Bay Islands advice for experienced divers

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Hello Zeeb,

As far as diving Roatan is concerned, like many places you have to know where to go to get the best diving. The diving on the south shore & east end of Roatan is better than in the West End/West Bay area in our opinion, and we do liveaboard charters in all of the Bay Islands including Roatan, Cayos Cochinos, etc. The recommendations for both Coco View & Barefoot Cay are excellent & they both operate in that area.

Since you have teenagers along you may also want to spend at least a part of your time in the West End area, there are lots of great little restaurants and shops etc in that area and many dive shops to choose from, we would recommend Scuba Roatan or Reef Gliders for good shops with small groups. There are also lots of options for accommodations there, from small hotels to larger resorts in the West Bay area. Bananarama in West Bay is a good operation & your kids would have a great time there. Cayos Cochinos is a stunning marine park with some excellent diving, however it is very isolated & difficult to access from Roatan, most people get there from the mainland via La Ceiba. There is only one resort there, a nice small eco resort called Turtle Bay Eco Resort, it's a good place to stay & they have their own onsite dive operation.

The reefs are very healthy and the coral off the south shore of Roatan is outstanding, dramatic walls full of color that plunge from 30 feet to over 140, with overhangs, swim throughs, canyons and chimneys. Roatan's reputation is built on the vibrancy of its coral reefs & they are the main reason divers come here, but again you need to get off the beaten track away from where most divers go. It's also important to go to dive sites at the right time of day, in general you want mornings on the south side & afternoons on the north, no light equals no color. If you would like to see some examples take a look at the photos on our Facebook page, we are far from professional photographers but they will give you an idea of what we dive in daily.

Roatan also has a huge variety of things to do on shore when you're not diving. A great place to look for deals & info about Roatan & Utila dive shops, hotels etc. is actually on Facebook, many of the resorts & dive operators, especially the smaller ones, primarily use Facebook to communicate and do not keep their websites very current. The Facebook pages however are often current right up to that day.

The island is beautiful & once you get away from the touristy western end much of it is untouched. There is a mixture of cultures that is quite fascinating and areas like Port Royal, Henry Morgan's old stronghold, are full of great history as well as terrific diving on pristine reefs. The biggest challenge our guests face is trying to balance diving with sailing, exploring, relaxing, and taking part in the many activities available. Even with all that, many people come here for a week & leave with no idea that 2/3 of the island is still undeveloped jungle and once you leave the tourist zone in the West End of the island you can spend days exploring the East End of the island, where much of the area does not even have roads & is only accessible by boat. The locals commute from village to village through channels cut through the mangroves, it is a complete contrast to the modern resorts of the West End of the island.

If you take a look at our website Zeppelin Dive & Sail | Roatan Live Aboard Sailing & Diving Charters it will give you a good starting place for information about Roatan & all the island has to offer. Even if you have no interest in our services please feel free to contact us with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands at zeppelinsail@gmail.com. We are more than happy to help anyone with questions about the area. Good luck with your decision & if we can help with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands just let us know!
 
To get to Utila from Roatan you'll either have to fly or contact one of the private operators who do charter trips from the West End over to Utila. They're pretty pricey so flying might be less expensive. Some options:
Travelling between Roatan & Utila, The Bay Islands, Honduras
Morgans Travel Agency- Utila, The Bay Islands, Honduras
Bush's Bay Islands Charters - Utila, The Bay Islands, Honduras
We also do charters from Roatan to Utila for those of you that get into Roatan by airplane to the Roatan International Airport and whoever wants to get to Utila in a hurry. Only a 45min speed boat ride.

You used to be able to take the Galaxy ferry from Roatan to La Ceiba then the Princess ferry from La Ceiba to Utila. But someone recently posted the Princess is in dry dock in La Ceiba. Utila Princess - Utila, The Bay Islands, Honduras

Any references you see about Capt. Vern/Nina Elizabeth are invalid as he's deceased.

To get to Cayos from Roatan, take the Galaxy Ferry to La Ceiba. It runs twice/day. I believe Turtle Bay picks up either in La Ceiba or nearby. http://www.roatanferry.com/index.php?l=en

No idea how you get to Guanaja from Roatan.

+1 for Barefoot Divers/Barefoot Cay. It is however as Doc mentioned in a busier area. But the Cay itself is as nice as it looks. They have some 2BR lofts shoreside that are less expensive. The dive shop is downstairs and the boats are right there. There's only about 9 villas on the Cay and not everyone who stays there dives. My group of 7 was their dive business one morning. If you're renting, they have newer ScubaPro gear. One of the better "advanced" dives is Mary's Place, just 5mins. off their property. The resort is also fronted by a fringing reef so there's snorkeling off the beach/palapa.

It's also almost walking distance to French Harbor, about 15mins. from Coxen Hole and quite a bit closer to the West End - probably a 20-25 min. cab ride. From Cocoview the West End is more like 45mins. or so. Most cab fares are negotiable - except a few that are fixed - Airport to the West End is $25 for ex.
 
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You've received a lot of good advice already. I'll add a few small comments.

