Staying at the Xbalanque Resort...looking for a good dive shop

[ushipb00]

Hi ScubaBoards,

I have done a ton of diving in the Philippines and I just bought tickets to dive in Roatan. I will be staying at the Xbalanque Resort which is on the west end. PADI has a lot of dive shops in that area. Any recommendations? I was looking at the Roatan Divers Dive Shop for now. But I really want one with really good service and that could pick us up at our resorts dock.

Also, any must do dives locations suggestions would be much appreciated.

Also I will be going at the end of March. Will a 3mm long or shorty be ok?

Thanks,

B.

 

[RTBDiver]

Hi ScubaBoards,

I have done a ton of diving in the Philippines and I just bought tickets to dive in Roatan.
B.

I now see the section about diving , seems some pick ou up.


You will mostly dive wherever the plan for the day is and close proximity to the shop unless a special dive day is planned.

At the end a march a shorty 3mm is perfect..... For some people, others wear a full suit, some like a 5mm some a dive skin. No one but yourself with "A ton of dives" knows better what protection will work for you in very high 70's -very low 80's f temps. A lot will depend on how many dives a day and if your doing night dives. Unfortunately where your staying you will not do a ton on dives on Roatan

 

[CajunDiva]

Looks like you have found a real gem! The resort is highly rated...even on TripAdvisor There are even videos on YouTube to watch. I did see on their website that they list snorkeling and diving among things to do on the island. It's great that they have their own pier. I'm sure you could make arrangements with one of the local dive operators to pick you up there.

We have enjoyed diving with Aqua Adventures, whose base of operations on the west side of the island is at Las Rocas Resort, which I think is near Xbalanque Resort. I haven't stayed in that area before, so I'm a little geographically challenged

Aqua Adventures Roatan, Daily Diving, Padi Scuba Courses, Bay Islands Tours & Sport Fishing

 

[Doc]

The resort is highly rated...even on TripAdvisor

That aside, it really is a remarkable place. They maintain a rare consistency of a high level product, certainly for Roatan.

RTBDiver certainly said it in few words, though. Your Philippines experience has set you up for what might be some major frustration. By looking at your previous SB postings, I see that you have had quite an exposure to several dive venues in the SoPac. And, I'm not simply talking about the variety of critters that you may see.

This will be more of a laid back vacation, as even XBQ's website now defers diving services to an un-named off-prem vendor. I believe that the dive boat that they picture on the website used to be part of their in-house dive presentation. They undoubtedly have arrangements with dive ops to pick up at their dock, you can do this as well- it's a bit of a hump to and from, otherwise.

I think the cogent point of what RTBDiver really was pointing at, is that your Philippine experience of multiple dives/day and several night dives are going to have to be adjusted to this more leisurely Roatan Day-Dive op schedule. In example, in the West End it is possible to do a night dive on some specific day, but only if there are sufficient numbers signed-up. In the Philippines, I know (happily) that night dives are every night- and they are well worth it. You can get a "Philippines (Batangas) Hotel Atlantis" type dive experience at Roatan's AI called Coco View, but CCV is rustic, as XBQ is elegant. So far on Roatan, you can't have both.

Must do dives? Again, I'll echo the above, but elaborate. There are essentially two zones of diving on Roatan, where you are it will be deeper (115' wrecks) and on the shadow side of the Sunlight. You will have more u/w terrain shape as this is where the storms arrive, this also explains the less soft and hard corals. This West/North area has more quantity of larger Apex fish (Barracuda, Parrot, etc) due to its proximity to the Marina Reserva. The "other" side of the island is shallower (55' wrecks), Sunlit walls, full of soft & hard corals... and thus has lots of macro. This Southern area exhibits underwater structure that is simple straight vertical walls- not a lot of discernable rocky shapes.

As RTBDiver said, a dive op is going to take you where they're going to take you. They have a set schedule, with minor variations. They have boats and time considerations that dictate what they can or will not do. If you take a 1/2 day and do some walking about and asking (notebook in hand), you may well select two or more dive ops depending upon what they offer.

