Beginner/inexperienced diver advice Roatan

We are headed to Roatan July 22-29. It almost doesn't seem real! My husband and I were certified 4 years ago and haven't been diving since our son was born. And we
Only have one dive trip in Cozumel under our belt.

We are signed up to do a refresher here in AZ in a pool and then doing another refresher with Mayan Divers out of the Mayan Princess resort. We were referred to them from the villa owner where we are staying.

Does anyone have experience with Mayan divers? We will prob hire a private DM to stay shallower with us at first. Is this a good way to go being a newbie?

Also, are there a fair amount of shallow,easy dives in roatan? Our fear is being on a boat with experienced divers and diving deeper than we want to. Until we get back into it, we want to stay shallow and easy.

thanks for any advice or insights!

There really isn't much deep in West Bay that will be a problem. We stayed around 60' all week - maybe occasionally a little deeper. But there's plenty to see at 40' also. In fact I saw more turtles shallower on top of the wall than I did when we dropped over it. Most of the time we'd see one or two then coming back to the boat they'd be all over in 30' or less. Most of the moorings are around that or shallower and there's still a lot of coral cover at most of them.

Not a lot of current either - except at the far west end of the West End. Sites like Texas are drift dives - often done as live drops. So just don't do those. You're likely not going to get an overly experienced crowd at Mayan Princess either - it's more of a resort with diving than an AI dive resort like Anthony's Key or Cocoview etc. Most shops will segment you by experience level and provide a DM as needed. I don't specifically know Mayan Divers but I'm sure it's similar. There's a lot of DM training on that side so often there's more than one DM shadowing you also.

I'd save Spooky Channel or Mary's Place for later in the week. Some operators might want to see an Advanced Card for Mary's. They're narrow canyons in the reef so can be a little intimidating. Also the El Aguila wreck is deep. From what I've read lately, pretty smashed up also. Mayan may not do any of those due to distance from West Bay anyway.

You might check with Barefoot Divers and see what their plans are - they do a cruise program on the south side so are used to less experienced divers. Plus it's a small resort - the morning we dove there it was just us on their boat. And the DM. Wouldn't be optimal for daily diving if you're staying in West Bay but it's a relatively quick drive/$20 cab ride there one morning.

Although we did Mary's Place (requested) first. the 2nd dive we rode over to Cocoview and dove the signature Roatan wreck - Prince Albert. I believe the top deck on that is at 25'. It's a big ship (140') sitting upright in 65'. Diver prepared and dropped purposely. Besides your group there's bound to be divers from Cocoview on it - it's their house reef.

And maybe skip the Shark Dive. The spot itself is fairly shallow but the current ranges from none to raging. When it's the latter, they have special instructions for the descent.

The dive site is located on a unique part of the reef surrounding Roatan, an arm that juts perpendicularly from the southern shore surrounded by walls that drop off to depths beyond the reach of divers. Divers descend along the mooring line (there is often current)

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If you want to dive with the dolphins at AKR, that couldn't be easier - 60' on a flat sandy bottom that you're encouraged to kneel on. 5mins. from AKR and you and your fellow dolphin divers get their own boat, DM and videographer - plus the dolphin handler and 2-3 dolphins.

Really if you did OK in Cozumel, Roatan will be easier. It's generally a lot shallower to see the good stuff.

I agree, most of the time we more or less followed the DM which went 60-90 ft on occasion but with the layout of the reef, you can do pretty much any dive profile you want. Many times my buddy and I would follow the DM with the rest below while we stayed up on the edge of the reef wall which was in the 30-40 ft range. I am quite comfortable going deep but there is plenty of pretty stuff up top without worrying about my NDLs so why go deep. While they were deeper than us, it was very easy to follow the curtin of bubbles coming up from below and you knew for certain they are going to follow the wall. At the turn point, they came back to the top of the reef so we just met them there. Like Steve said, you may want to leave Mary's Place and Calvins Crack for later in the week or not at all, they are both swim though cracks that start fairly shallow but come out at 100ft or more. If you are not comfortable doing them, you simply follow the bubbles coming out of the reef to the wall then see which way the bubbles head and follow along from above, no big deal. Just let the DM know what your intentions are so they will not be looking for you in the wrong spot.

Don't worry. You are going to be just fine. Roatan is a great dive destination for new divers (and experienced divers too). You are going to love it, especially if the weather is in your favor.

If you possibly can, you should request Mark Washington as your divemaster. He is great to dive with. We dove with him when he worked at Fantasy Island and then he moved on to work at CocoView for several years. He is now working with Mayan Divers and we had the opportunity to visit with him a few weeks ago. What a friendly and knowledgeable guy! He is already learning where to find the cool creatures around West Bay and West End.

If you do dive with him, be sure to tell him Jackie & Hank said to take great care of you

Wow thank you all for the great insights and advice! I'm glad to know there's easy diving there. I love the dolphin dive info too! That sounds pretty amazing.

Thank you for the dive master advice too. I will be sure to ask for Mark!

You all have made me even more excited to get there! I'm grateful for the tips!

jennfl - your enthusiasm is great. I hope you will have a wonderful trip! Please remember that the people giving you advice would LOVE to hear how your trip went after you get back...please give us a trip report

Since you don't have lots of dive experience, I know it is easy to be intimidated. Once you get to Roatan and experience how things are, you will be just fine. By the time you complete your week of diving there, you will be an old pro! Over the years, the divemasters of Roatan have made us much better divers

I will surely post a trip report! After reading dozens on this board, it will be great to finally write my own. No more living vicariously through everyone anymore! It has been torture for me to read the dive reports on here, but somehow, I haven't been able to stop myself!

I'm feeling much more at ease after reading all of the posts here. Thank you everyone! I'm literally so excited to get there I can't see straight.

jennfl:

i will surely post a trip report! After reading dozens on this board, it will be great to finally write my own. No more living vicariously through everyone anymore! It has been torture for me to read the dive reports on here, but somehow, i haven't been able to stop myself! I'm feeling much more at ease after reading all of the posts here. Thank you everyone! I'm literally so excited to get there i can't see straight.:d

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Nothing at all to worry about...the diving is easy and if you tell them your worries they won't make you do anything you don't want to! Have a blast, it's a beautiful place! Oh yeah, and the diving rocks!