Help me decide Roatan West Bay or Cozumel?

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scubaNYC16

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Planning a trip for July. I hear both are great. Leaning towards Roatan West Bay as it seems smaller and less touristy than Cozumel. Has anyone been to both that can compare the quality of diving? Thanks!
 
I've been to both. Diving is comparable but different. You will see more big fish in Coz, more soft corals in Roatan. Neither is particularly tourist free but Roatan is (and feels) smaller. Food is better on Coz.

Both are good diving and you won't go wrong with either of 'em.
 
Do you want to drift along--or swim along.....I'd choose Roatan, but then I am biased....(having owned a house there for 14 years, selling in '08--& 2 of our 3 kids living on West End for almost 4 of those 14 years--it was kinda like really visiting home for a while when we'd go twice a year:))
 
I would go with Roatan. The current in Cozumel is a little too strong to be able to stop and look at something you might find enjoyable and changed frequently when I was there.
 
I have been to both and loved both of them for different reasons. Roatan is all about the soft coral and small sea life to me. Coz is large sea life and drift diving. I like going slowly on the walls at Roatan and taking pictures. I also like the ease of drifting with the current at Coz. You can't go wrong with either one! The bugs can be bad at Roatan, so beware!
 
Been to both--Coz many times, Roatan twice. IMHO there is no contest. The diving is better in Coz and the "value" - bang for my buck - is better in Coz. Roatan is a dump.
 
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We like both locations.

Cozumel is more city living. Tons of restaurants, dive shops, hotels of varied types easy wifi access, souvenir shops. late night dances in the square with great street food. fantastic drift diving. fun fast drifts where you pass the world by seeing great walls. slow drifts where you can tuck in behind a coral head/finger and have a closer look.

Roatan is better for when we want to drop off the earth. wifi is spotty and we can just put down the iphones and laptops because it just doesn't seem important anymore. food isn't great and becomes a low priority.
we just lay in hammocks drinking rum and reading between dives. little drift in the dives and you can hang by a coral head and search for the tiny worms and shrimp.
 
I've been to both... Roatan is more "Aquarium" kind of diving... I got certified there in 2008 and we stayed in West Bay (Foster's resort). I very much enjoyed diving in Roatan but who wouldn't when they are diving the caribbean for the first time. I didn't realize at the time, but in West Bay, there was a lot of bleaching of the coral. It's all brown in color, with the exception of West End Wall, which was the best dive IMHO on the West Bay side. It migh be different in other areas like over at Cocoview.

Went to Cozumel in 2011 after Hurricane Wilma.... Hands down... better all around. The reefs were in much better shape even after a hurricane, magnificent color on the reefs and much bigger critters. The currents of Cozumel had me a bit spooked when I started reading about Cozumel diving (particularly the down currents). The current really wasn't that scary after I made a couple dives (providing you don't experience the down currents).

Cozumel is far easier to get to (for me) and is cheaper airfare as well, and is the biggest bang for my buck. I will return to Cozumel in June of this year and I intend to keep going until I can't do it anymore.

Roatan is a bug fest... Don't go out in the evening without "Jungle Juice" the bugs will eat you alive, or carry you away... (they are huge) :)
 
I've been to both and I prefer the diving in Roatan, but Cozumel is so much better topside. IMO, the dive ops in Roatan are a little more customer service and safety focused, dive groups stay together and surface together for the most part (we did have a guy who ran OOA in about 15 minutes and the divemaster took him and his wife up for a safety stop and had them surface alone). In Cozumel, you're pretty much on your own, and I hope you're okay surfacing in buddy pairs and waiting for the boat to find you. In Roatan, you swim along the reef, whereas in Cozumel the divemasters get mad if you try to swim -- they pretty much just float along with the current. In Roatan, there is one decent grocery store and it will cost you $20 to get a cab there, or you can eat bad bar food every night, and I would not feel safe walking around most of it at night. Cozumel has pretty much anything you want in San Miguel - what a great little town, and its safe to walk around at night. I walked back and forth to town every night for dinner, about 20 minutes each way, with no problems.

What exactly are you looking for?
 
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