Roatán is a beautiful island in the Caribbean, about 65 kilometers off the northern coast of Honduras. It is located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja and is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. What makes it such a great location for freediving though? Natalie Rudman explains.
Roatan has been my home since the start of Covid when, after the world got shut down I found myself in Roatan on a boat able to stay close to our beloved ocean to swim and to dive daily. As 2021 progressed and life slowly started coming back to ‘normal’ the Roatan Freediving School opened and visitors came from abroad to come, dive, and train in this magnificent training ground of Roatan. Despite many restrictions worldwide, Roatan quickly came back fueling the freedom to roam around and to train with others.
I have been visiting Roatan since 2017 when I first came for the annual Caribbean Cup Freediving Competition and for the AIDA World Championships. The two competitions drew around 50 competitors from all over the world. Due to Covid, the 2020 Caribbean cup was canceled. In May 2021 a mini competition was held and attracted around 17 divers, due to travel restrictions the numbers were lower, but things are slowly coming back to normal. In August 2021 the Annual Caribbean Cup was held again and attracted around 20 divers, including a few from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Argentina, Poland, China, South Korea, many European countries, Australia and South Africa.
Roatán is a long and thin island with a max length of 60kms. Most of the dive operations are in the far West, including freediving. The school boat goes out daily at around 9 am. In less than 15 minutes we are at our diving site. The word ‘Honduras’ means "depths" in Spanish and Roatan is not short of depth. The boat passes the reef with walls that drop off to depths past 600 meters (2000 feet). It’s incredible to be so open and exposed in the Blue. To feel like a tiny drop in the Ocean. It may seem slightly intimidating to some, especially those not used to being in the sea, but there are moorings over the reef, so for kids taking courses or complete beginners the boat is at a mooring over the reef.
There are two main dive sites for the freediving on Roatan. One being in the West End, where the water is slightly darker, and we have visibility of up to 30 meters. The other site is in West Bay, which means going a little bit further on the boat, but West Bay is home to the Freediving Competitions held by The Roatan Freediving School. In West Bay the water is even bluer than in West End and some days we have visibility of up to 40 meters.
The school often has great athletes come to train, as well as the regulars who are training, we work together as a team, to safety and to always keep morale high and keep each other feeling safe to make our best dives. Sessions run for 2 hours or more and the water is so inviting and warm. In winter month’s one can expect a drop from 30/29 degrees C to around 28 degrees with the lowest temp being around 27C.
So really, it’s the most ideal location for diving. The pre-dominant East Trade Winds mean mostly perfect surface conditions in the sea as the Westside is protected from the East. Between October and January, some days see West or North Winds, which makes diving a little bit more challenging due to surface chop. Luckily there is the other side of the island, which we can go to train at when the conditions are not favorable on the North East End.
The Island is also equipped with a great gym, and the freediving school also hosts some gym equipment, so dry training is also very possible. There are also plenty of yoga classes around West end and Up towards the main town in an area called Sandy Bay.
I truly recommend diving in Roatan, not just for the incredible conditions, but also because it’s a great island to be on. The people are extremely friendly and welcoming, it’s not too expensive to live and there is a nice variety of food, even for vegetarians.
