Last week West End Divers made another day trip to Big Bight, on the north coast of Roatan.
It was a chance to explore some of the more remote reefs that surround the island.
It was a smaller group this time, with only eight divers getting into the water in an unknown site.
The group was pleased to come across a long canyon that led them down to 100ft, where they met with a large group of ocean triggerfish in a spawning aggregate.
As we made our way up to the shallows we found another long Canyon, reminiscent of the famous Mary’s Place.
Everyone agreed this was the best dive we had done that week, all the better for having been an unexpected find. One of divers, Tucker, gave it the name “The Catacombs”.
This is the diving we live for: a small group of good divers out exploring a new stretch of reef and coming up with some new, untouched dive sites! More trips are being scheduled for this month.
John’s Tech Tips:
Hints and How‐To’s from a Dive Equipment Guru
This month’s Tech Tip is about your regulator’s first stage filter. We often check the tanks o‐ring before a dive, but overlook this little part which can tell us a lot about the state of the your tanks. If it appears white it means an aluminum oxide buildup in your tank. If reddish it means rust has begun to form in a steel tank. If black, you probably have an old or ill‐fitting filter on your compressor. In all these cases the tank must be cleaned immediately. If green, you probably have seawater in your tank. Remember: never let a tank get completely empty!
Talk of the Town:
In this section we’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on around West End.
Mel’s leaving party was held up at The Oasis, and a good time was had by all. She judged the “Movember” competition, but doesn’t remember who won! Congratulations go to our Instructor Christi Etches who is now a PADI IDC Staff Instructor! We welcome Andy Dixon to the West End Divers family. Andy hails from Ireland and will be studying his Divemaster course with us. We’re sure he’ll get over the sunburn and get some good calluses from carrying lots and lots of scuba tanks down the dock.
A Facelift for “Delfin”
The flagship of our small fleet of dive boats has just been re‐launched after extensive improvements, and is now running smoothly out to the farther reaches of our reef system. The 52ft Delfin has been completely refitted inside with benches and storage areas and now boasts tank holders for 18 divers to do two dives a trip. She has a new stereo, new lights for night‐diving, and the new prop has cut our trip times, even out to the furthest sites.
Instructor’s Corner:
Each month we’ll be coming up with helpful hints for Dive Professionals:
TAKE A DEEP BREATH: In your AOW, Rescue, PPB and even DM coursework, here’s a good activity to help teach buoyancy and breath control. Have students hover just above the bottom facing each‐other. Once they are perfectly neutral, hand one of them a 3lb weight! Most students will adjust by just breathing deeper. Once stable again get the student to pass the weight to their buddy. They have to learn to breath shallower now as the weight leaves their hand. As the lead gets slowly passed back and forth you can see your students get the knack of changing their lung volume!
Lionfish Update:
It’s only been a few months since the first lionfish was found in Roatan’s waters and today it is a daily occurrence. We have begun our own eradication campaign at West End Divers, and have caught about half a dozen in the last two weeks. The largest one proved to be quite tasty and went well with lime. Catching them is not easy and so we have decided to start carrying spearguns on dives so we can keep this invasive species at bay. More news on this issue soon! Watch this space for new lionfish recipes each month.
Recent Sightings:
manta ray, red‐tipped sea goddess, scalloped hammerhead, brown doris, wahoo, loggerhead sea turtle, large‐eye toadfish, spotted eagle ray, splendid flatworm, goliath grouper, sculptured slipper lobster, red banded lobster, oceanic triggerfish spawning.
Congratulations: Newly certified at West End Divers: DOERTE BORCHERS OW DENNIS JOSEFSSON OW MATTIAS RUSTAN OW LAURA M BOURGEAULT Project Aware RENEE L GRIMES Project Aware RENEE L GRIMES AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty MORTEN BECH Advanced Open Water. MICHAEL N KRAGBAEK Advanced Open Water. RYAN C BERGSTROM Advanced Open Water BARBARA M FLYNN Open Water KATHARINA HOEFTBERGER Open Water and AOW and Enriched Air Diver MARI A GLYNN Scuba Diver. MICHAEL J CIOTTI Open Water and Enriched Air Diver.
