Given that this is your first trip to Roatan, there are a couple of basic points that I don't see addressed in all the various recommendations. One is that there probably a much bigger difference in atmosphere between the west end and the AI resorts than there is between the various resorts. The resorts will attract different clientele; they tend to be a little more upscale, older crowd, lots of Americans and families. The west end attracts a more diverse group of people, lots of backpackers, more Europeans, a younger crowd overall but fairly mixed. At the resorts, you tend to stay on the grounds, eat there, hang out with the people staying there, and, of course, dive with them. In the west end you go out to the different restaurants and usually end up diving with a somewhat different group from day to day. I'm not advocating one over the other, but I think that's a pretty fair description.
The other thing is that the north side of the island is the leeward side, and on most days of the year it's calmer. There are more dive sites on the north side, but it's not like there are not enough on the south side. Each side has it's devotees, but the majority of the "famous" sites like spooky channel, the aguilla, hole in the wall, etc, are on the north side. The south side does have some very famous sites, Mary's place and the shark dive.
If you end up doing your confined water sessions in Roatan, Half Moon bay on the north side is as close to pool conditions as you can get.
If you want really nice beaches and don't mind paying for it, the West Bay area is very beautiful. I used to jog along the beach from West End to West Bay almost every day. Pretty nice, beats the crap out of my current San Antonio route.
