Reefwander
A Caribbean reef shark swims close over the reef with small fish around it off Roatán

Roatán · Honduras · Reef

Tabyanas

Shallow West Bay reef with 22-24 m of average visibility

Area photo: William Eburn · CC BY 2.5

Tabyana, known to local crews as Herbie's Fantasy or Herbie's Place, is a shallow site in West Bay on Roatan's west end. The maximum depth is about 11-12 m and average visibility runs 22-24 m, so it is bright, long-bottom-time diving rather than anything that needs managing.

Also known as Herbie's Fantasy, Herbie's Place.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Tabyanas: typical dive to 12 m (to 40 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit12 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

16.2842° N, 86.6045° WPublished position for this site.

The dive

This is shallow diving. The deepest part of the site is around 11-12 m, so what ends the dive is usually gas rather than no-decompression time. Average visibility runs 22-24 m, which means the shape of the site is clear from the moment you leave the line and you can keep track of the rest of the group without working at it.

Names are the thing to sort out before you book. The same reef turns up on boat schedules and shop whiteboards as Tabyana, Herbie's Fantasy or Herbie's Place, so a site you have already dived can appear on the week's list looking like a new one. It sits in West Bay, at the western end of Roatan, and the depth and visibility figures published for it are the ones to check a shop's description against.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Tabyanas
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairFairFair

Season follows Roatán: March to August is dry with the calmest seas; October to February is the rainy season, wettest in November and December.

Sources

  1. Tabyanas — Scubago

More dive sites in Roatán

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A gentle drift down a sand channel that ends at the drop-off

9–27 mintermediate

Canyons and swim-throughs on a wall bottoming out at 16 m

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A resident group of Caribbean reef sharks on a south-side plateau

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Cave & cavern

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Three swim-throughs, and sometimes 15 to 20 groupers inside

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A coral pillar standing in a square cut in the reef wall

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A shallow drift down a sand path scattered with wreck pieces

12–14 mbeginner

Reef top at 5 m, wall dropping to about 46 m off West End

5–46 madvanced

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