Roatán · Honduras · Reef
The Bight
Shallow barrier reef where turtles and grouper are common
Area photo: William Eburn · CC BY 2.5
The Bight is a shallow stretch of Roatan's barrier reef, dived to a maximum of about 20 m and known for the variety of life on it. Turtles and grouper are common here, visibility is normally 25 m or more, and the whole profile stays inside beginner limits, which is why local centres put new divers on it.
Where it is and how deep
16.2984° N, 86.6005° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
Nothing here goes deep. The maximum is about 20 m and much of the dive is shallower than that, out over the reef itself, which keeps no-decompression time generous. The result is a dive about looking rather than about managing a profile: you can hold over one coral head for several minutes without watching a computer count anything down.
Turtles and grouper are the two you can reasonably expect, and both are common enough here that the dive is usually about how close you get rather than whether you find them. Come in slowly and level - fast approaches move turtles off the reef top and put grouper back into the coral. The reef is part of the barrier system rather than a scatter of separate heads, so the structure is continuous, and the dive follows it one way and comes back shallower.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Groupers
| 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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is The Bight?+
It is a shallow dive: the maximum depth is about 20 m, and much of the dive is shallower still over the reef top.
Is The Bight suitable for beginners?+
Yes. The maximum depth is about 20 m, the profile is shallow throughout, and the site is described as suitable for beginner divers.
Sources
- The Bight — Scubago
In The Logbook
- Where to dive with sea turtlesBig animals · 15 min read
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