Dive Sites
The Meso-American Barrier Reef extends from the north of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to the Bay Islands. Roatan is the largest of these Islands, lying roughly parallel to mainland Honduras, 30 miles off its coast. The Bay Islands are known for their diverse tropical fish and other marine populations. With access to over 1,000 dive sites, we frequent some of the most unique, varied, and well-rounded sites on Roatan and can guide you through the most impressive dives around the island.
Coco View Wall
Located on the South shore of Roatan near French Harbour, this coral wall dive is encrusted with a variety of hard and soft corals, including lettuce, staghorn, and elkhorn. Plunging 82 feet (25m) below the surface, this incredible structure features undercuts and massive natural overhangs, creating perfect quasi-caves for lobster and crab. Seahorses are often spotted near the top of the wall while at the bottom, eels and sand divers can be found. The wall is also home to all kinds of fascinating macro marine life for divers with a keen eye.
Mary’s Place
A gorgeous maze of coral canyons formed due to archaic volcanic activity that drops into 120 ft (36m) vertical crevices, Mary’s Place is famous as one of the best dive sites in Roatan. Soft rich coral, golden and green sea rods, feathery sea plumes, and tube, barrel, and vase sponges make a home for extensive species of sea life. Among them are spotted drums, lobster, channel crabs, and creole wrasse in addition to the occasional turtle and stingray.
Fish Den
On the West side of Roatan, Fish Den is a shallow dive bursting with schools of Sgt. Majors, Jacks, Grunts, Damsels, Angel Fish, and Parrot Fish. There is also a wall covered in Barrel, Tube, and Elephant Ear sponges that make a perfect home for smaller marine life like neck crabs and seahorses and is even a feeding ground for sea turtles. In addition to the abundance of sea life, the optimal light penetration and shallow depths at this site make it perfect for underwater photography.
Sponges
At this amazing wall you can find many different sponges and corals including huge barrel sponges and spectacular pillar corals. The drop-off is at 60 feet and drops to 180 feet. Very often there are turtles, nurse-sharks and eagle rays passing by, as well as morays. During the dive it is common to find several cleaning stations, and the safety stop has some beautiful elkhorn coral.
El Aguila
Spanish for “The Eagle,” El Aguila is a 230 ft (75m) cargo ship likely sabotaged near Utila making its final voyage from Puerto Cortes to Haiti. The ship was salvaged and towed to the North side of the island near West End. When it was sunk in 1997, its hull was intact until a year later when Hurricane Mitch split it into three sections, allowing divers a unique view inside the ship. Now covered in coral and home to larger sea life such as black and goliath groupers, moray eels, and barracuda, El Aguila is a unique, not-to-be-missed site in Roatan.