Where to stay/dive in Roatan? Late Oct-early Nov..HELP!!

[2Coconuts]

We normally dive Cozumel twice a year. We are looking to try something new. Among other places, Roatan is on our short list. We have grown very comfortable with Cozumel, knowing where to stay, where to eat, where to go, and so on...now we need some help again. We normally rent a house in Cozumel and would like to do the same where ever we decide to go. We stay away from the resorts. We also like to enjoy the local culture, the local food, and try to blend in and not be a typical tourist. Maybe do some sight seeing, we are not much into crazy bars, really touristy places, or that sort of thing. Although we are going to dive quite a bit, we would like to spend some time enjoying the beach and some topside activities.

A question about Roatan in terms of geography...we have looked at several rental homes/villas in the West End/West Bay area as well as a few near Sandy Bay and a few more on the other side of Sandy Bay...how difficult or easy it is to get around on the island? If we were to stay outside of the West End/West Bay area, I guess what would be Northeast of that area, Sandy Bay and beyond, would it be quite a drive to get to the dive boat/dive sites everyday? How far northeast is too far away? Can you all recommend a dive operation to use? We prefer the smaller groups.

Final question, what sort of weather and water conditions might we expect in mid to late October or early November (like first week)? I apologize for lengthy post/question and thank you all in advance for any info/advice you offer. It is greatly appreciated.

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. thanks

 

[Doc]

A question about Roatan in terms of geography...we have looked at several rental homes/villas in the West End/West Bay area as well as a few near Sandy Bay and a few more on the other side of Sandy Bay...how difficult or easy it is to get around on the island? If we were to stay outside of the West End/West Bay area, I guess what would be Northeast of that area, Sandy Bay and beyond, would it be quite a drive to get to the dive boat/dive sites everyday?

Final question, what sort of weather and water conditions might we expect in mid to late October or early November (like first week)?

Roatan is a very long thin island, it looks like you have already done some research in terms of looking at the map.

If you want to hook-up with the numerous dive-ops that cluster along West End, Sandy Bay is a fairly easy drive to do this.

What you don't see from looking at Google Earth is that the small villages that string out along the North coast, East of Sandy Bay are not places you can find lodging, nor any easy access by vehicle. "You can't get there from here"

I am no big proponent of driving your own vehicle on Roatan (again, do a search), but the road from Sandy Bay to West End is about the best stretch of pavement on the island. To get any further East than Sandy Bay, you have to drive a long way around~ check the maps. I don't recommend driving for the visitor- many will chime in and tell you how easy it went for them. I will tell you that you absolutely do not want to find yourself in the category of people who had an incident on these otherwise crappy roads.

As a "day diver" you are pretty well locked into the West Bay, and from your described desires, that's not a bad thing at all! You'll likely find exactly the dive op that you describe, and likely some will chime in here, but a quick on thius forum will show this oft discussed topic.

Also easily searched is the equally well dissected topic of the weather. Unfortunately, few here have experience as to what the weather means to different shorelines of the island. In that you have, by description, selected the West Bay dive ops, that will center your diving there and along the Northern coast. That makes the "forecast" easier, but understand that it only applies to that particular coastal zone.

The short of it? At that time of year, it's a total crap shoot. To understand why, you must also understand how tropical storms track. That late in the season, most of the storms track NW from their entrance into the Caribbean just North of Tobago (up from the Equator). These storms rarely track lower South than landfall in Belize.

Still, the Northern/West coast of Roatan can take a lashing of wind and wave from a passing tropical storm, even those tracking NW a full 90 miles away.

It's not guaranteed, either way. If it rains and rains hard, the water clarity on the North/West will return quicker than anywhere else, but the wind and waves might cause the better dive ops to shift their operations to the Southern shore. They will tell you where to meet them on the calmer side.

All in all, Roatan is one of the Caribbean's "safer" places in terms of weather for a Oct-Nov time frame, along with other Southerly islands like the ABC's. The storms usually track, as I mentioned, on a Northwesterly path above the line that you draw from the ABC islands to the Bay Islands.

We also like to enjoy the local culture, the local food, and try to blend in and not be a typical tourist.

What local culture exists, you will find in the stretch of real estate as mentioned above. You will be a typical tourist, trust me. It isn't quite Cozumel yet, but it will give you an "island feel" that Jimmy Buffet might sing about.

Local culture is how one defines it. The reality? The island has no single culture per-se, but it is a highly segmented society of ex-pats, and what are described as: local "whites" (Cayman cousins), "Blacks" (Garifuna) and "the Spanish" (mainlander Hondurans). You are unlikely to see it in any real sense, but you can get a sampling of some typical cuisines even at the established West End eateries... which are highly recommended over stopping at a roadside "bar".

