Friday, May 02, 2014

Roatan Divers, West End, Honduras

Just some of the staff at Roatan Divers - from left, Victor (boat captain), Ann (videographer), Peter (divemaster), Saaya and husband Karl (owners), Steph (divemaster), Chuong (divemaster), Iva (student), Scott and Heather

Scott with Chuong and dive buddy Philip

The hectic activity of preparing for the dive
Scott and I dove and snorkeled with Roatan Divers during our stay in the West End. Owners Carl and Saaya. Karl is a  PADI IDC Staff Instructor and Saaya is a PADI/MSDT Instructor and holds a degree in film production from USC. They bought the dive shop in November 2013 and check out Trip Advisor's reviews since - perfect! They have a new boat and group size is always small. Often Scott had only one other diver and a divemaster (either Peter or Chuong).
I went with him most of the time and snorkeled. One of the divemaster course students went with me, either Iva or Iga, both from Poland. They were a lot of fun and the snorkeling was great everywhere.
Everyone on the staff was so helpful and friendly. We felt really at home here. We left our dinghy here to shop and Karl glued the rubber knee pads back on Scott's wet suit as part of the thoughtful overall service. Scott rented an underwater camera one day and Saaya gave him some pointers. As you can see from some of the shots he took (all in his first hour ever), she was a good teacher.
We look forward to being back next season and for a longer time. This is the best place we've been to dive and snorkel, along with Bonaire.
The floor around the dive boat

Coral formations, fish of all kinds
The West End, besides Roatan Divers, is a fun place. There are lots of bars and restaurants strung out along the beaches and it's always laid back and relaxing. This area is all part of the Roatan Marine Park and administered by the West End Marine Reserve. There are a bunch of moorings being fixed up with 12 already usable. Eventually when the work is complete marine reserve officials will collect a $10 a day fee for using them.
It is possible to walk for miles along the beach from Sandy Bay thru West End down to West Bay. We did it several times, jumping into the water along the way to cool down.
Great colors

The fish didn't always stay put for their photo, but this one
did
We didn't even have to touch this one up
Well, adjusted the color and contrast
Not here, but often the wall goes down over a 100 feet
Where are all the fish?
As you can see, they're trying to get away - here a French
Angel fish.
Nice action shot here with Chuong and a hog fish