Dive Review of Roatan Dive Center in
Honduras/Roatan

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Roatan Dive Center: "Advance Wreck Diving", Nov, 2021, by John Miller, TX, US ( Contributor 19 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 11751.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I went down with the wife and two of my dive customers, one of which was working towards his Master Diver. As a SSI Instructor Trainer I conducted his Navigation, Buoyancy, Wreck and Advance Wreck Specialty training for him with myself doing 10 dives and he completed 18 - the deepest being to 138 feet. My wife only did 8 due to it raining most of the week. Roatan Dive Center is owned by a former PADI Platinum Course Director who is also a SSI Instructor Trainer. I have been diving with them for 8 years now all over the island of Roatan, both on the south side and around West End/West Bay. The owner is originally from England and came to the island years ago as a dive master and stayed. I initially did the wreck diving instruction on the Mr. Budd and then on the Prince Albert. Mr. Budd was a cargo/shrimp boat that is sunk in a nice spot on the edge of the reef. This is where I taught wreck line laying and some easy penetrations on our first day of instruction. On Tuesday we moved over to the Prince Albert for more instruction on laying line inside a wreck with deeper penetrations and exploration. It was busy with other divers, but as we back rolled off our boat we could already see two Eagle Rays down in the sand. We didn't see any tiger sharks during the week but on a shore surface interval after diving the Prince Albert we did get to see 5 tigers (bengel) that were rescued from a circus in South American and being cared for on Roatan. Two whites and three browns living the life of luxury with their cage compound extending out into the ocean for their leisurely swims. At the end of the week we completed my diving at Mary's Place with the fantastic swim throughs and corals. On our first swim through, while the DM took the less adventurous, I took my Master Diver candidate and another experience diver out another exit taking us down to 138-139 feet shortly (about 3 minutes) so they would monitor computers for potential deco warnings. I had briefed them we would most likely look at 120-130 but as experience divers know - their is always something pulling you deeper to look at. When my ScubaPro HUD showed me at 139 I instructed everyone to stop make a turn and slowly ascend back to 80 ft on the wall. We then took an extended shore surface interval enjoying the tigers again before diving a wreck that is not know by many. In fact only the boat captain even knew where it was. A friend had mention it to me and I didn't want to leave for home without visiting it. Marked by a couple floating plastic bottles this was my favorite Roatan wreck - the Island Fueler. It was sinking and being pulled into the cove near the Mr. Budd when it sank before they could get it to the dock. A large ship that is deep in the channel sitting at around 110 ft. Doesn't have a lot of coral growth on it (but enough to cause marine injuries if you touch anything) but it is wide open and easy to penetrate by experienced divers. Even though I had just done a 139 ft, the extended off gassing we had done permitted this additional deep dive but required monitoring our computers closely. I initially stopped at the end of the mooring line (50 ft) with my Advance Wreck student so he could complete the skill of floating a SMB to the surface simulating a line to the surface. After doing that and reeling it back down we went to enter the Fueler on its starboard side. My depth was recorded at 83 ft when I entered through a hatch to work my way through the interior (down and up) to exit through the upper deck cargo hatch. Current around the wreck was moderate and visibility always poor being in the channel and that is why it isn't visited by more divers. My personal life time deep wreck dive was to 185 ft on the San Francisco Maru in Truk diving EAN26 and being careful not to violate the max pp 1.6 and I still needed to follow the instructions from my computer to safety complete the dive with a deep safety stop and extended 20 ft stop. Getting back on our dive boat after examining the Island Fueler I was excited to be logging my 5,700 life time dive on this little known treasure on the southside of Roatan. It was my last dive of the week on a perfectly sunny day with calm oceans. What more could I ask for other that Roatan Dive Center helped me to do it. As I mentioned they are the only shop I have ever used on the island. At one time a PADI 5* IDC (it is how I met them doing my PADI IDC Staff) they picked up SSI about four years ago after I converted my own dive shop from a 5* IDC to SSI Diamond Instructor Training Center ) and under PADI rules they lost that status as I did with my shop. Nonetheless they are still one of the best on the island. They cater to small groups of 6-8 divers and early next year will be launching a new custom built dive boat to add. They are currently located in Dixon Cove with a 5 minute taxi ride of the airport or cruise ship terminal. They arranged all of our needed taxi rides with a driver that waited for us where ever we went for dinner, shopping or for COVID tests to come home with no charge for waiting.
Websites	Roatan Dive Center
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Wakaobi, Figi, Roatan, Tobago, Cozumel, Cayman, Philappines, Belize, Truk, Turk & Caicos, Tabago, St Croix
Closest Airport		Getting There	United and American Airlines
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, rainy	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	82-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Marine Park Laws
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Camera bucket on the boat and dedicated rinse sink on shore. Excellent handling of cameras by boat captain both in and out of the water.

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Dive Review of Roatan Dive Center in Honduras/Roatan

Roatan Dive Center: "Advance Wreck Diving", Nov, 2021,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Roatan Dive Center in
Honduras/Roatan