I wasn't able to immerse myself into the diving on Roatan as much
as I would have liked. I had only one full day of diving to do plus
I wanted to see as much of Roatan as possible after the morning
boat dives. Thus, I finished with only 3 dives on Roatan, one of
which was off-shore of our resort in the infamous "Spooky Channel"
dive site. Although the dive site wasn't all that impressive, the
dive did have certain bonuses to it.
First and foremost, this dive marked the very first dive I had
done with my father, who was recently certified on the island of
Utila only one day prior. And separately, it was the first time
I was able to catch an Octopus free-swimming in the afternoon.
The unfortunate part was in just 3 dives I wasn't able to get into
a grove and get my bearings straight underwater and thus I only
came up with 40 or so decent images, but none were the macro-shots
that leave me drooling like some of my past trips. I did manage
a couple nice scenery images, however.
And...
One animal was prevalent in the shallow waters, and its one I had
not come across before so its abundance was a bit surprising. It
is an Upside down Jellyfish I think from the Genus Cassiopea. The
photo is awful, unfortunately, because of the glare of the sun hitting
the suspended particles of sand in the near-shore habitat. It is
upside down so the photosynthetic tentacles can receive sunlight.
The usual suspects of the Caribbean were present and accounted
for, like this adult Queen Angelfish called Holocanthus ciliaris...
...and this adult Spotted Drum ~ Equetus punctatus.
The diving did look pretty nice in my limited number of dives on
Roatan, but in one dive in Utila I think I saw a healthier reef.
The bonus for Roatan is the possibility for shore diving, whereas
that didn't seem possible in Utila. Nevertheless both locales will
warrant further exploration :)
Rare to most the Caribbean, but not unusual around the Bay Islands
is the Indigo Hamlet ~ Hypoplectrus indigo. Generally these fish
are rather shy, but I was able to capture this one after exhibiting
enough patience for it to relax around me.
One last photo of a nocturnal Bigeye of called Priacanthus arenatus.
During the evening hours these fish are rather popular and outgoing.
During the sunlit hours of the afternoon they have to be hunted
for underneath overhangs and ledges.
To view the rest of the underwater images from Roatan please view
this link.
To enjoy the story and photos of the topside of Roatan please view
this link.
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