if you get the chance to dive with him to tag along. Below is a link to their web site and is loaded with pictures from both Roatan and Bonaire.

http://http://www.fishid.us/Fishid_Webpage/Photos/Photos.html

Hopefully next summer I can join them in Roatan.

Joe