Bienvenidos!
So I arrived in Roatan, Honduras 11 days ago and its been a phenomenal experience since. Prior to this trip I wasn’t a diver, but now I’m happy to say I’m both PADI Open and Advanced Open Water Diver certified. With Roatan featuring the second largest reef in the world, only second to the Australia’s Great Barrier reef, this place is a mecca for divers. After these few days its obvious to see why. This was worth every penny, and I will definitely be recommending to all those who will listen that everybody who is physically capable should try their hand at scuba diving. Those first few breaths underwater are unreal, but the breath is easily outmatched by the beauty of the underwater world. Words simply don’t do it justice.
I come fresh off of my last dive, a night dive, to the same reef (Lighthouse Reef) that I actually had my first Open Water dive at, where I apparently first became “Scuba Seldon”. Experiencing the underwater world at night was a different ball game all together, and while surreal it was also a bit scary at first. I definitely found myself less lackadaisical about exploring and floating off a bit from my instructor. Lots of beautiful fish, active sea urchins, a few crabs, a gigantic slumbering turtle, two crazy looking eels, and one very grumpy looking lionfish. I will admit I felt bad about how many fish I startled from their sleep with my flashlight. Hands down the best part of the night dive however was the last 10 minutes. We entered a sandy patch close to the boat, got settled, shut off all of our lights, and let our eyes adjust. Once adjusted we were engulfed by the bioluminescence of the world around us, and we saw what the locals call the “string of pearls”. Neon lit turquoise dots separated by an inch, cascading vertically from top to bottom, point blank in front of your eyes and for yards past as far as the eye could see. Again words or even pictures would not do this sight justice, it looked like something straight out of the movie Avatar. Breathtaking and memorable, I’ll cherish that unique experience for many years to come.
I’ve also done quite a bit of exploring on the Island so far, and I have many pictures to highlight some of these days. The pictures will go further than my description but unfortunately on this Honduras WiFi I’m having difficulties with uploads. I’ll leave you with a few things that actually transferred. I’m happy to say I’ve seen much, from the beautiful yet touristy areas of West End and West Bay to the honest Honduran living conditions of Coxen Hole, to Consolation Bight and Flowers Bay. I’ve spoken bluntly with locals in some of these regions, from the young adult working hard crafting bracelets, trinkets, and necklaces from Honduran gems at the same stall outside the same restaurant all day every day (I literally never saw him not there, all 11 days) who will be bringing his wages back to his family on the mainland in a few days, to the security guard at my hostel who told me of his wife and three children, one with down syndrome, and his inability to provide stable food for them on a weekly basis due to the inadequacies of his security guard wages when met with higher food costs. These sights and conversations have provided enlightening context on a part of Roatan few tourists are exposed to.
Last but not least I’ll leave you with the sunsets, and what a sight they have been. These sunsets are specifically from the West End strip, so I’m excited to add some Sandy Bay sunsets in the weeks to come (for reference Sandy Bay is closer to Clinica Esperanza, where I’ll be helping out for the month). I’ve easily spent at least an hour each day or so watching as the sun rolled back into the clouds and disappeared into the horizon, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Qué vida.
