Is it just me? Or is Roatan really that underwhelming?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I am scheduled to dive there next month so I will be telling you what I think. Utila was better than Bonaire IMO.

 

[victorzamora]

I am scheduled to dive there next month so I will be telling you what I think. Utila was better than Bonaire IMO.

....and Roatan is the same reef, so there's that. Who are you diving with

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

....and Roatan is the same reef, so there's that. Who are you diving with

I will be with AKR.

In Utila, certain parts of the reef are really mind blowing. The deep walls that descend into the abyss are really dramatic. Plus there are underwater caves and over all larger marine life like Dolphins, Rays etc. Bonaire I found to be fishier in terms of small fist but the landscape was the same on almost every dive. I hope that Roatan will offer the same terrain diversity as Utila though I doubt it.

 

[Altamira]

Out of the three Roatan has the greatest possibility of being underwelming so I don't think your comments are that far off.

Out of the three Cozumel has the ability to give you a decent selection of dives and experiences with the least amount of effort to experience them. Belize and Roatan can blow away those decent Cozumel dives with enough effort put in by the dive tourist to get to the locations in Belize and Roatan that offer up that locations best dives. Diving off a cruise ship just won't get you to those top dive locations in Belize and Roatan, so you're left with mediocre to eh... dives.

I would not advise anyone to judge the diving in any location in the world based on diving it via a cruise ship, you just are never going to get what you can get when you go there specifically to dive, its just impossible. Cruise ship diving is dumbed down diving to the lowest common denominator diver on the trip, they take you to dive sites that nobody can hurt themselves on and can't mess the environment up too badly because it's already been beaten up to near death. I stopped cruise ship diving years ago, it's just a waste of your money, with the rare exception it's 38 minute bottoms times on the closest, easiest reef, diving with horrible divers on a crappy boat with a dive operator set up to process divers like a conveyor belt at a factory.

Don't know who you dove with in Belize from a cruise, but we dove on Turneffe Atoll with Hugh Parkey (the ship's dive op) the last two times there, and the dives were great (perhaps not Indonesia great), but excellent for the Caribbean. The reefs, dive op's staff and captain, dive boat, and divers (with one exception) were far from crappy or beat up. Likewise AKR in Roatan has given us very good dives as well, and we have really enjoyed Barefoot Divers on the south side.

 

[scubafanatic]

I've been to Roatan for a week July 2005 (Co Co View) and found the diving very underwhelming, and that was 10 years ago, before the Lionfish Invasion, can't imagine what it looks like today! While I enjoyed the Co Co View experience/dive op/accomodations, fish life was non-existent, even back then, and the vis was rather murky/silty, even though we had minimal rain. The outstanding dive consisted of the off shore shark dive we did one day (Waihuka Adventure Diving) which took us enough offshore to experience great vis, pretty healthy reefs, fish and shark life.
Co Co View suffers from far too much diver pressure, and being on the shore suffers from too much murky rain/silt runoff. I'm assuming local fisherman had pretty much wiped out the fish, as this was the pre-Lionfish era, the Lionfish have likely finished off what was left, but that just a speculation on my part as I never returned to Roatan.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I've been to Roatan for a week July 2005 (Co Co View) and found the diving very underwhelming, and that was 10 years ago, before the Lionfish Invasion, can't imagine what it looks like today! While I enjoyed the Co Co View experience/dive op/accomodations, fish life was non-existent, even back then, and the vis was rather murky/silty, even though we had minimal rain. The outstanding dive consisted of the off shore shark dive we did one day (Waihuka Adventure Diving) which took us enough offshore to experience great vis, pretty healthy reefs, fish and shark life.
Co Co View suffers from far too much diver pressure, and being on the shore suffers from too much murky rain/silt runoff. I'm assuming local fisherman had pretty much wiped out the fish, as this was the pre-Lionfish era, the Lionfish have likely finished off what was left, but that just a speculation on my part as I never returned to Roatan.

