@drrich2 knows my history: many years ago I circumnavigated the entirety of Roatan on a diveplane, essentially being hauled behind a boat on SCUBA. We were looking for viable dive sites. At the same time, the underwater architecture and landscape revealed huge differences that are perfectly understandable and easy to see. Yes, absolutely, there are differences.
The above water terrain begins to explain it. The island has a backbone ridge line. It rises steeply from the North, then slopes gently down to the South side. The North is heavy vegetation, some standing water, it is darker in the shadows of the Sun. The South has more loose soil, drier, more arid, Sunnier. Simple geography.
But- geography escapes many because Roatan lies at a 45 degree position (SW>NE) on the globe, instead represented for convenience on maps as a seemingly E>W orientation. Everything depends on you getting that correct.
This surface geography was caused by prevailing weather patterns. Over eons. The windward side of the island gets the constant gentle ESE/SE winds. The heavy wind and wave, when it arrives during the Caribbean Storm Season (Aug>Feb) comes from the North. Staying West/North at that time of year is a crap shoot. Deep pocket resorts (not all, not many) move their ops to the South dive. Some lesser ops boat you around or through, not ideal. The majority just close and go to the bar.
Here’s Doc Radawski in a 2 minute video i shot with crappy sound. Doc was one of the last survivors in the Dinosaur Exhibit who they interviewed for the Indiana Jones Crystal Skulls Infomercial on Discovery Channel. Doc taught me most of what I know about the geo of RTB.
It’s not a big leap to imagine that these effects continue underwater. You can see it on satellite imagery, you can see it after diving the placed wrecks (or merely reading their dive site descriptions)
The North/West: The reef structure lies far enough offshore to eliminate viable shore access. (Some dive-ops try to infer/claim otherwise). When the reef begins 1/3+ mile offshore, it slopes gently in two steps, roughly 60 and 90’, easy to get deep. Nitrox is well advised. The placed wrecks are in the 90fsw range and due to storm surge, they are in tatters, just deep metallic chunks, yet still providing reef like structure for Pelagics. It has very little soft coral, it has a lot of shadows, understand that only the Sun creates the florid phototropic zones, a concentrator of life, so not very much here.
With the combination of the heavy presence of the Roatan Marine Park, this area offers what I believe to be the “best of what’s left” in the Caribbean, and I mean this as what the Caribbean was commonly understood and best known to offer. (Roatan has a more unique claim to fame, read on)
In this North zone, there is similarly the increasing hyping of more Easterly dive ops.
@ilikefood I am aware of one viable Nothside real-deal diveop focused resort presentation that is truly East, Dive Pangea. The broader point is other diveops, along East on the South side, that claim their diving is more virginal because of the lack of diver pressure, less visitors. It’s a purely ignorant or BS statement
that does still result in that very valid answer. It is less degraded up toward the East but for one reason. Not many changes out that way (yet) in terms of earth moving and construction. The mild current pushes from the East. Anything downstream is going to get
soil run off (siltation) which is what really degrades the reef. More pristine? To the East. Due to the momentarily, so far, sparse population, if you want the retro dive resort 70’s thing, here’s your oyster. The ‘dive site quality’? Highly subjective differences,
Conditions can get challenging off the true Eastern (Santa Helena, site of the Mitchel Hedges Crystal Skull & Josh Gates episode) end of Roatan’s exposure- that’s why no one is really offering it. Hammerheads oft seen just off East, Next stop- Isla Barbaretta. I did this years ago, private charter. Beyond twitchy challenges, most esp at night. Fortune favors the brave (Or stupid)
The South? The unique part of Roatan lies between French Harbour and Oak Ridge. It
is like no other structure in the Caribbean, again due to geography and weather. Reef structure begins within 100-200’ from shore. Coral heads present in 5-25fsw and a straight vertical wall drops to a 90fsw sand shelf. The best dive profiles are completely doable 5x/day on plain air- it’s that shallow. Wrecks lie in 45 and 65’, largely intact and upright- a result of ultra calm waters, certainly compared to the West/North wrecks. This South shore is subject to Sunlight track all day long, causing an extremely florid brightly lit phototropic environment, but unlike the population of very common Caribbean Pelagics of the North, the South is instead a shallow nursery for the micro and babies. Roatan is noted for the largest varieties of soft coral, this South Zone is where they are- no storm damage, just fresh seawater exchange. The Reef Fish ID Photo Books, the South side is where these shooters dive- Plain and simple, since the days of Paul Humann, Stan Waterman and now all the new kids.
Here’s the Dunning-Krueger textbook page in action.
Roatan is a great destination for beginners to ‘advanced divers‘. But what is an advanced diver? In this discussion, let’s focus on the “naturalist” skills that become the hallmark of a comfortable diver with great buoyancy skills.
The West/North provide what I mentioned before. Likely the single best remaining Caribbean variety and concentration of larger apex and pelagic reef fish. If your bucket list needs Baracuda, Parrot, Lobster, all that cool stuff, the West/North is your target.
The South is a whole different deal. To make for a happy diver, they should possess the skill set to be inches from delicate corals, motionless, and to have the composure to discern macro creatures. Night dives? Place is crawling with Octos and Squid.
Many divers can quickly master the required dive skills to do this. It’s still very hard to find these critters. That is why you simply must attach yourself to your well qualified and motivated DM. You always carry a flashlight and a magnifying glass.
@ilikefood I’m thinking you had a low grade DM. There is incredible life everywhere. I myself prefer the South side, and if my DM isn’t finding at least one Pipefish or Seahorse or Decorator Crab, Neck Crab, that kind of delight…if he isn’t finding at least one on every dive, I’m switching DMs.
Caveat: a day trip “to the other side” is nothing more than a whiff.
@ilikefood, you were in an interesting area that has any number of visually imposing reef structures and a few swim-thru type environment. I’m guessing you were not offered those, they are more impressive than the very over-hyped Mary’s Place. What you call Punta Blanca is kind of a marketing name for the geographical area of Marble Hill, essentially North from Oak Ridge (that’s the big town on the East End/South Side)
You were there during marginal, rainy weather from a “Norther”. Yeah, I’ll bet fish were scarce. If I was your DM, I would have shown you the swim-thru structures or motored you to the sheltered South side via the mangrove cut nearby. Only slightly less suck on the South, but.
Come April > August. Mo betta
If one really wanted to dive all of Roatan, try three weeks, one at Anthony Key AKR, one at CoCoView CCV and the other split between Dive Pangea and Reef House RHR.
Final thought: I write for divers who came to dive. I want 4+ in a day. I want a night dive every night. There is alternate advice by the bucketful on Trip Advisor. Whenever anyone has a vacay, it was inarguably the best choice ever. This is what causes posts such as, “Jamaica has the best diving”. Qualify the advice you are given, go see it all, be an adventurous dive traveler.