BIBR Dive FAQ

 

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How much does a dive package cost?

 Rates depend upon the time of year, your room choice and the number of people staying in one room.   Please check our complete rate sheet for complete rate information & to read our booking policies. 

What is included in the BIBR Dive Package?

Your package includes:

   5 Consecutive Days of Boat Diving   (2 tanks in am, 3rd tank in pm, optional 4th drop-off)

(if you come in on a Saturday, your package includes boat trips on Sunday through Thursday.  Extra boat trips are available for a small fee payable at the resort)

   1 Boat Night Dive 
   Unlimited Shore Diving
   Guided Night Snorkel in the Natural Aquarium Snorkel Trail & Spooky Channel
   Air-Conditioned Rooms   
   3 Full Meals Daily
   Island Party with Pig Roast, Live Music and Crab Races
   Hiking  
   Kayaks
  Resort and Island Orientation  
   Welcome Cocktail  
   Concierge Service for Side Trips, Return Ticket Confirmation, Activity Planning
   Assistance with Customs and Immigration   
   Airport Transfers

What is the diving like on Roatan?

  water temperatures from 78 - 84 degrees F
  visibility up to 150 ft
  little or no current
  calm seas

Our reef provides beautiful, varied and in most cases, easy diving. The reef's walls, caverns, crevasses, and eel gardens provide exotic dive sites for everyone from new students to seasoned divers. See 85 of the 100 species of coral teeming with everything from morays, octopus, and turtles; to drums, wrasse, and gobies; to ocean triggers, schools of blue tangs, whale sharks, manta rays and wild dolphin! Roatan has over 800 different species of fish, one of the most diverse populations in the Caribbean. In many places, Roatan's reef extends up to the surface, making an ideal site for easy snorkeling right off of the shore or the dive boat.

What about shore diving?

Easy Navigation!  Just follow our rope guide to find your way to and from Spooky Channel.

Some of the most interesting reef formations on the island lie just off of our beach.  From the shore are many named sites, including Spooky Channel, Ben Jones Front Porch, & The Natural Aquarium Snorkel Trail. Also along the shore of BIBR is the barrier reef system that makes Roatan famous.   You can swim in either direction along the wall and see corals, tropicals, pelagics, and schooling fish.  Inside the reef, the lagoon and healthy seagrass bed protects juveniles, anemones, octopus, eels, rays, crabs and dozens of small invertebrates. 

A guide is on the beach between 2 and 10 pm most days to assist divers and snorkelers with their shore explorations.  To be sure you find and enjoy these spectacular sites to their fullest, we recommend having a guide or a detailed orientation on your first trips out to the reef.   Unlimited shore diving is available 24 hours a day. 

What is the Natural Aquarium & Snorkel Trail?

The Natural Aquarium has several areas to explore.  On the inside western edge of the channel is a wonderful place to explore by SCUBA.(#1) Because extremely calm conditions & the shallower depth, you will have a long bottom time & excellent conditions for your dive.  Pick out a coral head and watch the interplay between fishes & corals.  Look for the back doors and sleeping hollows.  See the encroachment lines as corals fight for space & sunlight.  Cheer on the little guys clearing out their tunnels & defending their territories in the sand.

On the eastern side of the channel (#2) you can explore the sandy flats around the coral mounds. Follow our buoyed snorkel trail through our incredible Natural Aquarium (#3).    Divers are welcome to dive the trail provided they take extra care not to damage the shallow reef.  Depths of the snorkel trail range from the surface down to 35+ feet.   In most places, it is between 10-20'.   Start out by finding the juveniles in the grass bed and then follow them through their growth stages as you head deeper and out to the reef.

What is Spooky Channel?

Spooky Channel is a natural channel formed by a land stream which flows into the sea. ( #5 on the picture above)  On the surface, the crack narrows to 5-8 feet across.  Below, divers swim past giant coral and  enter a 45' wide, 90' deep hourglass shaped tunnel which leads through the reef and out onto the wall.   As divers enter the channel, they navigate through giant coral heads which are home to a huge green moray, barracuda, octopus, crabs, lobster, shrimp, conch, parrotfish, grouper,  squid, and cuttlefish. We have found  6 different types of eels in Spooky.  You will also see occasional turtles & spotted eagle rays.  Through the tunnel, the visibility drops, light enters through the crack in shafts and bounces in the cavern. Observant divers can find and follow a side tunnel. As you come through the channel and out on to the reef, everything suddenly opens, the water turns crystal clear and hundreds of Roatan's beautiful tropical fish come into view as the wall falls away beneath you. There are many different ways to dive Spooky.  Many divers like to explore the base of Spooky.  Others swim through the channel just under the overhanging ledges, explore the unique architecture of the channel & then turn west on the wall (#4)and explore the cracks that extend back into the reef.  If you stay on the eastern side (#6) of the channel, you will swim towards Ben Jones Front Porch, another fabulous site.


QUICK LINKS TO OUR WEBSITE

CONTACT INFORMATION

US Office
For bookings, information and questions
Clifden Associates, Inc., Agent
1370 Old Wilmington Pike
West Chester, PA 19382-8211
1-800-4-ROATAN
610-399-1884 (voice)
610-399-5265 (fax)
escape@bibr.com
or use our online contact form
Resort
Bay Islands Beach Resort
Sandy Bay, Roatan
Bay Islands, Honduras
Central America
011-504-445-3020 (voice)
011-504-445-3064 (fax)
For questions, prices, bookings and information:  escape@bibr.com
 
 
 
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