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Roatan: A Scuba Diving Dream Come True

Roatan: A Scuba Diving Dream Come True

Written by Nevin
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Published on April 25, 2010
roatan honduras coral reef

Roatan is the largest of Honduras’ Bay Islands, located in the Caribbean just 40 miles north of the coast of Honduras. The island, which measures just 29 miles long and just 2 miles wide, is located near the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (also known as the Belize Barrier Reef) which is the second largest reef in the world. The Bay Islands, including Roatan, are often referred to the Caribbean’s best kept secret for scuba diving, as these islands boast of a diverse range of coral reef systems, spectacular wall diving, pristine white sandy beaches, and tropical jungle covered hillsides.

Scuba diving in Roatan is perhaps the simplest thing to do as the island is completely surrounded by coral reefs and hosts over 132 frequented dive sites and the opportunity to explore several more unexplored sites and reefs as well.

Where is Roatan?

Located approximately 40 miles off the northern shore of Honduras, Roatan is one of eight islands that make up the country’s Bay Islands. It is the largest of the three main islands which include Utila and Guanaja, both dive destinations as well. The island is mountainous, formed atop an exposed section of ancient coral near the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, so it is no surprise that the surrounding waters offer abundant coral reefs in close proximity.

roatan honduras coral reef
Image via Shutterstock

Roatan’s Coral Reefs

For divers that want to explore the reefs around the Island, they will not be disappointed. The sheer variety of different coral that grows in each location north, west or south is simply staggering and you never tire or visiting different sites.. One can easily explore nursery reefs or the deeper reefs with pelagic fish such as Sharks, Snapper and Barracuda. Roatan is particularly known for its Black Coral and azure vase sponges that seem to be abundant in the surrounding reefs

Scuba Diving in Roatan

Wall Diving in Roatan

Roatan is perhaps the Caribbean’s wall diving capital with thousand foot walls, ledges and drop-offs only a short distance away, surrounding the islands. These walls are covered with spectacular soft coral, barrel sponges, larger fish like Grouper and Barracuda, hawksbill turtles and eagle rays gliding by.  The walls are peppered with fissures, cracks, ledges and overhangs that would literally take months to explore. For those who aren’t too keen on wall diving, there are several mini-walls and pinnacles that make great sites for beginners to build up their confidence.

roatan honduras diving turtle
Photo by Erin Simmons on Unsplash

Cavern Diving

The reefs around Roatan as festooned with shallow caves, caverns and swim-throughs. A series of natural cracks in the reef that lead towards the wall drop-off known as the “canyonlands” make a spectacular diving experience.  Another site known as the Dolphin Den, is a cave-like swim-through is a maze of tunnels where one can find morays and nurse sharks. In fact there are so many caverns, swim-through and overhead environment sites that one could easily spend their entire trip just exploring these.

Wreck Diving

Interestingly enough, despite having some of the most spectacular natural coral reefs and wall diving in the Caribbean, Roatan has a fair number of wreck diving sites which include some vessels intentionally sunk for scuba diving. The biggest most popular wreck is a 300 foot freighter known as the Odyssey, which was intentionally sunk for Scuba Diving, after the ship having caught fire became unusable, and was donated to the government. Other wrecks include the Dixon Cove wrecks,  The Prince Albert, El Aguila and the 1912 Wreck.

roatan honduras shore
Photo by Juliett Castle on Unsplash

Why You Should Dive Roatan

One of the reasons that Roatan diving surpasses that of other regions within the Caribbean is the care shown to the oceanic environment. The Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences was established in 1989 with a focus on protecting the island’s natural resources. It operates as an educational institution and is visited by universities from around the globe to study the local environment and its denizens.

In 2005, concerned divers and local businesses banded together to form the Roatan Marine Park in response to overfishing and poaching, increased marine recreation traffic, coastal development, and a lack of support from local and national governments. It was really an extension of the Sandy Bay Marine Reserve, which was established in 1989 by the local community. Its borders have grown since then from nearly 3.5 miles of coastline to just over 8 miles today.

These grassroots efforts ultimately ended up prompting the government to take action, and now all the reefs within the Bay Islands are protected by law. Local residents volunteer to patrol these areas day and night, and donations have made possible the purchase of boats, paid rangers and police officers, and education programs for local schools. After watching this video clip, we think you’ll agree that absolutely incredible results come out of a community coming together to protect wildlife and their habitat.

Conclusion

So if you’re looking for that perfect dive destination offering you a diverse range of scuba diving sites ranging from Wrecks, Reefs, Wall Diving and Caverns, look no further than this hidden gem of an Island, Roatan, where you can experience some of the best diving in the world.