Elegant Eagle Ray Glided By Us as We Exited Spooky Channel

El Aguila Dive Site

Today we dove a wreck site called El Aguila. I agreed to go on the deep, wreck dive in an attempt to be open minded, to try once again and to not spoil Danielle’s and Cat’s fun, but honestly I’m not terribly fond of deep dives or wreck dives, and this was a combination of both! Wrecks aren’t my favorite probably because I’m afraid of running into sharp, rusted objects, and I’m slightly claustrophobic. Deep dives are more dangerous should equipment malfunction and from a photographer’s point of view, they are dull as there isn’t much marine life or color to shoot. Having said that, another dive shop chums the waters so we did see some big grouper and a free swimming eel. But I don’t really agree with feeding the fish either, so I was challenged from that aspect as well. Adding on to that, my mask kept filling with water and my camera on the wrong setting and jammed for part of the time, so needless to say I was rather unsettled! Continue reading “Elegant Eagle Ray Glided By Us as We Exited Spooky Channel”

Canyon Dive, Reef Dive, and Night Dive in Roatan

Another day in Roatan, another day of diving! I’m not sure I’d come here for any other type of vacation. Admittedly, I’ve hardly explored the island, so I could be jumping to conclusions, but with the second largest barrier reef five minutes away by boat versus days away like the Great Barrier, there are quite a few dive sites to explore. Today we dove Canyon Reef and Gibson Bight. What a variety! Continue reading “Canyon Dive, Reef Dive, and Night Dive in Roatan”

hairy plumed crab

SCUBA Diving in Sandy Bay, Roatan…A New Species?!?

Things to Know Before Traveling to Roatan

100% Deet, 100% of the Time to Reduce Sand Fly Bites

I think I jinxed myself. I awoke itching like mad from the sand fly bites. The bright red dots with bands around them on Sunday that had shrunk to a small dots on Monday are now itchy welts! Thank you Cat for the Afterbite. While I’m speaking of the annoying things, I may as well mention a few more inconveniences for anyone who is considering visiting Roatan and Blue Bahia specifically. None of them would keep me from returning as the staff is lovely and the diving fantastic, but they are informational things to know. Continue reading “SCUBA Diving in Sandy Bay, Roatan…A New Species?!?”

seahorse

Roatan’s Reefs – Seahorse, Octopus, Scorpionfish and More!

We began our day with a baleada for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. A baleada is a local cuisine consisting of egg, refried red beans, cheese, cream, and avocado tucked into a thick flour tortilla. It was mouth-watering good!

After scarfing down our meal, we organized our gear with the on site dive shop, Octopus Diving School and loaded on a small, bimini covered boat to go to our first dive site Melissa. We got there in about three minutes! We zipped up our wetsuits. I added a vest and hoodie because I get so cold despite the 83 degree water temperature. We continued with our fins, masks, BCD, regulator and tanks and rolled backwards into the water. Continue reading “Roatan’s Reefs – Seahorse, Octopus, Scorpionfish and More!”