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INTERVAL WORLD Summer 2015 IntervalWorld.com
ea fans wave as I glide along the coral-
encrusted outcrop, mesmerized by the
life teeming in this warm (84°F!), gin-
clear water. Sergeant majors school
by, their yellow and black stripes
reminding me of bumblebees buzzing about in some colorful
garden. A seemingly bored puffer fish is undisturbed as a bright-blue
parrotfish and several horse-eye jacks dart past. Suddenly, our dive
master, Mal Forrest, points excitedly over my shoulder, and I turn
to see an enormous eagle ray pass right over my head, eclipsing
the sun as it elegantly soars past us. I’m ecstatic, and even
more so when a green sea turtle follows in its wake.
I’m scuba diving with Sun Divers on my first morning in Roatán,
Honduras, and I’ve already seen what has filled a week during
other trips. The Mesoamerican Reef, the second largest in the
world, rims this Caribbean island north of the Honduran mainland,
making it a world-renowned diving destination. Dive flags and
shops dot the 30-mile-long coast, making it abundantly clear that
much of the action here is offshore and underwater.
The hour of diving goes by all too fast, and with my tank at 700
pounds per square inch, it’s time to make our three-minute safety
stop and head back to the boat. Surfacing, I feel like a kid being
called in from recess, but there’s plenty I want to explore out of the
water, too. My wife, Kat, isn’t a diver, but has been having an equally
fantastic time relaxing and reading on the Half Moon Bay beach in
the West End. I meet her there, and we get $5 plates of excellent
grilled jerk chicken and plantains before setting off to explore this
part of the island.
The colorful West End is considered to be the happening part
of the island, where bars cater to Jimmy Buffet lovers and divers
With endless local flavor and
water pursuits galore, this
Caribbean diving hotspot is
paradise onshore and offshore.
By Steve Larese
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