5 replies to this topic

[jesterdiver]

I hope this is a good place to post this, but in case anybody wants it. I copied all the dive sites for both boats.

Boat #1

10/27
Dive #1 Tulio's Place
Dive #2 40 FT Point
Dive #3 Key Hole

10/28
Dive #1 Shark Dive @ Cara A Cara Point
Non-Shark dive @ Insidious Reef
Dive #2 Valley of the King
Dive #3 Carib Wall
Boat Night Dive @ Carib Wall

10/29
Dive #1 Mary's Place
Dive #2 Mr. Bud Wreck
Dive #3 Prince Albert Wreck

10/30
Dive #1 Singledivers Reef
Dive #2 Missing Link
Dive #3 The Secret Spot

10/31 Barberata Island Tour
Dive #1Charlie's Place
Dive #2 Morat Wall
Dive #3 Pigeon's Cay Wall


Boat #2

10/27
Dive #1 Parrot Tree Wall
Dive #2 Tulio's Place
Dive #3 Prince Albert Wreck

10/28
Dive #1 Casablanca
Dive #2 Calvin's Crack
Dive #3 Iron Shore

10/29
Dive #1 Mr. Bud Wreck
Dive #2 Iron Shore
Dive #3 Key Hole

10/30
Dive #1 Mary's Place
Dive #2 Newman Wall
Dive #3 Singledivers Spot 2012

10/31
Dive #1 Port Royal Reef
Dive #2 Parrot Tree to Tulio's Place
Dive #3 Mary's Place

Edited by jesterdiver, 04 November 2013 - 07:24 PM.

[jesterdiver]

https://www.youtube....h?v=nPce4d-qyPU


Thanks Joe aka Honu Manu for a great video!

Edited by jesterdiver, 04 November 2013 - 07:28 PM.

[jesterdiver]

About our efforts to help the local orphanage
We as divers are privileged to be able to explore a world that most will never see outside of a television. Being submerged in the beauty of the local waters, it becomes easy to lose perspective on the topside world. I'm truly honored to be a part of a group of divers that always tries to give back a little to the communities that share so much of themselves with us.

We were able to deliver over six shopping carts of much needed groceries to the orphanage. We covered the amount of groceries that the orphanage consumes in a month, and then some! We even had enough money left over to be able to make a nice cash donation. A donation that we came to find came in the nick of time. It happens that the orphaning had been buying groceries partially on credit, and the grocery store was now asking to get paid before selling more to the orphanage. The cash donation was able to put the orphanage in the black and with the months worth of groceries, gave them some padding too!

We also collected tons of school supplies such as pencils, pens, erasers, folders, book bags, and notebooks, enough to cover several tables! These will help these kids be able to excel in school. It was obvious the caretakers of the orphanage truly care for those children and just want them to have a fighting chance in a country where chances are limited for any child, much less an orphan.

I want to thank everyone who participated! Those who donated money, I extend the thank you that both the caretakers and the children sent. Literally every dollar made a difference for those kids. And for the divers who took a few hours out of their vacation to make someone else's lives a bit better, amazing! We had challenges like language barriers, interestingly arranged shopping list, and time constraints. A group of several divers, most of which had never met before that week, put their egos aside and worked as a "team" to get the items on the shopping list, despite language barriers, while staying under budget to be able to have a nice cash donation left over, and do it all in just over half an hour! I was amazed how well everyone worked well together and goes to show that divers are resourceful people who can accomplish a lot when they put their minds to it. Thanks again to the team who went shopping!

We were further rewarded with the smiles of those kids. They showed so much pride in what little they had. To them it was just home, like any other kids. They thought nothing of the fact they were sharing a tiny room with three other kids, no matter how cramped or limited on resources home is, it's better than what faces them on their own outside. They smiled at the prospects of the new Iron Man notebooks and other gifts. They were truly grateful that people outside of their walls cared about what they go through.

Bottom line is that Singledivers.com made a huge positive difference in the lives of thirteen kids. And the divers were a huge component in that. Although, there is one other component that stays in the background, but is the biggest component to the positive work singledivers does, and that's Kamala! I'm sure many of us never think of it this way, but for someone in her position to actively push this philanthropic mission to touring divers is in my opinion a risk. More and more people these days are fine with just closing their eyes and ignoring problems, and some even potentially turned off to having to think about the world while they are away on vacation. To present this opportunity to help others could in theory backfire, but she believes in doing the right thing, and she believes in us and our ability to pull together and help those who need it. Thanks Kamala for giving us the chance to pay back the communities that give us the experiences we get to enjoy above and below the waves, and for being brave enough to do so! Thanks Singledivers Roatan 2013, we had amazing diving, memories, and we left the island maybe a little better than we found out.

