COCONUT TREE DIVERS
Roatan, Honduras
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Sandy Bay and West End Marine Reserve Dive Sites
West End Shallows sites: The Bight | Octopus Acre | Turtle Crossing | Seaquest | Deep Seaquest Coconut Tree Divers strongly supports the conservation and restoration efforts of the Roatan Marine Park, a volunteer organization that oversees the protection of the Sandy Bay - West End Marine Park. All snorkelers and divers are asked to contribute to this worthy cause through the purchase of a $10 marine park reef braclet. All proceeds from this tag go to the marine park to ensure that our beautiful reef can be enjoyed by future generations.
Despite being the sister site of Blue Channel, The Bight has considerably different terrain and aquatic life. A large sandy patch at 6m/20ft is a great place for Open Water Divers to warm up their skills. The fore reef is noted for its gradual slope separated by two sets of sandy patches, one at 12m/40ft and another at 15m/50ft. The latter of these sandy patches spills out onto the wall at 18m/60ft, providing an easy transition to wall diving for divers of all experience levels. Turtles love this site! You can usually spot at least one munching on juicy sponges in the shallows, usually accompanied by equally-ravenous French angelfish. Lizardfish, peacock flounders, and lobsters lie in waiting on the sandy bottoms. Black groupers venture in from the wall to visit their smaller Grasby and Rock Hind cousins in the shallows. Nurse sharks have been known to rest under coral protrusions along the interior wall. In short, you're bound to see something sweet on the Bight. Marine life: turtles, barracuda, lizardfish, French angelfish, peacock flounders, Caribbean lobsters, black groupers, nurse sharks Don't miss... doing your Underwater Navigation specialty on this site. The large sandy patches are the perfect environment for conducting compass navigation skills, while distinct coral formations serve as excellent natural navigation reference points.
Like an underwater Zen garden, Octopus Acre features a curious arrangement of coral heads sprinkled across undulating ripples of sand. The mooring line drops to a sandy field in the middle of a horseshoe-shaped coral ridge at 12m/40ft. Wide gaps in the coral allow you to follow the sand as it declines to a sandy plateau at 24m/80ft covered in large barrel sponges. Regardless of depth, there are plenty of coral mounds hiding mini-ecosystems. Remain in one spot long enough and you'll see the local denizens of a given coral head go about their daily business. Bug-like lobsters, snake-like sharptailed eels, and bird-like eagle rays are just few of the creatures living in this underwater garden. Pay close attention to fish hovering at a forty-five degree angle above a coral head, signifying the presence of a cleaning station. Yellowfin and Nassau groupers get their grooming from the gobies, Spanish hogfish, and Pederson cleaning shrimp that attend these stations. Relatively shallow depths, an abundance of small fish life, and the brilliant white of the sands make for uncommonly vivid colors perfect for Underwater Photography. Marine life: southern stingrays, eagle rays, Nassau groupers, yellowfin groupers, lobsters, sharptailed eels, goldspotted eels, horseeyed jacks Don't miss... finding a southern stingray. These critters love to bury themselves in sand for the perfect ambush, and Octopus Acre certainly has no shortage of sand. Just don't blink! Southern stringrays are notoriously skittish and will dart away if startled from their position.
What would you expect to find at a site named Turtle Crossing? Turtles, of course! These free-diving reptiles love these sponge-covered shallows and you'll love watching them swim past. A string of sandy patches at 6m/20ft makes for excellent observation of this site's many critters, including peacock flounders, midnight parrotfish, schools of blue tangs, and scrawled filefish. These expanses of sand are ideal for Open Water training; you can do your skills with an incredible view! The interior wall makes a slow transition down to 12m/40ft as overlapping coral fingers form wide canyons excellent for practicing your buoyancy. Pause during one of these swimthrus to search for spiny lobsters and juvenile spotted drums living in the shadows. The broad fore reef gives you plenty of space to stretch your legs and spot more fish. Scan the horizon for passing eagle rays, barracudas, and schools of atlantic spadefish. Of course, don't forget to glance up for turtles breaching the surface for a quick gulp of air. Marine life: turtles, peacock flounders, scrawled filefish, midnight parrotfish, eagle rays, atlantic spadefish, spotted drums, spiny lobsters Don't miss... peering through the lettuce coral for a juvenile smooth trunkfish. Measuring less than a centimeter across, these "peas" most closely resemble a black beach ball with yellow spots. An incredible photographic find!
Seaquest is a perfect dive for beginners, snorkelers, or those looking for a shallow reef. The mooring line drops to an enormous sandy patch at 5m/15ft surrounded by amazing pillar coral formations. Only a short swim from your starting point the interior wall dips to 12m/40ft, giving way to an expansive sandy plateau peppered with long coral fingers. Coupled with Roatan's excellent visibilty, this site is ideal for starting your Discover Scuba Diving experience. The top of the interior wall is always crowded with peacock flounders, wrasse, Bermuda chubbs, trumpetfish, and smooth trunkfish. Scan your eyes for turtles, dog snappers, and schools of horseeyed jacks gliding through the crystal waters overhead. This site frequently hides Southern stingrays beneath its white sands; you'll usually spot these timid creatures as they frantically flutter away from your bubbles. Patient inspection of the coral mounds will reveal the many species of nudibranches living on the soft corals. Marine life: peacock flounders, Bermuda chubbs, trumpetfish, smooth trunkfish, turtles, dog snappers, horseeyed jacks, southern stingrays, nudibranches, sailfin blennies Don't miss... seeing the sailfin blennies. These diminutive fish hide in the coral rubble beneath the interior wall. Wait carefully next to a pile of coral pieces and you may spot a these centimeter-long fish with a dorsal fin fanstastic enough to make an Indian chief jealous.
Forget your scuba gear and bring your skis! At least that's what you will think upon reaching the white sandy slope at 24m/80ft on Deep Seaquest. Years of erosion have turned this ancient surface-side beach into a submerged aquatic paradise. With so much sand around, southern stringrays and eagle rays are pratically guaranteed on this site. Hogfish root in the sand for edible crabs, green moray eels smile from the safety of their holes, and schools of creole wrasse briefly obscure the sun. As you follow the wall, the sand floor slowly rises to 18m/60ft before turning in towards the shallows of Seaquest. The sandy incline is dotted with coral mounds housing arrow crabs, lobsters, spotted drums, and spotted moray eels. Peacock flounders quickly camoflauge themselves against the white sand, but a subtle waft of water will send them scurrying for safety. Deep Seaquest's proximity to sister site Seaquest makes it possible to do both sites in a single dive, showing you the incredible reef biodiversity as you ascend from deep to shallow. Marine life: eagle rays, southern stingrays, hogfish, green moray eels, spotted drums, peacock flounders, horseeyed jacks, spotted moray eels Don't miss... putting the "Deep" in Deep Seaquest. The sandy slope offers a mindblowing view of the second deep wall at 30m/100ft; it's the perfect place to start your Advanced Open Water deep dive! Next: West Bay Walls -> |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
coconuttreedivers@gmail.com |
|
