Subway Watersports owner murdered

[Flodad]

thanks MIke good anaology

Oreo - thanks.. Thats exactly how i believe it will be with my son and his soon to be wife. I see no reason to cancel the DM and IDC with barefoot.

 

[oreocookie]

I could be wrong but I didn't think Barefoot was that close to West End... When I did the IE in October, there were 8 (or so) candidates from Barefoot. They seemed well prepared, but possibly over-prepared (I could see the examiner rolling his eyes at certain parts of their briefings), they all passed though.

 

[SEMO Scuba]

I have been to Roatan this year in January, June, and November, and stayed at AKR each time. In January and June we only left AKR to go to the West End, and that was during the afternoon on our last day. In November we hired a taxi and drove around most of the island. As with any other island that I have been, the area right around the resorts are pretty nice, but you don't have to go very far to see areas that are not well kept. The taxi driver told us that some of the places we drove through are mainly occupied by drug users and miscreants.

I have seen areas of Bonaire, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Dominican Republic, Puerto Aventuras, Cozumel, Costa Rica, Belize, Panama, and Puerto Rico that I don't want to be after dark. The same can be said for almost any city, even my small home town of Cape Girardeau MO. Common sense dictates that if you hang around in potential 'bad' areas that bad things might happen to you, especially if you don't live there. I have never felt unsafe at any of those islands but I stay close to my resort or hotel after dark. If you are traveling use the same common sense that you would use in your own home town.

 

[Flodad]

I could be wrong but I didn't think Barefoot was that close to West End... When I did the IE in October, there were 8 (or so) candidates from Barefoot. They seemed well prepared, but possibly over-prepared (I could see the examiner rolling his eyes at certain parts of their briefings), they all passed though.

actually they now have two resorts to train out of beginning mid december (they picked up the Palmetto Bay Beach Resort dive shop). So their barefoot resort dive shop is pretty close to "mary's PLace" on the south side and believe Palmetto is on the north side. Im ok (actualy pleased) for Barefoot to "over-prepare" their students for the IDC.

 

[CajunDiva]

I don't mean to interrupt the discussion/debate over crime on the island of Roatan. By all means...continue.

Here's my two cents:

The victim was a man who worked hard to establish a business on the island. He was not a fly-by-night dreamer who was on the island for kicks. He had been there for years and built a dive operation that he could be proud of. He had a staff that cared a great deal about him and I know they are all in a tremendous amount of pain right now.

The Cajuns send our love to all of those loyal friends and staff members at Subway Water Sports. May you find peace during this awful time. Rest in peace Patrick Zyngg.

 

[Saskdiver911]

Hey everyone,

I did a DM internship with Patrick and Subway Watersports about 4 years ago now. Patrick provided me with still one of the best experiences of my life. I stayed on Roatan for 4 months in a house in the jungle just off the main road in the Milton Bight area. (Central Roatan) We headed out partying a lot, I found myself walking barefoot down the main road in central Roatan several times late at night. We also found ourselves in a disco in Oak Ridge at 2am when the power went out. Being the only 3 white people in there, you can imagine we stood out slightly. We felt our way out of there and ran into no issues. We had a interest in staying out of West End and partying with the locals. We also spent time in some of the poorer areas just walking around and exploring. We did very little tourist type activities and more just working and living like a Honduras local as well as pushing the limits of caution.

Everything people have wrote on posts about the police system being terrible has a valid point. Living there for a short time, we had to deal with them on minor things like theft and it was an absolute nightmare to do something so simple. I can't imagine dealing with that for something much more important.

I guess what I am saying is, by the sounds of it, I wouldn't probably approach the situation as I did back then. I'm sure it is still a safe enough place to be, but being cautious is not a bad thing. In my four months I never felt threatened once.

Thank you to Patrick and Subway Watersports for a great four months, I would do it again anyday and highly recommend it.

RIP old friend.......

 

[oreocookie]

Flodad, I meant them being over-prepared as a bad thing, but I don't want to go further off topic on this thread. PM me if you want the details... Either way, I hope your son and his wife-to-be enjoy themselves.

Saskdiver, I'm not sure I would have done what you described, but I can see how it would have been possible. There were quite a few nights when I walked alone, in the dark, up the road out of West End after 10, sometimes after midnight (I lived 5 minutes up the main road from West End). After a while, I felt more comfortable doing that than I think I would have here at home, which I can't quite explain. If anything, I think I became more concerned about tarantulas I couldn't see on the short path through the trees between the road and the house, lol.

 

[firstclass_diver1]

Yes, very sad....2 muders of Scuba supporters in Roatan in less than a month....you can see information at hondurasnews.com and follow how their govt is making no effort to correct the problem!!

---------- Post added December 5th, 2012 at 02:14 AM ----------

You as well as myself have apparently had very "lucky" experiences in Roatan; unfortunately it is a new day!! Breaks my heart.....Money of the the "elite" (govt on Roatan and Mainland); and greed are ruining a piece of "paradise" day by day!!

 

[Cudabait]

Unreal. So much for all the crap about insulation from the mainland. Looks like it's time to start admitting that Roatan is actually part of Honduras.

Anybody want to go back and change their posts in all those threads about disregarding the drug related murders on the East end?[/QUOTE

Not me, Mike........I call it like it is.........

 

[Tjack]

White Dive master shot in dispute over bicycle parking - resolution - nothing

White ferry owner hacked to death on his boat in Utila

White business owner throat slit found in home in Roatan

Honduras can be rough on anyone living there, regardless of skin color.