When I think of Roatan and diving, I think of how this location is the destination that made me fall in love with my favorite thing to do in the world: diving. I got SCUBA certified on the island in 2007 and spent 15 days there exploring, meeting locals and exploring marine life as much as I possibly could. Marine life include beautiful coral, trumpet fish, huge grouper, a variety of rays, sea turtle, barracuda, parrotfish, puffer fish. When I dream of diving, this is the destination that I always think about returning to. I went in November and the year that I went, it was one of the stormiest seasons that they had seen in approximately 30 years. Initially, this prevented us from diving, but I was able to complete my PADI course top-side and when the storms cleared, visibility ranged from 15 feet (right after heavy storms and low visibility was only experiences once or twice) to approximately 95 feel. Even despite the stormy season, I still completed 14 dives while there-each as beautiful as the next.

Top-side, there are restaurants, bars, beach lounging opportunities and plenty of exploration to be done. Roatan is only about 30 miles long, so depending on how long your trip is, you have an opportunity to explore much of the island. From hiking, to renting a car and taking a day trip to loop the island and explore different communities, to just spending time lounging at the dive shop and meeting locals. In addition, if interested, you can also take some time and go to the mainland to explore other areas of Honduras.

On a side-note, Roatan is a cruise destination as well. On the days that cuise ships come in, locals raise their prices and are much more adamant about trying to get you to come into shops. The culture and community are a little different on these days and on non-cruise days, the culture and community are much more laid back, calm and inviting.

Diving Raotan stole my heart. For all of my friends are new divers, this is the destination that I ALWAYS say they must explore.