God's Underwater Kingdom

Overall, I was able to go on 7 scuba dives while in Roatan. Prior to arriving on the island, I had no idea that this was a hot spot for diving but after my first day down, I understood why. The reef surrounding the island is the second largest in the world, and boasts of beautiful coral and a wide array of sea creatures. The water is very warm, high 80’s/low 90’s so it’s possible to go with just gear on. This is a nice change from when I got my dive certification in Morro Bay with full wetsuit/booties/gloves. Even though it was cold back then, I am so incredibly thankful to my parents for pushing me to get certified. The credential is good for life so instead of paying nearly $300 for the course in Roatan, I only paid average $20 per boat dive! The visibility was awesome, no less than 75 feet, and the creatures were out in force. I saw eagle rays, sea turtles, barracuda, jellyfish, octopus, squid, schools of yellow tailed tuna, lobsters, crabs, parrot fish, green moray eels, spotted moray eels, neutobranks, flounders, flamingo sea snails, caves filled with silversides, and tons of other colorful fish I can’t even name. Unfortunately I didn’t rent an underwater camera, but some other volunteers I went with managed to get a few shots of the wildlife that I’m posting here after stealing them from their facebook accounts  The deepest I went was 90 feet and my favorite aspect of diving was getting to maneuver through swim-throughs and explore the natural coral caves. Each time I dove I was struck by how incredibly beautiful God’s creation is. The intricate coral designs, the brilliant colors on the fish, the gorgeous lighting filtering through the clear blue water – it was all simply breathtaking. Off the neighboring island of Utilla it is possible to dive with Whale Sharks… I think it’s safe to say that Justin and I will be headed back to Honduras sooner than later.