Top Sites Roatan - The Seamounts of Cayos Cochinos

Do you love diving in Roatan, have you been to all the best dive sites the island has to offer? We doubt that as there are just too many. However there are still some that are less frequented than others. The seamounts of Cayos Cochinos (a deep reef formed by underwater mountain ranges) called Roatan Banks, which is located halfway between Roatan and Cayos Cochinos (a group of islands located between Roatan and the mainland of Honduras). This is a relatively unexplored area and you are basically guaranteed a fantastic dive, with loads of fish, current, and amazing, healthy, vibrant coral. We’ve been lucky enough to spot sharks and massive eagle rays, as well as large schools of creole wrasse, southern sennet and horse-eye jack.

The seamounts of Cayos Cochinos are a special two-tank trip that will leave you in awe. As the seamounts are located 18 miles off the point of Roatan, the trip is very weather dependent, but it's an awesome trip and an incredible experience. We do two dives out at the seamounts and go fishing during the surface interval, so there's a good chance for fresh sashimi between dives. This is the one trip where we don't stick to a strict time schedule, so if the fishing is good or a whaleshark, or or a pod of dolphins pops up we are there to enjoy it! The trip normally heads out around 8:00AM, and we are back some time between 1:30 and 2PM.

The seamounts trip is $110 for a two-tank trip, including the first dive on Enriched Air Nitrox if you're certified for it. We take minimum 4 people, maximum eight, but believe us, it's really easy to get that together. The seamounts can have strong currents, so you need to be an advanced diver for this trip. Check out UMI Productions' video for the seamounts of Cayos Cochinos, as well as their videos for the other dive sites we have to offer, and start planning your trip to Roatan!

Top Sites Roatan - PADI Open Water Diver Course

Are you interested in getting PADI Open Water Diver certified on Roatan? Well, look no further! While we can tell you all about the course, it’s much easier to know the course structure and all the cool things you’ll be able to see during your course if we just show you! Check out our newest Top Sites Roatan video for the Roatan Travel Network, featuring the PADI Open Water Diver course.

Enjoy the video, and we’ll see you all soon for some awesome Roatan diving!

Drift Diving at West End Wall

Are you ready for a dive to West End Wall?

West End Wall is one of our top requested dive sites, largely due to its proximity to The Point. Located just off West Bay, West End Wall is where we can experience some of the strongest currents on the island, making it the perfect place for large schools of fish. The currents bring in nutrient rich water that make it the ideal feeding ground.  From big schools of blue creole wrasse, snappers and jacks, this site shows us what a vibrant and diverse marine life Roatan has to offer.

Due to the flowing current, this is an ideal site for a drift dive, where we enter the water, descend along the wall, and head in the same direction as the flow of the current. This type of dive can be very enjoyable as it allows us to effortlessly cruise along the wall. Most often for this site, we go in a southerly direction towards the very end of the island.  Given potentially strong currents, depending on the daily conditions, we consider this a site for more advanced divers.

Water is great at the moment book your dive trip early to avoid disappointment! info@roatandivers.com

Enjoy!

Claire's Roatan Showreel

Two Team RD-ers are back for a visit, so it's time for another scuba video!

Tarik and Claire were with us our first season as our instructor and Divemaster. Before they left Roatan in September 2014, Claire completed her professional underwater videography course with Saaya, producing a showreel with her video highlights as her final project of the course.

In honor of Tarik and Claire's visit, let's check out Claire's showreel to show you her great work and Roatan's beautiful underwater world. Enjoy!

Top Sites Roatan - Seaquest Shallow

Have you seen our most recent episode of Top Sites Roatan on the Roatan Travel Network?

This time, Roatan Divers takes you to Seaquest Shallow! Seaquest Shallow is located between West End and West Bay, and is one of Roatan's most popular dive sites. A diverse dive site that's deal for training dives and experienced divers alike, Seaquest Shallow has plenty of beautiful coral, turtles, rays and cute angelfish couples.

Please don't mind the new host (we couldn't convince Eri to fly back to host another episode) and enjoy Seaquest Shallow underwater!

Scuba Diving at the Seamounts of Cayos Cochinos

Guys, it's getting hot right now. And still. And you know what that means...special trips to the seamounts of Cayos Cochinos will be getting underway again!

The seamounts of Cayos Cochinos are located 29 km/18 miles off the western point of Roatan and are a part of a series of underwater mountains that rise up between Roatan and Cayos Cochinos. None of the mounts break the surface, with the diveable mounts peaking between 21m/70ft and 12m/40 feet in depth. With all the currents moving through that area and the nutrient-rich water swelling up from the depths, the coral at the seamounts is healthy and vibrant, and you have the opportunity to see lots of different schools of fishing hanging out off the reef as they feed.

When the weather is right for it, we run special two-tank charter trips to the seamounts of Cayos Cochinos. We do two fabulous dives and spend our surface interval fishing and looking for whalesharks and dolphins. As the currents can be strong, it's important to be an experienced and comfortable diver certified to 30m/100ft to ensure that you get the most out of your experience. So check out our video of the seamounts and see if this trip sounds fun to you!

Please contact us for more information regarding these special two-tank trips, and let us help you experience the best of the Bay Islands!