 

[2Coconuts]

Wow, thank you RoatanMan for your outstanding post. That single post has provided more information than we have dug up while looking at multple other sites in our research. YOur post will go a long way with helping us make some important decisions. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

 

[Brodydog]

RoatanMan is THE man to answer ANY questions you have on Roatan. He's an encyclopedia of info regarding Roatan!

 

[diversteve]

As a "day diver" you are pretty well locked into the West Bay,

I'm sure it's just a typo but why drive from Sandy Bay to West Bay when there are good dive operators closer in the West End like Coconut Tree Divers, Reef Gliders, West End Divers etc.

 

[2Coconuts]

Well, the issue of staying in and driving from Sandy Bay has nothing to do with picking dive operators, etc. We were just asking because there were some very nice, and nicely priced rental homes in the Sandy Bay area and beyond. We intended on diving in the West bay/West End area and just had no idea of the distnce between the various areas/towns.

 

[lsorenson]

RoatanMan is THE man to answer ANY questions you have on Roatan. He's an encyclopedia of info regarding Roatan!

I second this post... RMan has always been very helpful to me and my wife!!! He has even helped me decide where to dive in the Bahamas and he never even knew it...

So, let me say it now; Thanks RoatanMan, we were looking to go to the Bahamas but found out we were looking at all of the wrong places... I saw you chiming in on another thread and expressed your desire for a particular location... Homework has now been completed (to some degree) and we now have our sites set for SS!

Regards, lee

Upcoming trips;

Megalodon Teeth (NC Coast) Sept 12 and Oct 27
Cozumel; Jan 2011
Belize; Jan 2011
CCV Roatan Honduras, Sept 2011

 

[thedebinator]

I just returned from a vacation in Roatan. We stayed at Bananarama. While some may say it is touristy (and I guess it is), it was perfect for us. We are vacation divers- we only dive a couple of times a year. I prefer to have a divemaster nearby and don't get too far from him/her. That being said the Bananarama dive shop was fantastic! The dives we went on had no more than 3 buddy pairs. The divemasters really payed attention to all of the divers as far as skill level. If you wanted to and were capable you could go off on your own (within reason), or you could take the guided tour with the divemaster. The decisions on where to dive were kind of a group concensus thing (by the end of the week we had been a a number of dive sites already so they kept in mind where we had already been, also Marco was an awesome divemaster in that he really helped me to become a better diver by pushing me just past the edge of my comfort zone and helped me to be more comfortable in the water) The price at Banarama was a very good value, we got the dive package that included 10 1 tank dives plus a night dive, breakfast, and a welcome drink for a week for 650 bucks.

 

[eisenhauer]

Of course, this is all subjective and you'll get very differing opinions...I'll give you what worked for our family. We are middle+ age with a 17 year old. The three of us did our OW and AOW in Roatan around Christmas 2006, plus a week in Utilla. In Roatan, we stayed at Sandy Bay in a VRBO house. It was very affordable and lovely (two bedroom, own pool, etc. and managed by a women down the hill). We took the local bus or shared taxi into West End for most days and also rented a car for part of the stay. We dove with Coconut Tree and enjoyed ourselves a lot. The prices are best anywhere we have been...down to $20/dive if you log enough dives (compared to Maui last Christmas at $115/dive!!) This spring we went back for a couple weeks of diving again. We rented through VRBO (The Blue House) which was a 7 min drive over the island near Flowers Bay. We rented a car and drove over to Coconut Tree every morning for a couple dives, late lunch in some terrific restaurants in West End, another dive or a break back 'home' for the afternoon...back over for dinner (or cook your own) and a night dive or two. It was a terrific routine. The rental car was handy and not that expensive although it was a beater and at times we wondered if it would make it over the hill. I would not recommend driving much at night if you can avoid it. The roads are narrow and dark with lots of people walking on the 'shoulders' of the road. We took a miss on West Bay (too touristy for our liking). Can't help re the weather in Oct/Nov but both Dec and Mar have been fine for us. If it is stormy on one side, the boards go around to the other normally. Hope that helps.

 

[jlevine]

The weather in October and early November will be good but the likelihood of rain begins to increase later in November. Where you stay is pretty subjective. I'm a West Bay guy. I have stayed at the Mayan Princess once, Bananarama twice, and Las Rocas probably eight or nine times. Roatan is cheap for diving...very cheap. Have a great vacation!