It was a chance to explore some of the more remote reefs that surround the island.
It was a smaller group this time, with only eight divers getting into the water in an unknown site.
The group was pleased to come across a long canyon that led them down to 100ft, where they met with a large group of ocean triggerfish in a spawning aggregate.
As we made our way up to the shallows we found another long Canyon, reminiscent of the famous Mary’s Place.
Everyone agreed this was the best dive we had done that week, all the better for having been an unexpected find. One of divers, Tucker, gave it the name “The Catacombs”.
This is the diving we live for: a small group of good divers out exploring a new stretch of reef and coming up with some new, untouched dive sites! More trips are being scheduled for this month.
John’s Tech Tips:
Hints and How‐To’s from a Dive Equipment Guru
This month’s Tech Tip is about your regulator’s first stage filter. We often check the tanks o‐ring before a dive, but overlook this little part which can tell us a lot about the state of the your tanks. If it appears white it means an aluminum oxide buildup in your tank. If reddish it means rust has begun to form in a steel tank. If black, you probably have an old or ill‐fitting filter on your compressor. In all these cases the tank must be cleaned immediately. If green, you probably have seawater in your tank. Remember: never let a tank get completely empty!
Talk of the Town:
In this section we’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on around West End.
Mel’s leaving party was held up at The Oasis, and a good time was had by all. She judged the “Movember” competition, but doesn’t remember who won! Congratulations go to our Instructor Christi Etches who is now a PADI IDC Staff Instructor! We welcome Andy Dixon to the West End Divers family. Andy hails from Ireland and will be studying his Divemaster course with us. We’re sure he’ll get over the sunburn and get some good calluses from carrying lots and lots of scuba tanks down the dock.
A Facelift for “Delfin”
The flagship of our small fleet of dive boats has just been re‐launched after extensive improvements, and is now running smoothly out to the farther reaches of our reef system. The 52ft Delfin has been completely refitted inside with benches and storage areas and now boasts tank holders for 18 divers to do two dives a trip. She has a new stereo, new lights for night‐diving, and the new prop has cut our trip times, even out to the furthest sites.
Instructor’s Corner:
Each month we’ll be coming up with helpful hints for Dive Professionals:
TAKE A DEEP BREATH: In your AOW, Rescue, PPB and even DM coursework, here’s a good activity to help teach buoyancy and breath control. Have students hover just above the bottom facing each‐other. Once they are perfectly neutral, hand one of them a 3lb weight! Most students will adjust by just breathing deeper. Once stable again get the student to pass the weight to their buddy. They have to learn to breath shallower now as the weight leaves their hand. As the lead gets slowly passed back and forth you can see your students get the knack of changing their lung volume!
Lionfish Update:
It’s only been a few months since the first lionfish was found in Roatan’s waters and today it is a daily occurrence. We have begun our own eradication campaign at West End Divers, and have caught about half a dozen in the last two weeks. The largest one proved to be quite tasty and went well with lime. Catching them is not easy and so we have decided to start carrying spearguns on dives so we can keep this invasive species at bay. More news on this issue soon! Watch this space for new lionfish recipes each month.
Recent Sightings:
manta ray, red‐tipped sea goddess, scalloped hammerhead, brown doris, wahoo, loggerhead sea turtle, large‐eye toadfish, spotted eagle ray, splendid flatworm, goliath grouper, sculptured slipper lobster, red banded lobster, oceanic triggerfish spawning.
Congratulations: Newly certified at West End Divers: DOERTE BORCHERS OW DENNIS JOSEFSSON OW MATTIAS RUSTAN OW LAURA M BOURGEAULT Project Aware RENEE L GRIMES Project Aware RENEE L GRIMES AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty MORTEN BECH Advanced Open Water. MICHAEL N KRAGBAEK Advanced Open Water. RYAN C BERGSTROM Advanced Open Water BARBARA M FLYNN Open Water KATHARINA HOEFTBERGER Open Water and AOW and Enriched Air Diver MARI A GLYNN Scuba Diver. MICHAEL J CIOTTI Open Water and Enriched Air Diver.
