Page 84 - Central America

HALF MOON BAY WALL - One of the best walls off the island. There
are 3 moorings here, Dixie’s, Half Moon Bay and Divemaster’s Choice.
They are all great dives and go from 10 feet to way deeper than allowed
for a recreational dive profile. Down deep are lots of gorgonians, huge
orange elephant ear sponges and lots of interesting overhangs, under
which the corals are so beautiful. In the shallows look out for flamingo
tongues on the fans and lobsters and crabs in the crevasses. The deep
water occasionally brings pelagics to this site. A swim-thru at 70 feet
takes you from the outside of the wall to the inside where you can
explore channels running towards shore.
HELENE - Getting to this remote dive area takes a bit of doing. The
section of the Roatan is rarely visited by tourists but dive operators in
Oakridge will take you to this area.
HERBIE’S CROSS – popular snorkeling known for its dense fire coral
near shore. The snorkeling starts at the shoreline and continues out
about 60 to the edge of the wall where the water can be up to 100
feet deep. There tends to be more surf here as it is not protected as
the north shore dive sites. The visibility is typically not that great and chutes which highlight the reef spider crabs and lettuce corals here.
ranges from 5 feet to 25 feet. Known for sergeant majors, blue tang,
trumpetfish, and maybe the occasional sea turtle. The marine life can
be found round the fire coral, elk horn coral, brain coral, sea fans and
other various sponges.
HERBIES FANTASY - An extremely versatile site with shallow reef
packed with stony corals to sandy patches containing multitude of
coral heads to the reef wall down to the sandy bottom which slopes
down beyond recreational limits. You may see nudibranchs, lobster,
snails and turtles, yellow headed jaw fish hovering above their bur-
rows in the sand. This is also the place to go looking for stingrays,
eagle rays and the occasional nurse shark resting under one of the
numerous coral overhangs. Depth: 40 - 80 feet.
HERBIE’S PLACE - Large barrel sponges and an abundance of fish
make this a spectacular wall dive. The current helps make this some
of the healthiest coral on the island. The boat mooring is on a large flat
sandy area in about 30 feet of water. The upper part of the crest has
barrel and vase sponges with lots of soft coral formations. The slopes
of the ridge contain multicolored sponges and polyps.
HOLE IN THE WALL - It is one of the most famous dive sites on
Roatan, with many different areas to explore. Following the sand
chute down to the actual “hole” in the wall takes you on a deep dive
where you will bottom out to a maximum depth of 130 feet. In addi-
tion to several networks of swim throughs, there is a small cave sys-
tem. Most of these swim throughs are shallow, and there are also nice
big sandy areas with easy access to the deep wall, ideal for all types of
training dives. Experienced divers with deep dives and good buoy-
ancy control are necessary to explore the hole and the swim throughs.
INSIDE OUTSIDE - The southern wall is laced with several sand
There is a slight current from the east. The current brings the plank-
ton that feed the soft corals, vase sponges, tube sponges, and gorgo-
nians. Two large chimneys rise from a depth to 60 feet to about 20
feet from the surface. There is a large orange elephant ear sponge that
marks the entrance to the chimneys. Turtles, blue chromis, and black
grouper are common along the edge of the ledge.