You are not really going to get to experience both in any equal fashion. Your access will be West/North. They may likely offer a day trip to "the South side" for an added charge (fuel and time) and take you to the much vaunted "Mary's Place". Most divers gravitate towards the site because it was once "closed" for ecological study, thus it gained a cachet. Even more divers like it because it is a shape that is different, and at some certain level, all we can do is gawk at shapes. In your Philippines lexicon, I would put this in the Isla Verde experience, on a decidedly miniature scale. Otherwise, you will likely not get much diving in on the South side, if at all- just around the point to places no further than Flowers Bay... dive sites they only chug around to if West/North is weathered out.

Unfortunately, due to your location, you are not likely to access any of the Far East dive sites on the North side (only as far as the tattered & deep placed wreck of the Odyssey), but maybe if you get to just the right dive-op on the West End- that might just happen! Anyone here know who? I'm thinking Bear's Den and the like, but again- the main attraction here is the change in shape of the physical strata and architecture. Not at all like the diversity in creatures that are caused by such changes that one commonly observes in the Philippines.

Everyone has different needs, but the Philippines made me grin with muck, macro and such. You're not going to find the rollicking current (or much of any by your experience) and you're not going to find a different color variant of Nudibranch every 3 meters, but with the understanding that the Caribbean is this way in Nature's Plan- that should make your exploration a good effort.

Go very very slowly, get in close. Our Pipe Fish are very drab by comparison, but that makes them harder to spot! Our Sea Horses- well- they look like real deal Sea Horses instead of those extraterrestrials that inhabit the SoPac. It's a different part of the same world, some with your life experience might be disappointed, but if you want to see the "best of what's left" in the Mar Caribe, Roatan is the way to do it.

And yes, I wouldn't mind resting my head at XBQ. Should be nice.

 

[ushipb00]

Thank you so much DOC! Your breakdown of Roatan is much appreciated!

 

[diversteve]

Texas should be a site any op that picks up there would do. It's a drift at the very west point off Roatan. West End Wall nearby is one of the best in that area. Often both are drift dives.

Bucho's Bank was another good dive just a little west of your resort. Tabayana is supposed to be another - we didn't get to it. It's really close by - like out front. If you find someone going east, Spooky Channel is a different sort of dive. The best part of that dive was the larger pelagics we found "waiting" at the deeper end.

---------- Post added January 13th, 2014 at 04:03 PM ----------

Unfortunately, due to your location, you are not likely to access any of the Far East dive sites on the North side (only as far as the tattered & deep placed wreck of the Odyssey), but maybe if you get to just the right dive-op on the West End- that might just happen! Anyone here know who? I'm thinking Bear's Den and the like, but again- the main attraction here is the change in shape of the physical strata and architecture.

Reef Gliders...Roatan diving and dive sites around West End

 

[levergun]

Well, another option is to take a water taxi to west end, which is much cheaper and faster than land taxi to the same destination. A larger selection of dive shops and for $1-$3 per person for water taxi you could easily arrive at west end for diving other sites, and points further NW. Bears Den, Hole in the Wall are high on my fun list. My last dive on Roatan was Texas, which I got to choose as the site that day. I spent seven weeks in West End last April and May.

 

[Damselfish]

I am also looking for a shop, ideally to pickup at Xbalanque. Yeah I know, perhaps not the ideal base for diving, but it's complicated. :scream:

I have some other criteria though - I'm trying to avoid boats with crappy ladders, as seems common with panga style boats, because of one person in our group. Also something at least a little large-camera friendly - like a safe place to set cameras besides ones lap.

 

[diversteve]

See if Coconut Tree will pick you up. They used to pickup their divers at their cabins in West Bay - they would be going right by there. They have a couple of larger boats docked in the West End. Boats | Scuba Diving | Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras | PADI Or take the water taxi over, it docks at their dock IIRC.

The ladder on Wish You Were Here is not crappy but it is vertical - bolted to the back of the boat.

Pretty much anything in West Bay is Pangas since they mostly launch off the beach.

West End has a big boat (Delfin) but oddly it doesn't have a dry area in the middle unless they've added something recently. Their other boats are pangas though. http://www.westenddivers.info/about/boats/

 

[Corky Leadhogger]

Dive shop with big boats and great ladders is Seagrape, on the north end of West End.