Questions for you Roatan Regulars

[Diving Dubai]

Hi All

I've been through a bunch of threads but can't really get what I'm looking for

1. What is the diving like in Roatan, my experience is more Red Sea, Indonesia, Maldives etc. This is not about creatures but how is it. Currents, good life variety of sites etc?

2. What are the majority of divers like? Most peeps here will be experienced divers, are the majority who go the same or is there a good mix. I understand the cruise ships head there?

The reason for hte above is that I'm thinking of being a "mature student" and doing my DM, maybe even my IDC too. My Thread Here explains why and my experience.

I'm really just interested in both the clientele I may encounter and the types of sites, depths run times you as customers get and expect.

I noted one thread where @MeganW89 thought the DM's weren't caring for the customers, which is interesting but I'd love to hear everyone's views

I mainly club dive which means you do everything yourself, I find it hard on vacation trips to accept help, and am certainly not going to allow a girl to carry my tanks - not because she's not capable, but because I was brought up to open doors for ladies etc in the old fashioned way.

So you see I've never been the client on a full service trip and not sure of their expectations.

All part on my research and thought process. and thanks for your input

 

[Colo Hippie]

The diving in Roatan is really easy, very little current most of the time. The deepest sites bottom out about 110 ft, sure you can go deeper in some areas but usually don't, most dives are between 30-60 ft. You will not find the biodiversity around Roatan that you see in Indonesia. There is good diversity from site to site. The reef structure is different on the North and south sides. When storms roll through the north side gets pretty much shut down. The south side is a nice gentle slope out. The north side tends to drop off into walls more. Average dive times are 45-55 minutes. Dive times are dictated by the schedules of 3 dives a day.

IMHO Roatan has some of the best diving in the Carabean

The clientele is your typical mix of abilities, you have good knowledgable divers and you have beginners, and you also get some know it all idiots and yes you will have cruise ship divers. Most dive ops group the cruisers on one boat with extra DMs to babysit them. Every DM I have spoke with hates the cruise ship divers.

 

[MeganW89]

I think I have to respond since you tagged me This comment is answering both your original post and this one. Sorry it is so ridiculously long.

I'm not sure how to link the threads. But the one @Diving Dubai is talking about me in is called "Divemaster in Roatan this summer" if anyone wants to read it it was in the Bay Islands thread. I was very specifically comparing two Roatan shops to each other so I do not think any DM's or shops in Roatan are not caring to customers. See bottom of this post for more on my other post.

For reference I have never dove out of the Caribbean so I cannot compare to Dubai. But I can say Roatan has some amazing diving. 5-10 minute boat ride to all sites, great coral and wildlife, very knowledgeable instructors and the island is just a really fun laid back vibe. Mostly not a lot of current on the west side of the island but around the point can have very strong currents that make for great drift dives. Personally I would agree Roatan is vacation divers but I’m not sure we agree on the definition of that. Most divers, who go to Roatan, because of the flight schedules, stay at least one week and dive 2-3 times per day (45 min-1 hr dive times depending on operator). Boats are usually 6-8 divers + 1 DM/instructor. Mostly people go to Roatan specifically to dive since there really isn’t much else to do there. So I have actually found the level of ability pretty high. Mexico or Cayman attracts the people who want only a few dives the whole vacation and mostly want to lay on the beach.

Occasionally there are the really demanding customers (primarily the people who are only around for one dive and then leave because of cruise ships) but the vast majority are pretty laid back and just want to enjoy the dive. The “high demand of service” you mention may depend on the place. But in Roatan, DM and DMT carry all tanks to and from the boat and most shops have what they call “valet service” which is when the DM/DMT set up all the gear ahead of time for the customers. Realistically this only takes them a few seconds once you learn the rhythm. As a customer I enjoy it, not because I need it myself, but because I have the assurance that no one in the group is going to ruin the dive because they forgot their weights or messed up setting up their gear. Obviously the customer is still supposed to check everything before going in the water.

And no one is going to care about your age (this is coming from a 27 year old girl). Many people retire and then go do their DM in Roatan so I have had many DMT’s in their 50’s-60’s. They do care about your diving ability and will look to you for guidance in a trouble situation. (Which from your post it sounds like you would actually enjoy getting that experience.)
I can’t comment on agency (though PADI is obviously the most accepted worldwide and that is the main agency on Roatan.)

My other post. The other person specifically wanted a social atmosphere and nightlife so I recommended Coconut Tree for that. Because of your age I personally think you would fit in better at West End Divers where you would be spending time with the owners/instructors and clients more than other dive master trainee’s.

“I LOVE diving with West End Divers. Its very chill/laid back. Small groups so more personalized attention. They usually have 1-2 DMT's at a time and from what I have seen they are always treated as another member of the group by the customers and the staff equally. I'm pretty sure if you DM with them you also get to dive free for life as long as there is room and if you are willing to help out while you are there. The downside DMT-wise is because it is smaller you will have less variety of experiences and probably less overall dives, also no housing, though I'm sure they would be happy to help you find something. The big one for me is once you are done for the day that is it. No real social experience outside of the work day. And segwaying into the other shop, all West End divers divemasters/instructors did their DMT at Coconut Tree.

Coconut Tree is the place everyone goes for DMT. Will runs the program and has connections all over the place to get jobs, which may or may not be helpful to you. But the option is always appreciated. They also have a divemaster house that is very reasonably priced and (this is a "verified rumor") they have a large discount at the best place to eat in Roatan the Oasis Restaurant. I have also seen that as a hang out spot from the DMT's studying at night. So much more social life. Downsides is that because this is such a training center I did not really enjoy diving with them. Less personalized attention as there is often 5+ DMT's at the same time. The boats were very crowded and I felt like, as a normal customer, that I wasn't really appreciated as much at the DMT's were. But they are always very busy so you would get a ton of dives with them."

I hope that helped. Feel free to commend or message me if you had any questions.

 

[Bay Island Diver]

At Coconut Tree our average dive time is 50-60 minutes. We tend to give the customers as much or as little help as they want. The depths are anywhere from shallow 20-40ft dives to 130ft. The wall drops off steeply so at most sites you can get as deep as 130 easily.

The current is usually mild.

We also Tec dive including Trimix if you want to go real deep. The Josie J is a great wreck lying around the 200ft mark.