Scuba Diving in Roatan with Ocean Connections

Roatan's Dive Sites

aerial view of west end roatan

Ocean Connections is ideally situated inside the fringing coral reef that skirts the length of West End village. From our dock you can easily see the reefs formation; turtle grass shallows directly in front of the center lead to waves gently breaking on the reef crest, beyond which the reef drops off into the deep blue of the Cayman Trench. With just a five minute boat ride you can be diving on one of our spectacular walls, vibrant with coral and fish life.

The majority of the diving we do takes place in the West End - Sandy Bay Marine Reserve. This reserve encompasses over forty dive sites where spear fishing and the collecting of conch and lobster is prohibited. The Reserve is using funds gained from local tourism and grants from organizations such as USAID, CORAL and WWF to patrol this area and improve marine infrastructure as well as support the community through educational programs.

We visit all of the sites within the Marine Park and commonly travel to the more exotic spots around Roatan as well. Please have a look at our dive site map and site descriptions below.

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Dive site descriptions

The topography and marine life found in these dive sites varies widely and has something to offer every scuba diver. Most of the dive sites are a short boat ride away ( 5-15 min) and the wall is typically found very close to shore allowing both deep wall dives and shallower reef dives on the same site. Below you will find a general description of the areas of the Roatan marine park that we dive on a daily basis. (click here to see a map of Roatan's dive sites.)

Keyhole to West End Wall

Watch a video here

Drift dives are the best in Roatan at these dive sites, deep water and converging currents allow us a chance to see the elusive hammerhead as well as other species only found in this area, such as the sargassum triggerfish. The deep reef walls are full of gorgonians and soft coral as well as home to large barrel sponges, schools of jacks, grouper, snapper and pelagic species such as ocean triggerfish and amber jacks.

Mandy's Eel Garden to Seaquest

Sloping sand and shallow reef zones make this area popular for photography as well as training dives for PADI courses. Deep dives are interesting in this area due mostly to eagle rays and stingrays feeding in the deep sand flats. There is also a good chance of seeing turtles here as well.

Turtle Crossing to Lighthouse

These diverse sites have both deep and shallow reef formations as well as access to the lagoon, which is an important habitat for juvenile reef fish and is frequented by eagle rays. Many of the dives in this area include time spent in the shallow water reef sections which have prolific coral growth and are home to many unique species.

Dixie's to Four Sponges

If wall dives are your favorite than Roatan is the place for you! These sites are characterized by steep reef walls descending down to 60 meters, accompanied by many swim through's, small cave systems and underwater canyons. This area is also home to two of the three shipwrecks accessible from West End.

Roatan's Shipwrecks

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El Aguila	The Odyssey	Josie J

The Roatan marine park also offers three shipwrecks for recreational scuba diving. The El Aguila and the Odyssey are both ships sunk deliberately to encourage reef growth and for wreck diving training purposes. Both ships lie in 30 m/110 ft of water and are accessible from our dive shop. The third is a cargo ship named the Josie J which sunk in between 50 and 70 meters of water in West Bay. This wreck is reserved for those divers with advanced training.

Dive Packages

Our divers stay at Hillside Garden Cabins, just a 10 minute walk from the dive shop. Many different dive packages are available.

About Roatan

The beautiful Caribbean island of Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras offers some of the world's best SCUBA diving. The island is surrounded by the world's second largest coral reef, fringing most of the shoreline. This provides calm, clear beaches for swimming and snorkeling, and many varieties of sea life. Click to learn more...

Galleries

Click here to check out some pictures of scuba diving, reef fish and creatures found here in in West End as well as pictures of Roatan and La Ceiba.