Roatan Respite

The pristine diving and snorkeling on this Honduran island begs to be shared

Diversion Magazine, January 2000
Copyright 2000, Dale Leatherman

    I took a giant step off the platform of the Tiburon Ballena and joined my dive buddy in a gentle free-fall through clear water into an underwater garden. Unlike gardens topside, the "plants" moved in what seemed like a psychedelic dream. Purple and green sea fans waved, the deep red branches of a gorgonian trembled, and the fine tentacles on a stand of tan pillar coral rippled in the current. Bright, flower-like tube worms snapped shut on invisible prey, then bloomed again, as if on fast-forward speed. Anemones fluttered delicate, translucent fingers.

    At 70 feet, we leveled off next a barrel sponge big enough for me to hide in -- but it was already occupied. Within the sponge's pale pink interior a portly grouper studied us, the brown stripes across his eyes looking like mascara gone awry.

    We stopped finning and let the current carry us, like tourists in a strange land. Our passage disturbed the sleep of a large-pizza-sized green turtle, and a green moray eel poked his head from a crevice to threaten us with a mouthful of sinister, back-slanted teeth. Minnow-like silversides flowed over and around us like an underwater sleet storm, followed by a school of dollar-sized blue tangs catching the current as we were. Stately turquoise-and-yellow angel fish, sparkly yellow-tailed damsels and hundreds of other fish shared the ride.

    The thrumming of an engine reminded us that we were indeed tourists, and on a limited budget of air. Checking my computer, I saw that we'd been down 50 minutes, which seemed like a lifetime -- and like no time at all. Boat captain Rupert Jeffries had been following the bubbles during our drift dive and the bright blue-and-white Tiburon Ballena (whale shark) was idling overhead. We began our slow ascent.

    It was our fifteenth dive in five days on Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. . . (more)

Contact me to read the rest of this story and to discuss second rights or a rewrite. daleatherman@cs.com