roatan rough file clam
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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 and West Bay on the western tip of Roatan. From our dock at the dive center you can easily see the reef's formation; turtle grass shallows lead to waves gently breaking on the reef crest, beyond which the reef drops into the deep blue of the Cayman Trench. With just a five minute boat ride you can be diving on one of our spectacular reef walls, vibrant with coral and tropical fish life. Roatan's reef is part of the meso-american reef system that stretches nearly 700 miles from the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands here in Honduras. 95% of the fish species found in the caribbean are found here, including the giant whale shark, the largest fish in the world.


 

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, anchoring and the collection of conch and lobster is prohibited. The Roatan Marine Park was officially established in 2005 and using funds gained from local tourism and grants from USAID, CORAL and WWF replaced all the marine infrastructure, actively patrol this area and support the community through educational programs.


We visit all of the sites within the Roatan 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.

 

 


dive sites in roatan
click to enlarge

Dive Site Features

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 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.)

 


 

Roatan dive sites - The Western tip of Roatan

Click here for a dive video of West End Wall.

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. The western tip of Roatan is home to the dive sites West End Wall, Pablo's Place and Texas. This dive can be started at either Pablo's place or West End Wall with both dives usually finishing of at the dive site Texas, which is named because of the extremely large barrel sponges found there.

Pablo's place is famous for it's large black gorgonians, bushy black corals and resident tiger and black groupers. The wall drops down to over 50m and these deep water corals are home for macro size shrimp and crabs as well as large schools of creole wrasse. Pelagics cruise this area and cero, barracuda, amber and crevale jacks are a common sight.

West End Wall is on the lee side of the plateau where an underwater ridge slopes down to the the western tip of the reef. Groups of dog snapper and horse eye jacks congregate in the waters here and most of the reef fish in Roatan can be found on this site. It is also home to the shipwreck of the Josie J, a small cargo boat that sunk in front of West Bay and now lies in 50m of water.

 


 

Roatan dive sites - Shipwrecks

 

click here for a dive video of the Odyssey

 

el aguila roatan
the odyssey roatan
the josie j roatan
El Aguila
The Odyssey
Josie J

 

Roatan has many shipwrecks, some intentional sinkings and some not. 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 Prince Albert and Mr Bud Wrecks were sunk on the south side earlier in Roatan's dive history and the prolific growth of soft coral is home to sea horses and flamingo tongue snails. Day trips to either of these can be arranged at the dive shop.

One of the un-intentional sinkings was a cargo ship named the Josie J which sunk in between 50 and 70 meters of water in front of West Bay. This wreck is reserved for those divers with advanced training.

 


 

Roatan Dive Sites - Mandy's Eel Garden to Seaquest

 

leechheadshield slug roatan
reef mantis roatan
hawksbill turtle roatan

 

Sloping sand and shallow reef zones make this area popular for underwater 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

 

brain coral
stoplight parrotfish
spotted drum

 

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

 

bears den roatan
banded coral shrimp lighthouse roatan
magnificent feather duster blue channel roatan

 

If wall dives are your favorite, then 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.

 

 


 

Cannibal cafe menu west end roatan

Dive Packages

Our divers stay at the Sea Breeze Inn, just across the street from the dive shop and home to the Cannibal Cafe.

about roatan

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...

 

pictures and videos of roatan diving

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.




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