Scuba Diving Honduras

Diving Honduras Overview

Diving the Honduras Bay Islands offers diverse reefs but you may have to deal with the ubiquitous no-see-ums. All dive resorts are in the Bay Islands: Roatan, Utila, Cayos Cochinos, all home to aggressive no-see-ums - some people have serious allergic reactions. Those without DEET may find their vacations ruined. Diving Roatan and other Bay Islands features nice walls, offshore seamounts, and excellent coral and gorgonians, although there are few large fish. Whale sharks are common near Utila roughly February through May and boats from Roatan are chasing them too. Some Roatan resorts have easy beach diving. The rainy season is October through February, and can disrupt the diving. Spanish is spoken on the mainland, English on the Bay Islands. Classic Central American jungles and Mayan ruins inland make great mainland trips. Malaria protection is advised.

Honduras Seasonal Dive Planner

During our coldest winter months, northers can blow down and disrupt the diving. The rainy season starts in October or November and runs into February, but it doesn't usually affect visibility that much. The no-see-ums are usually the worst during wet weather. The hottest months are March and August.

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Reef & Rainforest, Dive & Adventure Travel A full service dive travel agency that specializes in exotic destinations (South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Africa, South & Central America).	Undercurrent Online: Instant access to the latest issues and all readers reports. Click here now	Deep Blue Resort All inclusive beach front dive resort in Utila, Honduras 3 boat dives a day, 2 night dives, unlimited shore diving, ocean front rooms with air con

Diving Honduras Feature Articles and Reader Reports

Attention! You must be an Undercurrent Online Member to access MOST links in this section. However some articles can be accessed by the public -- these links have a button you can click to see the article. What others have to say about Undercurrent

All Availble to Undercurrent Online Members; Some Publicly Available as Indicated

Diving Honduras Articles - Land Based Belize, Hawaii, Cozumel, Palau . . ., Caribbean winter warnings and more trouble with the Siren fleet, 3/13 Mayan Princess, Roatan, Honduras, Disney-like digs and aquarium-like diving, 8/12 British Virgin Islands, Utila, Raja Ampat, serious inflator problems, credit card ripoffs, 5/12 Cozumel, Anguilla, Palau…, plus a shark dive with no sharks, and two resorts to avoid, 4/12 Mexico, Myanmar, Palau, Roatan, where to see big fish, where to avoid dead reefs and daytrippers, 6/11 Cocos, Fiji, Roatan, Yucatan, and why you shouldn’t rely solely on travel agents, 5/11 Plantation Beach Resort, Honduras, diving on the quiet side of the Bay Islands, in Cayos Cochinos, 8/10 Laguna Beach Resort, Utila, Honduras , dive with a little bit of luck, patience, or both, 8/09 Royal Playa Resort, Roatán, Honduras, this basic East End place offers the most pristine reefs, 5/09 Roatán Dive Guide Charged With Attempted Murder, 5/09 Available to the Public Bahamas, B.V.I., Ontario, Roatan…, the good, bad and ugly in dive resorts, boats and service, 10/08 CoCo View Resort, Roatan, Honduras, hello Muddah, hello Faddah, here I am at..., 8/08 Malaria on Roatan, 8/08 Don’t Forget There’s Malaria Out There, 10/05 Thumbs Down, Bananarama, Roatan, 10/05 CoCo View Resort, Roatán, Honduras, 10 years later, the same diver paradise, 7/04 CoCo View Cuts the Cheese and (hopefully) Blows Away Turista, 10/03 CoCo View: Redux, 5/03 Laguna Beach Resort, Honduras, in search of whale sharks, 4/03 Thumbs Down: CoCo View, 2/03 Bayman Bay Owners Pursued, after several years of not delivering for divers, 2/03 What's Left After Mitch?, reports on Honduras, Belize, Cayman, and Cozumel, 1/99 Two Weeks In Honduras, From CoCo View to Plantation Beach, 9/98 Anthony’s Key, Inn of the Last Resort, Bargains in Honduras, 2/98 Bayman Bay Club, Guanaja, Easy, cheap, tropical diving, 3/97 Resorting to Alternatives, The Great Guanaja Margarita Chase, 3/97 Bay Islands Beach Resort, Roatan, 8/96 Romeo's on Roatan, 3/96 Plantation Beach, 6/95

Diving Honduras Articles - Liveaboards Bonaire, Fiji, Galapagos, Roatan, great examples of customer service - - and one resort to avoid, 9/11 Available to the Public Wave Dancer vs. Bay Islands Aggressor, 4/94

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Honduras
Including Roatán, Guanaja, Utila, and Cayos Cochinos

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Travel Edition of Reef Fish Identification: Caribbean, Bahamas, South Florida
by Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach

Today's airline weight restrictions not only limit the amount of dive gear and cameras you can pack for overseas trips, but also those valuable prized marine life identification books. And with spotty Internet access overseas, it's not like you can look a critter of or fish up easily online. For the divers who still want a book in their hands post-dive to look up the fishes they encounter, Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach are offering "Travel Edition of Reef Fish Identification: Caribbean, Bahamas, South Florida." It's lightweight enough to thrown in your carry-on but rugged enough to withstand frequent saltwater washings on board.