When people say Roatan was under-whelming then the question that comes to my mind is where else have they been diving? Your profile does not state your location but if you live in Fiji and have done 100 dives there then it will be under whelming. Also ... which month did you go to Roatan? Some months offer significantly better condition than others I am told.

 

[diversteve]

I will be with AKR.

In Utila, certain parts of the reef are really mind blowing. The deep walls that descend into the abyss are really dramatic. Plus there are underwater caves and over all larger marine life like Dolphins, Rays etc. Bonaire I found to be fishier in terms of small fist but the landscape was the same on almost every dive. I hope that Roatan will offer the same terrain diversity as Utila though I doubt it.

I've done both - a year apart. Utila is definitely more larger stuff - not counting the 8 whaleharks we saw - and certainly more dramatic on the north side. It seemed like just about every dive in that area there were a few sharks circling around - you won't see that off AKR. Some big grouper though and almost always turtles. And lots of rays.

However Roatan has it's moments also - near AKR Hole in the Wall is a great dive. They're going to do both deep wrecks since they put one down and helped with the other (Aquila/Oddyssey) And Spooky Channel is almost as good as Mary's Place - which AKR should dive once also - arguably one of the signature Roatan dives. Ask to go west to Texas/Pablo's to drift dive also although they probably will. If anyone mentions heading east to Morat Wall off Barbareta jump all over that. It's on one of the top 100 dives in the world lists. So is Mary's Place IIRC.

There's dolphins on Bailey's Cay across from AKR also - part of the AKR RIMS program. For around $140 they do a dive with them on a flat sandy area just off the resort. I thought it was well worth it. Dedicated boat so probably a small group - ours was 7 of us plus 1 resort guest.They are conditioned though so it's not a natural event. Some say the snorkel in the pens is almost as good - and cheaper. The shark dive AKR re-sells is the Waihuka dive mentioned above all the diveops book it since Waihuka only works through them.

 

[mmmbelows]

Don't know who you dove with in Belize from a cruise, but we dove on Turneffe Atoll with Hugh Parkey (the ship's dive op) the last two times there, and the dives were great (perhaps not Indonesia great), but excellent for the Caribbean.

Yep, Turneffe is the exception to the rule, some of the best diving in Belize is available there. Going there is that execption I mentioned which takes more time, effort and money than the standard cruise ship dive. Unfortunately in Roatan there is no Turneffe like option from a cruise ship.

 

[robint]

here's the thing about Roatan.... IMHO.
Roatan is not known for its fishlife. So if you judge how good a destination diving is according by fish, you will be dissappointed. There are fish, but not the huge schools of every kind of fish like Cozumel.
Roatan IS known for small critters.... like finding seahorses every dive, or garden eels, schools of squid, eels, or blennies of every shape and color. The southside of Roatan is a steep wall with dramatic reef structure, coral, sponges, etc. If you like that kind of stuff, you will love it. The northside of the island (AKR dives this side) is a different reef structure with more variety of fishlife due to the Marine Preserve. Each side of island has its Pros and Cons. If you can take Roatan for what it does well, then you will enjoy it. If not, you may be underwhelmed.
Is the diving as "good" as Cozumel... no. But it is still really good, just different.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It's unfair to characterize an entire island or country (like Belize) based on just one trip to one part.

I've done both - a year apart. Utila is definitely more larger stuff - not counting the 8 whaleharks we saw - and certainly more dramatic on the north side . . . .

Exactly. I spent a month on Utila and dived mostly the south side, and I saw very little large stuff. I tend to unfairly tell people that I prefer Roatan over Utila. I really need to remember that I have not dived all Utila has to offer.

. . . The northside of the island (AKR dives this side) is a different reef structure with more variety of fishlife due to the Marine Preserve. Each side of island has its Pros and Cons. . . .

Agreed. Depending on where the dive op takes you around Roatan, you could have vastly different experiences.