Trip Report Scuba Diving in Roatán, Honduras - August 2017 (4K)

[EvilOtter]

This video is a compilation of ten dives from our latest trip to Roatán, Honduras in August 2017.

We started off with an amazing excursion to Morat Wall and Pigeon Key with Dive Pangea Roatán. These secluded reefs see very little dive traffic and offer endless fields of gorgeous soft coral. We followed this up with dives at many our favourite sites such as Cemetary Wall, Gold Chain Reef, Enchanted Forest, French Cay Cut, John’s Spot and Pirate’s Point with our good friends at Barefoot Divers.

This was my second trip using my new 4K video rig and I am much happier with the results. On the whole, my custom white balance was more even and I had less autofocus issues than my first trip. I also explored macro video for the first time and obtained some usable footage. Next time, I will be sure to bring a tripod.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Ron reyes]

all the sea life, sponges, colors, dive sites are amazing, what a great video to show how our reefs they are in this part of the world, thanks for sharing and for let us take you dive with us here at Barefoot Divers, thank you for letting us be part of this experience and looking forward to have you and your family back again soon to go and explore even more, cheers for great time

 

[EvilOtter]

Thanks Ron! I didn't know you were on Scubaboard! It's always a pleasure to dive with you and the gang at Barefoot. For my next project, we should do a lionfish awareness video featuring you as the greatest ceviche chef in all of Honduras!

 

[Doc]

There's an interest on SB in re Pangea Divers. Educate us.

 

[Stout]

Now THAT was freakin' awsome

Makes me want to go out and buy a 4K TV

 

[skubadoo]

Thanks can't wait to go back.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Great Video! Thanks for posting that. Headed to Roatan in January for the first time. Will try and dive all of those sites.

 

[EvilOtter]

Thanks for the great comments, everyone! I had a lot of fun making this video and I am glad to see that others are enjoying it. It is certainly hyping me up for my next trip!

Doc, I posted some of my experience with Dive Pangea on another thread. They are a boutique dive op located in the east end, right beside Camp Bay Lodge and just before La Sirena. Chrissie and Brian are expats from the southern US who have been in business for about five years. They dive all around the northeast part of the island and recently acquired a beautiful new panga, which you can see in the opening shots of my video.

My experience with Dive Pangea is limited to a one-day excursion we did to Morat Wall and Pigeon Cay. We had excellent diving at both sites, which are characterized by extremely dense and healthy soft corals. Fish populations are generally low throughout the east end, largely due to overfishing. We also weaved in a quick visit to Morat to visit the crocs and a few hours of lunch and lounging on Pigeon Cay, which we had entirely to ourselves. We had a mix of divers and non-divers, including some younger kids, and everyone had an incredible time.

I was very impressed with Dive Pangea. They are well equipped, safety conscious and very respectful of the reef and its denizens. They also have a strong environmental orientation, which is very appealing to us. They run a tight ship but were very flexible in terms of allowing us to call the shots within the framework of our plans for the day. I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who wishes to explore the sparsely travelled east end.

It is important to note that Camp Bay is a long hike and the dirt road past Oakridge is very poor. It takes us about an hour to get there from our condo in Brick Bay. Those staying in West End / West Bay would need to budget at least an hour and a half travel time each way. You also need access to a vehicle since taxis and collectivos generally do not run past Oakridge. It is possible that Pangea might help to arrange transport if you called them in advance.

 

[divengolf]

Evil,

Very nice video. Coral appears to be in great condition compared to other areas of Roatan. I’d like to get some detail on the equipment you used and the conditions. It appears that most of what you shot was shallow in natural light. Correct? It also appears that most footage was shot with a WA lens in a dome. I’m going back down there in January hopefully and will try to get some decent video footage from my D7000. I'm more a still macro shooter, but your video encouraged me to try video again. Biggest problem has been getting the focus to hold with a DSLR.

Thanks for posting.

Harry

 

[EvilOtter]

Thanks very much, Harry! I found the coral to be in very good shape this summer, on both the east and south sides, in spite of the high water temperatures. I understand that the rainy fall has caused temperatures to drop down to a more usual level.

All the underwater shots are done using a Panasonic LX-100 in an Ikelite housing. I used a WD-4 dome for most of the wide angle and shot in natural light with custom white balance. For macro, I used a single UCL-165M67 and a pair of BigBlue 2600 lumen video lights. I have a second diopter but did not dare use it since I did not have a tripod rigged up.

This was my second outing with the LX-100 and I am also struggling with holding focus, as you can see in several shots. I expect that it will get better with practice and after getting a better feel for how the camera thinks. I look forward to seeing your next project!