On a side note. Special thank you to the Barbetta Island clean up crew! Even on a tiny deserted island in what seemed like the middle of no where, man's trash finds it's way on shore. A few divers got together and helped return a tiny piece of Roatan back to it's pristine natural state. Again, divers leaving it better than they found it! Proud to be a part of Singledivers.com!

Jose
aka Jesterdiver

Edited by jesterdiver, 04 November 2013 - 07:34 PM.

[Buzo Guero]

Orale! Sorry I couldn't be there...

[WreckWench]

Thanks everyone...anyone want to take a shot at a trip report?

[jesterdiver]

My Trip Report:

I've now been back home a couple of days and can't stop thinking about what a great trip this was. When we arrived there was someone from Media Luna waiting for us. He let us know we had a few minutes till the shuttle left so many of us headed to the bar to "hydrate". The shuttle ride to the hotel was interesting with some nice views from the tops of the hills over the island and surrounding beaches.

When we arrived to the hotel, check in couldn't be easier. Give your name and off you went to the room. The rooms are bungalow style, very spacious with large comfortable beds, cranking AC, flat screen tv, and nice wrap around deck with hammocks. The oceanfront view was definitely worth it for me! The main hotel lobby area was large, spacious, and had comfortable couches to surf the web using their wifi. Pool tables upstairs were good for some late night hanging out. The staff was always very friendly and attentive throughout the resort.

The cappuccino bar was great and I took advantage of it often. Nice out door deck bar for drinks. Bar closes around 11 so if you're a nite owl bring a couple of bottles from the duty free at the airport, came in handy! (Kamala if you're reading this, it was water I swear I was drinking till1am!) There seemed to be decks hidden throughout the resort many of which were empty so it was easy to find your own private sunbathing spot with a great view.

The onsite dive shop operation was great. They always went out of their way to accommodate requests and solve problems. They were very friendly. Always finding a way to get me fresh DIN tanks no matter if I was on the boat or doing shore dives. There was always plenty of room in the large gear locker for everybody's stuff. The staff did a quick work of changing out tanks between dives.

Visiting the kids at the orphanage was great! A determined team of divers went to the supermarket filled up over a half a dozen carts and were out in under 45 minutes. I can't fill one shopping cart at home with groceries in an hour! the kids were great really happy to see tons of school supplies and fresh groceries for them. More about that above in an earlier post. It's great we get a chance to give back!

The diving itself was beautiful! The reefs were in really healthy condition with a lot of varying topography. the diving was very diverse from walls, to cracks, swim thrus, chimneys, coral garden plateaus, wrecks and drift dives. And the sea life was even more diverse. Seahorse on our first dive was a good indication of what the week had in store for us. Huge nurse sharks, and Caribbean Reef Sharks, Large Groupers, Octopus, Squid, big Porcupine fish, and a nice Burr Fish or two, Eels everywhere it seemed, huge lobsters and crabs to tiny nudibranchs and snails.

I did the lionfish workshop and after thoroughly killing a few coconuts underwater I was given the green light to hunt. Quite a few of those fish met their demise at the end of my spear! On one night the chef made a fantastic Lionfish Ceviche, yum!

The house reef was a great dive, by itself worth the trip to Roatan. I did the reef during the afternoon and a couple times at night too. I found chimneys that started down at around 75' going straight up to about 30' with beautiful coral lining the walls the whole way up. I found an octopus, a couple of squid that came in close to check out my lights and then disappeared in a cloud of ink. Some cute Burr fish near the house dock too. At night the wall gives an easy point of reference for navigation and at times we didn't go more than 20 or 30 feet without seeing another huge lobster or crab.

Then there was Barbeta Island tour, WOW! Talk about pristine coral reefs. I mean as untouched and in it's natural state as I've seen in this hemisphere for diving. Barrel sponges big enough to stuff an adult diver in. Bright colors with very little bleaching or coral rubble piles anywhere. Fish in schools large enough to make it so you were diving under shade. If you go to Roatan, you MUST do the island tour at least once! Morat Wall and Pigeon Cay were amazing!!

Having a steak and lobster dinner on the beach of a deserted island was a nice change of pace too. As isolated an island as it was, still some of man's trash finds it's way onto the shore. Divers being divers, a couple of people got together and in minutes had it looking immaculate again. Of course the island was tiny but the views were beautiful, you truly felt isolated and away from all civilization!

If you haven't been to Roatan, just go, don't think about it, just do it, you won't regret it. The island tour is magical and a must do! And like usual Kamala kept the whole show running smooth. This is definitely a trip I would do again!

Jose aka JesterDiver
"If you don't know Roatan, you better ask somebody"

P.S. Apparently Roatan is a hotspot for vacationing superheroes! Don't ask just go see for yourself!