Has anyone been to Roatán recently? I'm aware that much of the Caribbean's coral has been badly affected by Stoney Coral Loss Disease and I wondered how badly it has been hit.

Any advice / feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Best wishes,

Jenny

@Jenny Stock Checking with a source for you.

Amazing thank you Craig

A friend who just went said Lots of fish, lots of Dead corals. A sad decline in the last few years.

Just returned. I think Roatan no different, no better, no worse, from the rest of the Caribbean basin at large. Everything has suffered from the scd, bleaching and overly warm water. Notice all the floaty stuff generating backscatter, supposedly not typical? Lots of rays and turtles, good number of fish, corals typical. (Nauticam Canon NA-R50, WWL-1, dual Marelux Apollo strobes)

Edited November 22, 2025Nov 22 by Nemrod

19 hours ago, Jenny Stock said:

Has anyone been to Roatán recently? I'm aware that much of the Caribbean's coral has been badly affected by Stoney Coral Loss Disease and I wondered how badly it has been hit.

Any advice / feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Best wishes,

Jenny

My contact Tim Palmer hasn’t been to Roatan since 2015, but he did work as a PADI course director there. Not a photog. He says to hit up Darren at Turquoise Bay Dive resort. They were doing coral restoration work then.

My dive buddy Nemrod and I dived Roatan in October and despite all of the Caribbean being "less lush and pristine" I still saw and photographed plenty of life......

This year I've been diving for 55 years and recall when the Caribbean was pristine. I think one has to be realistic on a planet trying to support 8 Billion people that it's not going to be the same as 10-20-30+ years ago.

Many divers just starting the last couple decades may not have the means to go to Asia, the Red Sea, Maldives, Australia, Philippines, Indonesia or Maldives which all can be "less than people recall back in the day". My 11 year old grandson rolls his eyes telling me; "Grandpa, no one wants another story from back in the day!" LOL......

The Caribbean is still worth diving and fun to photograph underwater. :)

Just one old guy's opinion!

David Haas

Edited November 22, 2025Nov 22 by dhaas

Fabulous

3 hours ago, dhaas said:

My dive buddy Nemrod and I dived Roatan in October and despite all of the Caribbean being "less lush and pristine" I still saw and photographed plenty of life......

This year I've been diving for 55 years and recall when the Caribbean was pristine. I think one has to be realistic on a planet trying to support 8 Billion people that it's not going to be the same as 10-20-30+ years ago.

Many divers just starting the last couple decades may not have the means to go to Asia, the Red Sea, Maldives, Australia, Philippines, Indonesia or Maldives which all can be "less than people recall back in the day". My 11 year old grandson rolls his eyes telling me; "Grandpa, no one wants another story from back in the day!" LOL......

The Caribbean is still worth diving and fun to photograph underwater. :)

Just one old guy's opinion!

David Haas

Fabulous thanks so much David. Great pictures! Love the squid. Thanks for letting me know and interesting that you were there in October - not managed to speak to anyone else who's been there post pandemic.

12 hours ago, Nemrod said:

Just returned. I think Roatan no different, no better, no worse, from the rest of the Caribbean basin at large. Everything has suffered from the scd, bleaching and overly warm water. Notice all the floaty stuff generating backscatter, supposedly not typical? Lots of rays and turtles, good number of fish, corals typical. (Nauticam Canon NA-R50, WWL-1, dual Marelux Apollo strobes)

Thank you Nemrod, looks like you got some great action. I've just got back from Turks and Caicos so wondered if it would be the same story. Looks like you got some great fishy action. Can't say your pics look too backscattery at all though! Good job if there was lots of it around :-)

On 11/21/2025 at 3:45 PM, Dave_Hicks said:

A friend who just went said Lots of fish, lots of Dead corals. A sad decline in the last few years.

hmmm yes it's the dead corals I'm concerned about....

I think the problem is people keep wanting to compare fabulous Pacific dive spots to the Caribbean....

They're two world apart destinations, different amount of population, infrastructure and more....Each will be different plus the time since someone visited last and other factors will influence one's opinion.

I could dive the same island year after year and each trip will have different temperature, visibility, animal encounters, etc.

Example: The Mantas at "Manta Point" won't necessarily get your memo of taking a week from work or life and you'll be arriving !!!!! LOL......Plus who knows WHEN a site got named that and by whom.......

After 5 decades I just go underwater and LOOK AROUND......There's always something to see and enjoy :)

Just get out there and photograph at any level of competence and desire.......

You're sure to have fun with that approach !!!

