Turneffe vs. Roatan ??

[curamax]

Planning vacation this september , so here is my questions?

1) Which place has better dive sites?

2) Any recommendations where to stay in one or another place?

3) Best hotel for a non diver companion considering :
who has nice beach to relax while i´m diving ?
food, rooms , what to do?

thanks

 

[champ]

Diving should be comparable at both locations. I would pick Turneffe if it was just you on the trip but there is not much for a non diving companion to do on Turneffe.

As for Roatan. If you want a beach, pick a hotel in West Bay (West End does not really have a beach). Lots of things for a non-diver to do.

Other option would be an all inclusive like Anthony's Key Resort. This works out well because they are very efficient at getting the divers back and forth to the dive sites and your non-diving companion can hope on a snorkel boat while you dive. They have lots of things for a non-diver - dolphins, kayaks, zip line tours ... but you will need to cab to get to anything off the resort.

 

[Mike]

Planning vacation this september , so here is my questions?

1) Which place has better dive sites?

2) Any recommendations where to stay in one or another place?

3) Best hotel for a non diver companion considering :
who has nice beach to relax while i´m diving ?
food, rooms , what to do?

thanks

Those are really completely different places. Turneffe is pretty simple to know what you will find, but Roatan is much bigger and the diving experiences are very different depending on your location and what type of place you are staying at. Turneffe the main focus will be the diving, nothing else to do other than lay at the beach or pool, hang out at the bar, take a kayak out or a hobbie cat, a paddle board then back to the beach, pool or bar. Roatan has much more to do beyond that but the diving is a lot different then out at Turneffe. At Turneffe you will see bigger stuff, sharks, eagle rays, sting rays, lots of green morays, few turtles, Roatan the diving will not be about the big stuff.

What's more of your criteria for diving and non-diving, level of accomodations etc...

 

[curamax]

Thanks,
I'm going to go with turneffe first.

Looks like Turneffe (TIR) has nicer beach and better dive, right?

 

[Mike]

Thanks,
I'm going to go with turneffe first.

Looks like Turneffe (TIR) has nicer beach and better dive, right?

Than the two other resorts on the Turneffe atoll or to Roatan?

Roatan definitely has the nicest beach (West Bay). Again the diving on Roatan depends on which part of the island you are staying. There is diving on the north and diving on the south side, they are different and the approaches to diving and accommodations are very different on each side. The dive centric, nothing but diving, diving, diving accommodations are on the south side of Roatan, Fantasy Island, CocoView, etc... the north side has the best beach (West Bay) the nicer accommodations that are not diver oriented but more vacationeer oriented. I think the north side of Roatan and Turneffe are both seeing the devastation of the lionfish on the reefs, however Turneffe makes up for it because of the bigger stuff you will see that you won't see in Roatan.

TIR on the atoll has the benefit of being closest to the Elbow dive site. The place is nice and it has a beach, but I wouldnt' call it a beach from paradise, not unless you think paradise is looking out at break waters and 'dock' like structures just out in the water off the beach. West Bay on Roatan is beautiful.

Google West Bay Roatan and TIR and switch to image mode and look at the pictures.

 

[curamax]

Thank´s for the advice Mike, it was very usefull.