FreediveToronto

Trip to Roatan

For those planning their vacation: look closer at Roatan!

Just came back from a week family vacation and highly recommend this place for anybody who loves  ocean, sun,  and diving. Accessible by a direct 4 hrs flight from Toronto until April-May with multitude of vacation options from DIY rental arrangement to “all inclusive” resorts (quite reasonably priced).

We stayed at Media Luna resort on all-inclusive plan, which is relatively afar from the most popular West End and West Bay but nevertheless it had its own benefits. Secluded area, its own beach, protected bay facing sunset. Beach is never crowded (most ppl occupy the pool area) and those coming to the beach quickly proceed to the sea for snorkelling.

Reef is just a short 5 min swim, from the beach or 3 min from the boat dock. Reef is at a very comfy 3-15 m of depth, then dropping on wall to a deeper ledge ~30 m. Visibility is ~20 m(even after the rain) with claims from the locals that it may actually be ~50-60 m, but we did not see that. Scuba shop is right at the resort, so freedivers would have free daily “buffet” of bubble-makers to chase around the reef.

Boat captain does not mind having freedivers on the boat with scuba divers, so instead paying upwards of $35/dive ($70 if you are for a 2 dives trip in the morning) you can be on the boat for $20 and freedive along those sites accessible by boat only.

It did not work for us though as that side of the island is affected by trend winds and surface conditions in the open were quite rough with noticeable current on the surface. So, you’d need to go down on scuba pretty fast to be in calm waters, staying on the surface would be a strenuous exercise, plus you’re losing sight of your buddy and boat with every wave.

We took a day trip on a rental car to the West Basy / West End, the most popular island area for tourists, to dive with local freedivers near the site of the upcoming Caribbean Cup freediving competition which will take place at the end of May. This is the same comp Soren and Mark were safety freedivers last year and Lisa was competing.

The sea over there is practically flat with no wind or current, same or even better visibility, access to float and dive rope through local dive shop. We met with Walid Boudhiaf and Andres Vanegas, Walid is a Tunisian freediver and National record holder training there regularly for the upcoming Cup. Andres started freediving quite recently but already did 35 DNF and also plans to participate in the Cup.

Off the water: beach is beautiful long stretch of sand with cafes and restaurants literally everywhere. Conch ceviche, fresh fish or lobster on the grill and your protein craving is very quickly subdued!

Trip to Tobermory

Weekday freediving off the Oakville Divers boat