Discover Scuba Recommendations

Howdy

I was looking for a recommendation from anyone that might have tried a discover scuba excursion from one of the dive shops in Roatan. I found a couple of older post, but nothing recent. I've done lots of snorkeling, but I am thinking about taking the next step to scuba. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

ddaz

GBY

Coconut Tree is West End has a very loyal following.

https://www.coconuttreedivers.com/discover-scuba-diving/

This thread from TA maybe of help as well.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g292019-i4482-k10755780-Diving-Roatan_Bay_Islands.html

Howdy

I was looking for a recommendation from anyone that might have tried a discover scuba excursion from one of the dive shops in Roatan. I found a couple of older post, but nothing recent. I've done lots of snorkeling, but I am thinking about taking the next step to scuba. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

ddaz

GBY

Any dive shop in West End Beach is trustworthy and legit. Roatan is one of the best places I've ever travelled.

Lisa, do you mean the village of West End or West Bay Beach? Or both?

While I agree all are legitament, some have far larger following than others. I know a dive master who has switched shops several times, he fans keep track of him.

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Lisa, do you mean the village of West End or West Bay Beach? Or both?

 

While I agree all are legitament, some have far larger following than others. I know a dive master who has switched shops several times, he fans keep track of him.

 

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West Bay Beach to clarify. It's all in the same area though so I can never keep it clear in my head lol.

The problem with doing a Discover Scuba class in Roatan, is once you try it, you'll be hooked and there's no going back lol.

There are several dive shops in West End and West Bay and you'll likely have a fabulous experience with whichever one you try. We went to Roatan several years just to try a new place and have gone back every year since.

Expect to spend at least a half day doing this. Are you with a group of people? What does the rest of your group want to do? I only ask because if they want to souvenir shop while you do this, then perhaps West End would be better. If you or your group wants to spend some time on of the most beautiful beaches in the world, then West Bay would be a good choice. You can research and email a dive shop ahead of time and make arrangements. I'm not too familiar with West End dive shops but you can look on TA for reviews and research. Many dive shops will arrange transportation.

We originally did our Discover Scuba at Infinity Bay on West Bay Beach. That's where we return every year or sometimes twice a year. The dive shop there is Infinity Bay Divers. Other shops that come to mind on West Bay Beach West Bay Divers & Bananarama. Once you finish your class you could enjoy some coconut shrimp and a Monkey La La on the beach.

If this is something you are thinking of doing, there is no better place than Roatan. The water is beautiful, the landscape under the water is breathtaking and it's about half the price of anywhere else. We have gone diving in a few other places in the Caribbean....but nothing compares to Roatan.

The problem with doing a Discover Scuba class in Roatan, is once you try it, you'll be hooked and there's no going back lol.

 

There are several dive shops in West End and West Bay and you'll likely have a fabulous experience with whichever one you try. We went to Roatan several years just to try a new place and have gone back every year since.

 

Expect to spend at least a half day doing this. Are you with a group of people? What does the rest of your group want to do? I only ask because if they want to souvenir shop while you do this, then perhaps West End would be better. If you or your group wants to spend some time on of the most beautiful beaches in the world, then West Bay would be a good choice. You can research and email a dive shop ahead of time and make arrangements. I'm not too familiar with West End dive shops but you can look on TA for reviews and research. Many dive shops will arrange transportation.

 

We originally did our Discover Scuba at Infinity Bay on West Bay Beach. That's where we return every year or sometimes twice a year. The dive shop there is Infinity Bay Divers. Other shops that come to mind on West Bay Beach West Bay Divers & Bananarama. Once you finish your class you could enjoy some coconut shrimp and a Monkey La La on the beach.

 

If this is something you are thinking of doing, there is no better place than Roatan. The water is beautiful, the landscape under the water is breathtaking and it's about half the price of anywhere else. We have gone diving in a few other places in the Caribbean....but nothing compares to Roatan.

I so agree!! Isn't it one of the most beautiful and peaceful places you've ever been? I met so many people who went for a week and stayed for a month or 4 months or just decided to move there. I love it there. My friend and I want to buy a place there on the beach.

Thanks Everyone!

I picked Roatan because I thought that it would be the perfect place for diving.

I will post back after my excursion to let you know how things went.

Thanks

ddaz

GBY

I so agree!! Isn't it one of the most beautiful and peaceful places you've ever been? I met so many people who went for a week and stayed for a month or 4 months or just decided to move there. I love it there. My friend and I want to buy a place there on the beach.

