COCONUT TREE DIVERS
Roatan, Honduras
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Sandy Bay and West End Marine Reserve Dive Sites
Sandy Bay Channels sites: Four Sponges | Wrasse Hole | Spooky Channel 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.
You are guaranteed to see at least four sponges while diving on this intermediate north wall site. Starting just beneath the mooring line, several swimthrus at 10m/30ft line snake their way through the fore reef. The wall is marked by wide sandy chutes as overlapping plate corals gradually give way to the Cayman Trench. Midnight parrotfish, Nassau groupers, and turtles frequent the large barrel sponges the 24-30m/80-100ft depth range while king crabs and spotted moray eels hide in the shadows. To the northeast lies "Alvin's Crack," a 30m/100ft deep slice through the fore reef. Similar in structure to its sister site Spooky Channel, this sheer chasm stands in stark contrast to the relatively flat shallows overhead. Look the resident blue chromis near the entrance and for toadfish and greater soapfish hiding along the rocky floor. The shallows range from 10-14m/30-50ft and are most known for an abundance of juvenile and intermediate-phase fish. Keep your eyes out for spotted drums just starting to develop their spots and for French angelfish still bearing the vertical yellow stripes of infancy. Marine life: Nassau groupers, black grouper, midnight parrotfish, blue parrotfish, turtles, king crabs, spotted moray eels, spotted drums, toadfish, soapfish, blue chromis, silversides Don't miss... venturing into "Alvin's Crack" during silverside mating season. These finger-sized silvery fish gather by the tens of thousands to form spiraling schools thick enough to blot out the sun.
PJ has called Wrasse Hole "the unmappable site" for a good reason: this aquatic labyrinth of swimthrus is simply too complex to explore in a single dive. A wide sand patch at 30m/100ft makes for an excellent deep stop during the Advanced Open Water course, while adjacent huge plate coral formations shelter southern stingrays and nurse sharks. The sheer wall is perforated by countless interconnected channels; look for tiny lettuce sea slugs inching along the bottom as you make your way through this coral maze. The 10m/30ft shallows back up against a steep interior wall full of crevices, caverns, and caves. A flash of your torch will reveal these dark holes to be rife with lobsters, king crabs, and glassy sweepers. Ever-curious black groupers and dog snappers mingle with scrawled filefish amongst the undulating sea fans. Pelagic life occasionally ventures into these shallows; watch for an oceanic triggerfish or eagle ray to swoop in from the blue for a surprise visit. Of course, with so many swimthrus to explore you may not notice a free-diving turtle dropping in for a sponge-flavored snack. Marine life: nurse sharks, southern stingrays, eagle rays, lettuce sea slugs, lobsters, king crabs, glassy sweepers, black groupers, dog snappers, oceanic triggerfish, turtles, silversides Don't miss... the "Wrasse Hole" itself, a huge cave entrance tucked away in the interior wall. As with "Alvin's Crack" at Four Sponges, this cave is absolutely saturated with schools of silversides during mating season.
Eons ago an ancient river cut a massive gorge through the very foundations of the island. Centuries later, the ten-storey canyon at Spooky Channel rests just under the ocean surface, inviting Advanced Open Water Divers to shine their torches into this monolithic marvel. You will be greeted by the large resident black groupers and barracudas as you drop through the channel mouth at 18m/60ft. The eerie visibility for which this site earns its "spooky" status will gradually engulf you as you follow the rocky bottom deeper into the grotto. You'll feel almost overwhelmed as the channel walls slowly rise and close in from both sides. In a mere matter of minutes the sun will be reduced to a few cascading godrays as the channel ceiling closes together. A tiny crack in the reef crest near the surface balloons outward to form the main chamber, a 29m/95ft deep cathedral of green sea stars, scurrying lobsters, and grotesque rock formations. A series of swimthrus near the back of the channel will leave you instantaneously dwarfed as you emerge suspended at 14m/50ft in the middle of the chamber. You'll exit the chamber by squeezing between rocky pillars into a maze-like swimthru that shoots you out under the mooring line at a perfect safety stop depth of 5m/15ft. While Spooky Channel is not terribly dense with fish life, oceanic triggerfish, king crabs, and various groupers typically gather in these shallows. Marine life: black groupers, yellowfin groupers, barracudas, lobsters, king crabs, oceanic triggerfish, various sea stars, toadfish Don't miss... looking under the rocks for a toadfish. Though you will probably spend much of your dive swimming on your back and staring up at the channel, it pays to look down for these odd-shaped and very vocal bottom-dwellers. Next: Sandy Bay Caves -> |
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coconuttreedivers@gmail.com |
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