Roatan is a diver’s paradise: clear blue water, magnificent underwater topography, and a healthy, thriving marine life population. Besides these fantastic features, the island also offers the opportunity for adventures not meant for the faint of heart – whether you want to explore soaring walls that plummet dramatically toward the depths of the abyss more than 5000 feet below, or if you want to dive with sharks, Roatan is the perfect place for it.
Fort Cay Wall
With pillar corals, magnificent Azure Vase sponges, huge barrel sponges, black coral, and lush stands of gorgonians to one side, and the deep blue of the abyss to the other, Fort Cay Wall begins along a sandy channel that becomes a canyon, which then leads out to the spectacular wall itself. Beginners will enjoy the shallow areas at about 20 feet, which are lovely, with wonderful light quality that allows for excellent photos of all the colorful fish and other creatures that live here, while those with the most experience will enjoy a trip along the wall, surrounded by ever deepening shades of blue, to about 130 feet.
There is sometimes a strong current along the outside of the wall, which is just one reason you’ll find so many large pelagic creatures here. Watch for turtles coming up from the depths for a breath of air, as well as passing sharks, big tuna, jacks, and soaring eagle rays.
Morat Wall
Also known as Barbareta Wall, Morat Wall is situated along a reef 3 miles long. Less often visited than some sites closer to shore, this area features massive sponges in blue, red and orange, as well as magnificent stands of elkhorn and staghorn coral rising up from the more rounded profiles of brain, star, and plate coral. Down a little deeper, huge black coral trees and beautiful red gorgonians filled with seahorses and other creatures thrive, and colorful fish are everywhere you look.
The wall itself is punctuated with sand chutes that lead back toward the shallows, plus grottoes and cracks that shelter lobsters, moray eels and groupers. Watch for nurse sharks and reef sharks, eagle rays, schooling tuna and tarpon, and lots of prowling barracudas. Dive profile depths range from 40-100 feet, though the wall drops away into the abyss.
The Roatan Shark Dive
Also referred to as Cara a Cara, or Face to Face, the Roatan shark dive offers divers the opportunity to descend to a sandy patch at about 70 feet below the surface, where as many as 20 gray reef sharks at a time enjoy a quick snack, provided courtesy of the shark dive team.
The sharks themselves are female Caribbean Reef Sharks, which are usually between 6 and 9 feet long, and which display an intriguing daytime schooling behavior which is rarely seen in the shark world. The bait is presented to the sharks in a bucket, affording divers the opportunity to view their typical jostling feeding behavior.
You’ll also see large groupers, horse eye jacks, spadefish, queen triggerfish, and lots of others! The entire experience lasts for about 30 minutes, and is truly unforgettable.
These are but a handful of the fantastic dives you can enjoy in Roatan. Be sure to book your holiday well in advance to be sure you can see the sites you want to, particularly if you plan to enjoy diving with sharks. The most popular dives do fill up quickly!