Click here to buy it at Amazon via our website -- our profits go to save the reefs.

World Atlas of Coral Reefs
by Mark D. Spalding, Corinna Ravilious, Edmund P. Green, United Nations World Conservation Monitoring Center.

If there is one book that belongs in every traveling diver's library, this is it. The superb World Atlas of Coral Reefs has everything you want to know about the reefs from Costa Rica and Cuba to the Coral Sea and Cayman. The information is specific and up to date. The photos, maps and layout superb. And the price, for this 424 page, full color, hard bound volume, is a steal at $31.50

The Atlas was released in September by the United Nations World Conservation Monitoring Center to document and conserve the world's coral reefs. Clearly written with divers in mind, it's an invaluable resource for global travelers. Here's what you'll find.

• 94 maps, including global maps of biodiversity and reef stresses, regional maps showing 3-D bathymetry and high resolution maps showing reefs, mangroves, population centers, dive centers and protected areas.
• 280 color photographs, showing reefs, wildlife, people and places, Including 84 photographs taken from space by Shuttle astronauts.
• Text explaining the formation, structure and ecology of coral reefs; their various uses and abuses at the hands of humans; and the techniques used in coral reef mapping.
• Detailed texts describing the distribution and status of coral reefs in every country.
• Data tables listing information on biodiversity, human use, and protected areas. These include statistics on coral reef area, biodiversity, fish consumption, and threats.

For example, you can learn about pollution damage to the reefs at Providenciales and the lack of human impact, as well. Or, where extensive bleaching took place in Honduras 1998. You'll read that Milne Bay in Papua New Guineas has the most extensive reef system in that country and where, in Fiji, the bumphead parrotfish and tridachna clams will not be found, thanks to overfishing. Order now.

The Reef Set: Reef Fish, Reef Creature and Reef Coral (3 Volumes):
Paul Humann ID Books
by Paul Humann, Ned Deloach

The three set fish, creature and coral ID books by Paul Humann are the unparalleled sources for information on Caribbean sea life and identification. Paul and his partner Ned Deloach recently released updated and expanded editions of each, with scores of new critters, even better photos, and information unavailable anywhere else. Why, the Reef Fish Identification book, at more than 500 pages, is 20 percent larger than the previous volume, which came out in 1994. Whenever I travel to the Caribbean, I tote all three books and spend my down hours figuring out what I saw and where to look to find rare creatures. Paul's splendid Reef Creature book (420 pages), covers sponges, nudibranchs, octopus, crustaceans, Christmas tree worms and plenty more. His Reef Coral ID book (276 pages) helps you identify all the hard and soft corals, spawning, and even the growth on top of corals, as well as algae and other plant life. Beginners may want to ID only fish, but I'd recommend that all three books be part of every diver's library. And, if you have an old set, by all means replace it. You'll be delighted at the additions and improvements. Each book normally retails for $40, but are discounted when you order here. And the boxed 3-volume set is available now at a bigger discount, up to 30%. You'll get the best prices Amazon.com has to offer, speedy delivery, and the knowledge that a large hunk of our profit will go to preserve coral reefs.

* Reef Fish Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas,
* Reef Creature Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas, and
* Reef Coral Identification: Florida Caribbean Bahamas
* The Boxed Set of all three (you can save up to 30%)

A Guide to the Coral Reefs of the Caribbean
by Mark Spalding

This book doubles as a guide to the natural history of the coral reefs and a diver's travel guide. In addition to providing information about some of the most popular diving and snorkeling, it also offers practical suggestions to divers who want to protect these sites. Author Mark Spalding, a coral reef scientist who has worked on coral reefs in over thirty countries, delves into the eco-problems with a focus on what each person can do to protect the reefs. The guide section covers 35 dive destinations with key information on the reefs, marine parks, remote places, and unusual species as well as excellent maps and a photographic field guide of the marine flora and fauna.
Order Now at a reduced price of only $16.47.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.