Yup! We ended up buying a place there we loved it so much.

 

We originally did our Discover Scuba at Infinity Bay on West Bay Beach. Other shops that come to mind on West Bay Beach West Bay Divers & Bananarama.

Thanks for listing some of the names there. I'm searching for a possible DSD for our family and wasn't sure the names of dive shops there.

I do have to say that it's a little disappointing that Infinity Bay doesn't give a refund for ANY reason: weather, personal issues or whatever. Sounds kinda crappy and sounds as if they wouldn't even refund you if the ship doesn't dock. :rolleyes: We have dove in crappy weather before and IMO it's not something I ever want to do again: water stirred up and can't see 5' in front of you, no sun and can't see much, very wavy...just plain yuck and a waste of money.

Yes, the no refund policy I think is not uncommon. However, I will say the cool thing about Roatan is if it's rough on one side of the island, you'll dive on the other side. We've been there in October during rainy season when there is not a boat to be had on West Bay Beach and the surf is so high there's no beach. The other side is calm and visability is great. It may be pouring rain and the streets are torrential rivers, but it's beautiful under the water.

There's also several places in West End but I'm not too familiar with them. All the dive shops have their following and I think any of them would do well for you. Seapgrape Plantation is another I'd mention. A family business and some really great people there. Also, Jackson Dive Shop in West End.

Yes, the no refund policy I think is not uncommon. However, I will say the cool thing about Roatan is if it's rough on one side of the island, you'll dive on the other side. We've been there in October during rainy season when there is not a boat to be had on West Bay Beach and the surf is so high there's no beach. The other side is calm and visability is great. It may be pouring rain and the streets are torrential rivers, but it's beautiful under the water.

 

There's also several places in West End but I'm not too familiar with them. All the dive shops have their following and I think any of them would do well for you. Seapgrape Plantation is another I'd mention. A family business and some really great people there. Also, Jackson Dive Shop in West End.

Although rain doesn't bother me, especially when swimming, it does hinder my ability to take good pictures while diving. We did dive once in the rain (didn't last for too long) and until the sun came out, it just wasn't a great experience. The darker it is under there, the harder it is to see and I'm not really into that. We just did a dive and it was cloudy and the water was really stirred up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for calmer water and a sunny day this time around. :D

Thanks for the info (on here and the other). I really want to stick to a dive shop located on West Bay. I know West End isn't far, but I have my heart on diving at WB this time around.

Just back from our cruise and here are the details from our Discover Scuba Adventure.

First --- We utilized Coconut Tree Divers in West End --- I would STRONGLY recommend them for your Discover Scuba Adventure

Upon exiting the ship and walking out to the street, we were promptly met by our driver, Murphy, who took us to the dive shop.

There were a total of three people in our group (we were two plus one other). We watched a short training video then did about another hour of class room instruction with the dive instructors (Dan & Louis). From there, we went out to the deck and did some instruction on the scuba gear, before putting it on and walking across the street to the beach.

We walked out into about chest deep water, where we dropped to our knees (now breathing through the scuba equipment). In this shallow water depth, we demonstrated some basic skills to our instructors, purging water from our mouth (both blowing and purge button), finding respiratory by sweeping our arms next to us, and clearing our mask of water.

Once we had demonstrated these basic skills, we swam, out to a sand patch in around 12ft of water where we knelt on the bottom and demonstrated being able to use a rescue respiratory with our dive partner, both as rescuer and rescue. Plus maybe a couple of other things, which I don't recall. But upon successfully completing these skills, we swam around the area to get comfortable with breathing through the respiratory.

We headed back to the dive shop deck where our instructors discussed our skill demonstration, made some minor adjustments to our gear and asked us if we had any questions or concerns. Once all questions were asked and answered, we put our gear back on headed across the street to the dive boat.

At the dive site(Turtles Crossing), we received instruction on how to step off the boat and into the water, where we were going, and how to get back into the boat once we were done.

We didn't see any turtles, but we did see a Lion fish (which one of the instructors quickly dispatched with a small spear). I had a large angel fish swim up to me and look me in the mask, as if to say, "what are you doing down here." We swam amongst the coral formations and looked over the edge of the drop-off. This experience was beyond AWESOME! We had a blast and our instructors did an excellent job making sure that we were safe and had a GREAT time.

I would recommend this experience to everyone. And I cannot praise Coconut Tree Divers and their team enough. Wonderful day.

ddaz

GBY