Roatán · Honduras · Wall · Reef
Land of the Giants
Steep cracked wall over sand that starts at 25 m and keeps going
Area photo: William Eburn · CC BY 2.5
Land of the Giants lies on Roatan's north shore, well east of the West End and West Bay moorings. A shallow top reef at about 5 m gives way to a steep wall with lots of cracks and canyons running east, and below the wall a slightly sloping sandy bottom starts at around 25 m and falls away past 35 m.
Where it is and how deep
16.3685° N, 86.5086° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is layered, so the plan is usually to work it from the bottom up. Drop down the wall face, which is steep and broken by cracks and canyons running east - there is enough relief here to spend the deep part of the dive inside the structure rather than swimming past a flat surface. Below the wall the ground turns to a slightly sloping sandy bottom at around 25 m and keeps falling away past 35 m.
Save the shallow reef for last. The top of the reef is at about 5 m, so once you come up off the wall there is a bright, easy shelf to finish on and it doubles as a long safety stop. Work the ascent along the face rather than straight up it: the cracks and canyons that make the deep part worth diving carry on into the shallows, and they are easier to look into with gas in hand and no depth to watch.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Roatán: March to August is dry with the calmest seas; October to February is the rainy season, wettest in November and December.
Know before you go
- The sand below the wall starts near 25 m and keeps sloping past 35 m, so there is no natural stopping point - set a bottom depth before you go down the face.
Sources
- Land of the Giants — Scubago
More dive sites in Roatán
Wreck
Three swim-throughs, and sometimes 15 to 20 groupers inside
Channel & pass
Swim-throughs one after another inside a canyon from lagoon to outer reef
Sand slope
A sand patch at 11 m between Dragon Maze and the wall
Wreck
Stairwells, cabins and an intact mess table at 12 to 33 m
Reef
A resident group of Caribbean reef sharks on a south-side plateau
Reef
Volcanic fissures lined with some of the Caribbean's largest black corals
Wreck
A shore-accessible wreck at 20 m, also dived after dark
Cave & cavern
A network of shallow, easily navigated coral caves
Similar dives elsewhere
Seahorses and frogfish along a vertical wall towards Small Wall
Canyons through the reef, five minutes from the fishermen's dock
Turtles and nurse sharks resting on sand at the wall's base
An 18th-century anchor buried in the reef that gives the site its name