DH

Some old guy still traveling and enjoying the ocean world :)

Edited November 22, 2025Nov 22 by dhaas

49 minutes ago, dhaas said:

I think the problem is people keep wanting to compare fabulous Pacific dive spots to the Caribbean....

This is wildly wishful thinking David. We are comparing the Caribbean to how much of it looked 5 or 10 years ago. There has been a dramatic and rapid decline.

The sad part is that we will likely be saying the same things about the fabulous Pacific dive spots in another 5 or 10 years as they continue and accelerate their decline.

Edited November 22, 2025Nov 22 by Dave_Hicks

Went 2 years ago, the hard coral was in rough shape. Alot of our diving was on the west side, judging by the number of dive boats I saw that side gets alot of pressure. We did go to a few sites farther away on the southern side and they were a little better.

To Dave Hicks and Gary R and others....

Absolutely global decline with water warming to previously unheard of levels is affecting coral worldwide. My only point was that posts basically telling people don't go here, there or anywhere may not be realistic. I doubt there's anywhere left on the planet untouched by global climate change both land and sea.

I can look at my first digital photos (below) from 2001 shooting a lowly 3.3MP Nikon Coolpix 990 in Papua New Guinea and see the decline of reefs and all too. Doesn't make me happy either.......

I'd say do what you want and share your thoughts, but me?

I'm still going diving (and photographing) since I'm lucky to be able to at my age :)

DH

My wife and I go to CoCo View resort every spring, and will be going back for our 19th (I think trip) in March. It is not like it was 15 years ago, but it is still very nice diving with lots to see and photograph.

I’m heading to Coco View for the first time in April. It will be my first time diving in the Caribbean since ~1980 in Key Largo (if that’s considered the Caribbean? ). Looking forward to just hanging out and getting my fill of diving!

Hi @SwiftFF5 and @ACHiPo How were your dives and, specifically, the photo opportunities in Roatan? I’m planning a trip to Coco View in Feb 2027 and hoping to get some current intel.

What is the most productive photo type there?

Wide? Macro? Or a mix of both?

How was Coco View? I know it has a good history.

Thanks in advance for any details you can share!

Chip

Edited August 2Aug 2 by ChipBPhoto

@ChipBPhoto

Chip,

I loved CocoView. I was there for two weeks in April. Water was warm enough I dove in rash guard and/or trunks and a tee, although some folks dove in wetsuits or Sharkskin.

Their dive operation is first rate--incredible organization and very well run. Diving was great as well. I've heard from others that Roatan is not as good as it used to be. While that may be true, I still found a lot of stuff to photograph and really enjoyed my time at "Scuba Camp' (a nickname that pretty accurately describes the experience--definitely not bougie!)m. I ended up diving 3x/day which was a good balance of diving, processing, and recovery/rest time for me.

I wanted a place that would allow quite a bit of repetitive diving so I could study and learn critter behavior. I also wanted access to some great photography training as it was my innaugural outing with my underwater camera. Finally I wanted someplace that was safe, clean, with good food. CocoView Resort checked all the boxes.

I was just learning photography, so shot mostly with my 14-42 Olympus micro 4/3 kit lens. I did shoot some macro with the help of Mickey Charteris, and there are certainly many suitable macro subjects. I did not shoot CFWA as I didn't have the proper lens/dome, although there were sites that could be pretty good for CFWA although some mediocre vis. days made macro or 12-42 shooting a good choice.

If it was easier to get to for me, I could see going there 1-2 times a year. Unfortunately even though it's not as far as the Pacific, the two 3-5 hour flights with layover makes for a pretty tiring travel night even when riding up front.

Evan

Edited August 2Aug 2 by ACHiPo

On 11/21/2025 at 3:08 AM, Jenny Stock said:

Has anyone been to Roatán recently? I'm aware that much of the Caribbean's coral has been badly affected by Stoney Coral Loss Disease and I wondered how badly it has been hit.

Any advice / feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Best wishes,

Jenny

My wife and I were there last month. Absolutely gorgeous. Yes, there is some dead coral like all over the Caribbean, but lots on new coral growing everywhere. And so many sponges. Plenty of animal life. Our second time there and it won't be the last. If you want a nice, quiet boutique hotel with a great dive shop and restaurant on site in West Bay, I highly recommend Naboo.

Thanks so much @ACHiPo and @Adrian Gresores for sharing your experience! I am super excited to go in a few months. It sounds like a terrific island and marine life to photo.

Congrats, Evan, on your success with the new rig! It sounds like you came home with some nice "keepers" for sure. Our group is looking to do a workshop with Mickey. We are mostly experienced uw photogs, but I never turn down an opportunity to learn from a pro, especially someone familiar with the local life and spots.

