Roatán · Honduras · Reef · Channel & pass
Mary's Place
Volcanic fissures lined with some of the Caribbean's largest black corals
Area photo: William Eburn · CC BY 2.5
The signature dive of Roatán, known for years as Mary's Crack: a healthy reef split by volcanic crevasses and narrow channels that divers fin through rather than swim over. Sea fans and black corals — among the largest you will see in the Caribbean — line the walls of the cuts, and the deepest channels drop past 30 m.
Also known as Mary's Crack.
Where it is and how deep
16.3377° N, 86.4486° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive happens inside the rock rather than over it. The reef top is lush and healthy, but the site is really the set of volcanic crevasses cutting through it: narrow channels you fin along like a labyrinth, with reef walls rising on both sides. The deepest of those channels drop past 30 m, so depth and time both need watching in a place where the natural instinct is to keep following the next cut.
Look at the walls as you go. They are lined with sea fans, bushy black corals and feather black corals, some of the largest you will see in the Caribbean, and the sponge growth between them includes azure vase sponges and enormous barrel sponges. Fish fill the gaps: creole wrasse, spotted drums, schools of chub, and large bearded fireworms working over the coral. Where the channels open back out into the blue, stingrays and turtles cruise past the exits.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
- Sea turtles
- Reef fish swarms
| 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 deepest channels run past 30 m and it is easy to keep descending as you follow the next cut; agree a turn depth before you drop in.
- Current is usually mild inside the channels but can push a little at the outer edges, so expect to work harder where a cut opens into the blue.
- Large bearded fireworms are among the animals on the coral here and the channels are narrow; keep hands and fin tips off the walls.
Dive videos
Scuba Diving Mary's Place On SOUTH SIDE Roatan - Ep 108 · Blue Horizon Diving on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Mary's Place?+
The deepest channels drop past 30 m, which makes the full site a deep dive, though the shallower cuts and the reef top let a group stay well above that. Watch depth and time: the layout makes it easy to keep descending as you follow the next channel.
Sources
- Roatan Dive Sites — Dive The World
- Mary's Place - ScubaGo — ScubaGo
More dive sites in Roatán
Channel & pass
A gentle drift down a sand channel that ends at the drop-off
Wall
Canyons and swim-throughs on a wall bottoming out at 16 m
Reef
A resident group of Caribbean reef sharks on a south-side plateau
Cave & cavern
A network of shallow, easily navigated coral caves
Wreck
Three swim-throughs, and sometimes 15 to 20 groupers inside
Reef
A coral pillar standing in a square cut in the reef wall
Drift
A shallow drift down a sand path scattered with wreck pieces
Wall
Reef top at 5 m, wall dropping to about 46 m off West End
Similar dives elsewhere
Six miles of sloping coral from the harbour to Point Saline
Whitetip reef sharks beside the Lombok ferry lane
Rock corridors on the south coast where the mantas feed
Star coral grown over centuries into mushroom-shaped heads