Hello,
I'm writing this as an FYI for anyone thinking of going to Roatan for diving. I've been going to Roatan since 1998. My friend introduced me to it. He has been diving all over the world, and chose this place for his honeymoon. During his honeymoon, he and his new wife purchased two plots of land in Sandy Bay...one on the water, and one across the road. So every year he traveled down there to work on his property and pay his taxes. In 98, I started joining him.
It was slightly different then. It was not on any Cruise line port of call yet, and there were not many, if at all, direct jet liner flights. One had to take TACA airlines through Belize or San Pedro Sula, and then hop on a small "interesting" aircraft. If one started too late in the day, you might not make it as the airport didn't have runway lights. I'm not sure that it does now either, but it might as US carriers have now started to fly there.
I won't go into details about the island. You can read that anywhere. Yes, there is the Iguana farm for anyone who won't have nightmares about 50 iguanas climbing up each others backs to get to a pile of lettuce. And there is "Fantasy Island", one of the all-inclusive resorts on the south side of the island, with private beach (with trucked in or what seems to be fake sand) in its lagoon. It's pricier, quiet, and appears to be cleaner than other places, but the ocean is rougher there. Plus, there doesn't appear to be much nightlife. For those that are fearful of anything but "Americanized" tourism (home in a bottle), than this might be for you...for that matter, you might want to skip Roatan and go to Hawaii or the Cancun strip (ha ha).
No, the West End is the place to be. There is one road that runs along the length of the long skinny island, and it dead-ends at a T intersection at the West End. You can go right or you can go left. If you go 50' forward, you're in the water. Either way, it's the right choice. This small village is full of nice people, natives, and visitors from all over the world. Some come for 2 wks and stay for 12 months.
So my friend Danny befriended a native islander who worked in Anthony's Key Resort. His name is Alvin. Alvin started his own company, Native Son's, around 97 (http://www.nativesonsroatan.com/). He was situated on his sisters property, at the south side of West end...dead end of the road to be precise, the Mermaid Cabins. Those earlier years we stayed there. Except for the sand fleas and NoSeeUms, it was nice, quiet, and you were 20' from the dive shop and 100' from the dive boat and beach. I got my certification there with his future wife, Mish. She's from England, and they have since been married, had a child, and run Chili's Hotel resort, on the north side of West End (right at T), where Native Son's is now located. (Come to T at West end, turn right, go about 200 feet on right.
I've heard of many people that have had rushed experiences with dive instructors. But Alvin and Mish are great. Not only are they extremely patient, but they are very safe. Alvin has spent countless hours in the decompression chamber with young local lobster gatherers, and he knows the risks, and what is required to avoid them. Safety is always on his mind. While on one dive, he was instructing a newcomer. I had just completed my instruction and was with another dive master at under 80'. He was up near the boat at about 30'. My dive master lost track of me around a ship. I was fine, I was just 10' above her, tracking their moves. I saw her start back for me, and I had to go back down to let her know I was above her. Problem solved. However, Alvin was not very happy with her, and saw what had transpired from above. He lectured her about the need to look all around, including upwards. The fact that he knew where all of his divers were impressed me. He's always in the back, moving very slowly, with his 4lbs of weight, watching us. He always has the most air left over when we surface as well. He knows his limits, and keeps us well above them. Plus, while other dive shops push it with 3-4 dives per day, Alvin keeps it to 2, with an occasional night dive.
Yes, not only do I trust this guy with my life, but these two people are just great people to know. I highly recommend using
My friend Danny has since sold his beachfront property (sniff sniff), but we still go down and dive annually. April is our next trip, and I'm looking forward to taking my daughter there some day.
Oh yeah, the food, especially the fish is excellent!
I'm writing this as an FYI for anyone thinking of going to Roatan for diving. I've been going to Roatan since 1998. My friend introduced me to it. He has been diving all over the world, and chose this place for his honeymoon. During his honeymoon, he and his new wife purchased two plots of land in Sandy Bay...one on the water, and one across the road. So every year he traveled down there to work on his property and pay his taxes. In 98, I started joining him.
It was slightly different then. It was not on any Cruise line port of call yet, and there were not many, if at all, direct jet liner flights. One had to take TACA airlines through Belize or San Pedro Sula, and then hop on a small "interesting" aircraft. If one started too late in the day, you might not make it as the airport didn't have runway lights. I'm not sure that it does now either, but it might as US carriers have now started to fly there.
I won't go into details about the island. You can read that anywhere. Yes, there is the Iguana farm for anyone who won't have nightmares about 50 iguanas climbing up each others backs to get to a pile of lettuce. And there is "Fantasy Island", one of the all-inclusive resorts on the south side of the island, with private beach (with trucked in or what seems to be fake sand) in its lagoon. It's pricier, quiet, and appears to be cleaner than other places, but the ocean is rougher there. Plus, there doesn't appear to be much nightlife. For those that are fearful of anything but "Americanized" tourism (home in a bottle), than this might be for you...for that matter, you might want to skip Roatan and go to Hawaii or the Cancun strip (ha ha).
No, the West End is the place to be. There is one road that runs along the length of the long skinny island, and it dead-ends at a T intersection at the West End. You can go right or you can go left. If you go 50' forward, you're in the water. Either way, it's the right choice. This small village is full of nice people, natives, and visitors from all over the world. Some come for 2 wks and stay for 12 months.
So my friend Danny befriended a native islander who worked in Anthony's Key Resort. His name is Alvin. Alvin started his own company, Native Son's, around 97 (http://www.nativesonsroatan.com/). He was situated on his sisters property, at the south side of West end...dead end of the road to be precise, the Mermaid Cabins. Those earlier years we stayed there. Except for the sand fleas and NoSeeUms, it was nice, quiet, and you were 20' from the dive shop and 100' from the dive boat and beach. I got my certification there with his future wife, Mish. She's from England, and they have since been married, had a child, and run Chili's Hotel resort, on the north side of West End (right at T), where Native Son's is now located. (Come to T at West end, turn right, go about 200 feet on right.
I've heard of many people that have had rushed experiences with dive instructors. But Alvin and Mish are great. Not only are they extremely patient, but they are very safe. Alvin has spent countless hours in the decompression chamber with young local lobster gatherers, and he knows the risks, and what is required to avoid them. Safety is always on his mind. While on one dive, he was instructing a newcomer. I had just completed my instruction and was with another dive master at under 80'. He was up near the boat at about 30'. My dive master lost track of me around a ship. I was fine, I was just 10' above her, tracking their moves. I saw her start back for me, and I had to go back down to let her know I was above her. Problem solved. However, Alvin was not very happy with her, and saw what had transpired from above. He lectured her about the need to look all around, including upwards. The fact that he knew where all of his divers were impressed me. He's always in the back, moving very slowly, with his 4lbs of weight, watching us. He always has the most air left over when we surface as well. He knows his limits, and keeps us well above them. Plus, while other dive shops push it with 3-4 dives per day, Alvin keeps it to 2, with an occasional night dive.
Yes, not only do I trust this guy with my life, but these two people are just great people to know. I highly recommend using
My friend Danny has since sold his beachfront property (sniff sniff), but we still go down and dive annually. April is our next trip, and I'm looking forward to taking my daughter there some day.
Oh yeah, the food, especially the fish is excellent!