Thanks again to you both!

chip

I went to Roatan 3 or 4 times in the early 2000's, always to CoCoView. It is a great place to rack up the dive count with at least 4 dives a day. I always had fun but the terrain of most dive sites is a bit similar everywhere. I am glad to hear the coral is recovering and it's still a good destination.

2 hours ago, ChipBPhoto said:

Thanks so much @ACHiPo and @Adrian Gresores for sharing your experience! I am super excited to go in a few months. It sounds like a terrific island and marine life to photo.

Congrats, Evan, on your success with the new rig! It sounds like you came home with some nice "keepers" for sure. Our group is looking to do a workshop with Mickey. We are mostly experienced uw photogs, but I never turn down an opportunity to learn from a pro, especially someone familiar with the local life and spots.

Thanks again to you both!

chip

Mickey is a fantastic teacher. The amount I progressed over 3 sessions with him blew me away. He literally opened up a whole new world to me.

On 8/2/2026 at 11:13 AM, ChipBPhoto said:

Hi @SwiftFF5 and @ACHiPo How were your dives and, specifically, the photo opportunities in Roatan? I’m planning a trip to Coco View in Feb 2027 and hoping to get some current intel.

What is the most productive photo type there?

Wide? Macro? Or a mix of both?

How was Coco View? I know it has a good history.

Thanks in advance for any details you can share!

Chip

@ChipBPhoto

I was there last in March, but this was my wife and I's 19th trip - so we love it there. I would say that it is mostly macro these days. You don't see many of the huge schools of reef fish that we used to see, and although you will often see turtles and rays and a nurse shark once in a while, there is lots of small stuff to see. I like to do 4 -5 dives a day (and sometimes up to 2 hours on a jump back dive when no one is trying to get me back to the boat), and CoCo View lets me do that, whereas other places are much more limiting. I would echo everything that @ACHiPo says. CoCo View isn't fancy, but the food is good and plentiful, the staff are wonderful and they just take good care of you. When you get off the plane and clear Customs, they greet you with "Welcome Home!" and it really does feel that way. Mickey is a fantastic teacher, and just great to chat with. He helped me with some fish identification (juvenile green razorfish) last time. Also, if you get a chance to dive with Stacy (the manager), he is a fantastic macro photographer and always finds something interesting.

I hope that helps, but am happy if you have any other questions.

6 hours ago, SwiftFF5 said:

@ChipBPhoto

I was there last in March, but this was my wife and I's 19th trip - so we love it there. I would say that it is mostly macro these days. You don't see many of the huge schools of reef fish that we used to see, and although you will often see turtles and rays and a nurse shark once in a while, there is lots of small stuff to see. I like to do 4 -5 dives a day (and sometimes up to 2 hours on a jump back dive when no one is trying to get me back to the boat), and CoCo View lets me do that, whereas other places are much more limiting. I would echo everything that @ACHiPo says. CoCo View isn't fancy, but the food is good and plentiful, the staff are wonderful and they just take good care of you. When you get off the plane and clear Customs, they greet you with "Welcome Home!" and it really does feel that way. Mickey is a fantastic teacher, and just great to chat with. He helped me with some fish identification (juvenile green razorfish) last time. Also, if you get a chance to dive with Stacy (the manager), he is a fantastic macro photographer and always finds something interesting.

I hope that helps, but am happy if you have any other questions.

Hey @SwiftFF5 thanks for the great info! I really appreciate everyone setting the expectations about it not being fancy, but homie. All I really need is a clean bed, a little AC, something to eat, and lots of dives. Sounds like I’ll be adding an MFO-3 to my macro kit for Christmas for a variety of options on a single dive.

I’m really looking forward it it!

Now all I need is airfare to drop a bit in the coming months 🤔

2 hours ago, ChipBPhoto said:

Hey @SwiftFF5 thanks for the great info! I really appreciate everyone setting the expectations about it not being fancy, but homie. All I really need is a clean bed, a little AC, something to eat, and lots of dives. Sounds like I’ll be adding an MFO-3 to my macro kit for Christmas for a variety of options on a single dive.

I’m really looking forward it it!

Now all I need is airfare to drop a bit in the coming months 🤔

I think you'll have a great time. I'm looking forward to getting my MFO-3 I ordered several months ago for my Lembeh trip. I borrowed one to shoot in Monterey a few weeks ago and I was sold on the concept. Unfortunately they are back ordered due to a lens quality issue. Get your order in!

I was there last year 2025 I was very disappointed. I find Bonaire a better choice.