Living in Roatan

[zboss]

We moved to Roatan a year ago today. Before that, a year in Isla Mujeres, 5 in Cozumel, 6 months in the Middle East and 4 years in the Bahamas. We love Roatan and we'll be here at least another year. Every once in a while we toy with the idea of buying property because the place is booming. The only thing that turns us off is the cost of electricity. If you're looking at property make sure it is high enough to take advantage of the wind because you won't want to be running a/c much. We have friends here who built homes that take such great advantage of the cooling breezes that they almost never have to use a/c.

That's AMAZING! I never would have thought! Now I HAVE to go. BTW - I was looking at your photos.

 

[freefall2]

That's AMAZING! I never would have thought! Now I HAVE to go. BTW - I was looking at your photos.

Yeah, the orcas blew my mind too! We still haven't been lucky enough to see the whale sharks yet. We haven't been out looking for them specifically though.

 

[Doc]

Yeah, the orcas blew my mind too! We still haven't been lucky enough to see the whale sharks yet. We haven't been out looking for them specifically though.

Photos of Orcas, Whale Sharks and some better stuff... all photos from Roatan.

Links are at: http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/ccv/vpost?id=35677

 

[zboss]

So- do you dive with them? I generally wouldn't get out of that water unless there are very agressive sharks showing a lot of interest in us, but I've been under the impression that Orcas are very aggressive creatures.

 

[freefall2]

We didn't dive with the orcas our boat but one of our friends/crew jumped in with a mask and one of the orcas swam right up under him. We urged him to get back out of the water because they were eating and playing with what looked like the guts of a dolphin. Some people on a dive boat got in with the rest of the pod and got some terrific photos.

A friend of mine snorkelled with orcas in Norway. BRRRRRRR. Another friend snorkelled with them in New Zealand. From what I understand they are generally not aggressive toward humans except in captivity.

There was a sighting here recently of several pygmy killer whales. Here is a fascinating fact I found on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society page "The sound of the Pygmy killer whale growling can be heard above the surface of the water! Possibly the most aggressive of cetaceans, it is also prone to stranding."

 

[Doc]

So- do you dive with them? I generally wouldn't get out of that water unless there are very agressive sharks showing a lot of interest in us, but I've been under the impression that Orcas are very aggressive creatures.

The few times I have been near them, I was in their ongoing path. As they approached, they sounded under me to 85' and as they passed, they came back up to cruising depth. As most apex predators, if they don't understand you as being food, they don't consider you as food.

That's my theory and I explain it to every finned carnivore that comes close.