Roatán · Honduras · Wall
West End Wall
Southern stingrays and spotted eagle rays hunting along the base of the wall
Photo: Nosferattus · CC0
West End Wall is a large wall on the west end of Roatán, cut by canyons and covered in coral outcrops. It is one of the island's most popular dives, and its base, where the wall meets a sloping sand bottom, is a hunting ground for stingrays and eagle rays.
Also known as Buca Quay.
Where it is and how deep
16.2671° N, 86.6044° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wall face is lined with coral outcroppings and broken by canyons. Its base lies at 27 m (90 ft), where the reef levels out into a sandy bottom that keeps sloping away into deeper water.
Southern stingrays and spotted eagle rays are often seen along the base, where the sand meets the wall and gives them a hunting ground. The current can build to medium or strong toward the end of the dive.
Marine life and season
- Stingrays
- Eagle rays
| 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 current can turn medium to strong toward the end of the dive.
Dive videos
West End Wall Roatan · Caribbean Reef Life on YouTube
Sources
- Roatan dive sites — Roatan Splash Inn
- Splash Inn Roatan dive sites — Bluewater Dive Travel
- West End Wall — ScubaGo
Photo credits
- Aerial view of a forested coastline with small bays, docks and moored boats, and darker reef patches in the blue water offshore by Nosferattus, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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
A lip at 5.5 m over a face that falls away effectively vertical
A coral arch on the wall, named for a Cayman photographer
Eagle rays off a sponge-hung wall on Turneffe's east coast
Wall
Congo Cay
St. John · U.S. Virgin Islands
Plate corals below the wall off the south-eastern tip of Congo Point