Page 49 - Central America

Diving Honduras can be one of the most rewarding experiences
you’ll ever have. Located in Central America, Honduras is histori-
cally known as the banana republic. The Mainland landscape is lush
and mountainous, with rolling hills and valleys littered with bananas,
pineapple, and African palm oil farms throughout the country. Hon-
duras boasts two coasts. The northern coast borders the Caribbean
Sea, while the southwest department of Choluteca touches the Gulf of
Fonseca which opens into the Pacific Ocean. When “diving Hondu-
ras” is mentioned to most Scuba professionals in the industry, the first
place that comes to mind are the Bay Islands of Honduras.
Roatan’s fringing coral reef is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef,
the second largest barrier reef in the world, that runs from Mexico,
down to Panama. This diverse ecosystem is found on Roatan just a
few hundred feet from shore, offering exhilarating diving encompass-
ing the entire island. Roatan offers a variety of different types of dive utes. While the reefs of Roatán are fringing or barrier in nature, each
sites. One can experience the thrills of wall diving and drift diving
or glide amongst coral formations that line underwater canyons and
swim-thru’s. Tackle the adventures of a specialty dive and explore one
of several wrecks or take part in the “Shark Dive”. Roatan is also teem-
ing with macrolife and our guides have a keen eye for the littlest of
creatures. The west-facing side of the island is the most popular for
divers due to calmer sea conditions and an abundance of marine life.
Turtles, rays, eels, large sponges, pristine coral formations, lobsters,
crabs and an amazing variety of reef fish are regular sightings in the
area. Excellent visibility, warm waters and gentle currents make it a
perfect setting for divers of all levels.
Thousand-foot walls festooned with deepwater gorgonians, coral gar-
dens and barrel sponges, pillar coral, 60-foot deep ledges crowded
with blackcap basslets, mini-walls clustered with bluebell tunicates,
pinnacles overgrown with azure vase sponges, and shy indigo hamlets
peering from niches are all aspects of scuba diving in Roatan in the
Bay Islands of Honduras. A short ride away on the dive boat, you will
find spur/canyon configurations, coral gardens, ledges, overhangs,
caverns, and vertical fissures. Miles of reef leave scuba diving in
Roatan uncrowded and many areas have yet to be explored by visitors.
Large groupers and moray eels are a common sight. On any given dive
around Roatan, one might see a hawksbill turtle or spotted eagle ray
gracefully gliding by. Roatan’s reefs are so extensive that it would take
months of daily scuba diving to see each known segment.
The narrow crescent shape of Roatán has produced very distinct
coastlines on the north and south. The island possesses a narrow shelf
width (1mile/2km) that typically drops off 150 m from shore. Flour-
ishing on this narrow shelf are miles and miles of coral reef. There are
over 40 dive sites accessible from the resort by boat within 30 min-
of these dive sites offers something different: steep and sudden walls,
narrow canyons, overhangs and well developed spur and groves. Most
of these sites are also accessible to snorkelers. The reefs on the north-
ern coast of Roatán possess the characteristics of a barrier reef and are
found further from shore and separated from land by a lagoon. The
lagoon on the north side ranges from several hundred meters in width
near the western end of the islands and widens to over 1000 meters
near the middle and eastern areas of the island. The extensive back
reef is dominated by extensive seagrass beds and healthy patch reefs.