(1) Inter-island transportation within the Bay Islands is doable but requires some planning. Roatan is the most easily accessible because of its international airport and docks for cruise ships. Going from one island to another is possible by plane or by ferry but you will likely have to transfer via La Ceiba. The airlines are pretty reliable but could be expensive for a whole family. Also, keep in mind that on Utila and Guanaja planes and boats do not necessarily leave every day. Plan accordingly and be flexible.

(2) Internet access on Roatan is much better than it used to be. Many resorts have internet access but there will likely be a fee. The resorts I've used charged by the week, something like $25-$50. You might be able to negotiate that into your rate. The speed of the internet has gotten better but it can still be painfully slow at times. If your goal is to send and receive e-mail and browse the web that's one thing. If you want to stream video that's another.

(3) You will be coming to the island during the rainy season. There are times when it will rain nonstop for long periods. It doesn't mean you won't have any sun but your chances of having bad weather are definitely greater based on historic patterns.

(4) Bring repellent. The no-see-ums are quite plentiful.

Have a great trip! Please post a trip report when you return.
 
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Recreational dive to 182, change of plan mid dive, chasing a turtle into deep water, stopping to take pics and lagging behind on a group drift dive, potential reliance on DMs extra tank and going into deco mode repeatedly. Yikes. I don't ever want to go diving with you. I do however give you points for your honesty in reporting the events. Looking at your profile of 100-199 dives I suspect that you have never had deep dive decompression training either. Where I go recreational diving ( Little Cayman ), if you go into deco you are out of the water for 48 hours independent of how conservative your computer might be. I do my recreational diving with a Suunto as well and seem to manage to stay out of deco and still enjoy the diving. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own safety but you also need to be a role model for your teens.
 
A typical dive operation will boast on their website about practicing safe diving. Although I also subscribe to this approach, I have seen very different interpretations of what "safe" is. For example, in Cozumel safe meant that we came down to 182 ft maximum depth, registered a 15 minute mandatory decompression, and finished the 45 minute dive (multi-level) on our own air, with the dive master hauling a spare tank of nitrox with him just in case if needed.


Although we're not too picky with our accommodations, I am picky when it comes to safety

You seem to imply that a Cozumel dive op took you to 182 ft with no technical training and a single tank, then you go on to say that you're "picky about safety" THEN in a later post you seem to fess up that it was you going to 182 feet despite the DM's instruction to stay at 135 ft maximum. How exactly is that being 'picky about safety'? And how could anyone recommend a "safe" dive op to someone who so blatantly disregards the dive op's directions?

Have a good trip to the Bay Islands, my advice would be to go to Coconut Tree divers and take a class with Will Welbourne that focuses on actually diving responsibly instead of implying blame on the dive op or local practices.
 
He did write this :

Was I right in changing the plan while at 130 ft? No. I've learned some lessons from this. First, the realization that the divemaster has spare gas as an additional safety played a big role in making this decision. Although we did execute the dive in such a way that we did not need to use it, I have nevertheless relied on its availability for safety rather than being entirely self-reliant including provision for safety margin (and I do like to be self-reliant, always carrying a small "bail-out" spare air tank with me since I stop frequently to take photos and get separated from the group). Second, I made this decision while probably already under the influence of nitrogen narcosis so mind would not have been thinking as clearly as it would have been on the boat.

So, in other words, no fault on the part of the dive outfit, and I've already analyzed my actions and beaten myself for it plenty. It was a good learning experience to have.
 
I think Doctorfish said it best and I will leave it at that.

If you want to hit two of the islands, it will involve off gas day if you fly or long boat rides to and from Roatan. You could try to fly into Roatan, spend a week diving, grab a flight to Utila, spend a week diving, fly from Utila back to Roatan in the morning and catch your flight home in the afternoon.

I'd recommend starting with a small shop in West End and get your fill of turtles. Then make a few calls and arrange for day trips with south shore ops, east end ops and the shark dive.
 
He did write this :

Everyone makes mistakes while diving, I just objected to the way he clearly made it seem that the dive op in Cozumel was responsible until pushed on the matter. Every diver has to take responsibility for his own safety.
 
Everyone makes mistakes while diving, I just objected to the way he clearly made it seem that the dive op in Cozumel was responsible until pushed on the matter. Every diver has to take responsibility for his own safety.

My initial comment with regards to the Cozumel operation TOTALLY came out wrong and I apologize for that. As I was writing it, the intention was actually to praise the operation out of all the examples which I provided as the only one that in my opinion operated safely - hauling a spare tank junk in case on the deep dives, and waiting for divers who lag behind. Changing the plan mid-flight was entirely my mistake, while lagging behind was pre-planned and discussed with the DM, and consistent throughout the trip. I very much appreciated him waiting for me, moving ahead only far enough to find something to draw the attention of other divers to and allow me the time to catch up.

I suppose that my comment regarding being picky about safety is relative. True, I take sometimes unnecessary risks (and sometimes make mistakes doing so, from which I try to learn) where I feel that those are of my choice and under my control (I ski too, and used to break horses!). But I do want to minimize risks where I feel entirely not in control, such as getting mugged while riding a taxi or getting my wallet stolen from a hotel room.

I want to thank everyone who posted both the very useful advice about the Bay Islands as well as comments on my diving mistakes. I'll be sure to write up a trip review upon my return.
 

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