We visited Roatan twice last year and are going back in a few months. I chose Roatan because I like to do some freedive photography in addition to scuba, and research showed that many consider Roatan good for snorkeling/freediving since the reef is close to shore in many places. Using Google Earth is a pretty good way to see the reef location at various spots on the island.

West End and West Bay are on the northwestern end of the island, and this is the more tourist-oriented area, with lots of hotels, restaurants, and shops. West Bay seems to have the nicest beaches in the area, although there are various other spots around the island that also have great beaches. Most of the dive spots are just offshore along the whole north side, and it's pretty much a continuous reef with great diving anywhere along the north coast. We haven't explored many sites on the south side, but there are plenty there too. In case of rough seas, it is often possible to just switch to the opposite side of the island to get good conditions.

We chose to stay in Sandy Bay, which is on the north side just a few miles east of West End and West Bay. We've stayed at 3 different resorts here, each much different, but we loved all three. We like Sandy Bay since it is more tranquil than the tourist areas, but we did head over to West End and West Bay a couple times to check them out. If you want a more active nightlife, Sandy Bay might not be your top choice. Depending where you stay in Sandy Bay, the reef can be just feet away, or a 10 minute swim across a lagoon.

Dive spots are close, so each operator does one-tank dives, then you do shore intervals back at your resort. The water seemed about 80 degrees in February and a bit warmer in July. We always had excellent visibility, warm water, and zero to very little current. Fairly typical Caribbean sea life, though we saw lots more groupers than other destinations, 4 species. Two wrecks near Sandy Bay, swimming through 4 levels of the Odyssey was very cool. Lots of turtles, eagle rays, some eels...great variety and a few species I hadn't seen before like sharp tail eel, a couple grouper species, blue parrotfish, and a few more. In July/Aug we were able to locate and snorkel with whale sharks about 8 times, brief but cool encounters, as each one was solitary and moving. I had great freediving on each trip too. There is an operator on the south side who offers dives with Caribbean reef sharks. Whether or not you are a shark enthusiast, it would be a crime to miss this dive if you are on Roatan. We did it both times we were there, just a very cool (and safe) experience, and a must for photographers. If currents are light, after watching the sharks from a fixed position, you are allowed to swim amongst them.

We mostly just dived and stayed around our resorts. We did do a tour of a wildlife sanctuary, and my wife enjoyed horseback riding on the beach (and in the ocean). Next time we will probably have one of the taxi drivers give us an island tour.

Pretty easy to get here from the US...many flight fly to Roatan from Houston..also, TACA flies in from El Salvador, we did it both ways and it was a relatively short trip from SF.

If you like diving the Caribbean and Belize and Cozumel but haven't tried the Bay Islands, I think you will love it!