(DiverWire) Last week nearly 60 scuba divers came to Roatan, Honduras for the annual SingleDivers.com Pirates Week event. The result was some great diving, an incredible costume contest and more during the week.
Hosted at the Henry Morgan Resort, divers were split into three different groups that boarded dive boats each day to explore the local reefs, wrecks and interact with the island’s diverse marine creatures. “It was great to get in the water,” said Suzanne De Lucia, a diver from New Jersey who recorded her 100th dive during the week.”Just to be able to go diving was a highlight for me, but meeting all of these other divers made the week a very special one.”
De Lucia said she was impressed with the (relatively) warm water and different coral formations. She kept busy throughout the week, with plenty of activities to choose from including a canopy tour, shark and dolphin encounters among some of the diverse choices. While she didn’t participate in the annual Costume Contest, she WAS one of the judges. “There were some incredibly talented people on this trip. It was tough picking a winner.”
The Tuesday night costume contest, which was co-sponsored by GoRoatan.com is a tradition with the SingleDivers.com group, which has been running trips for single and buddy-less divers since 2004. According to group founder Kamala Shadduck, “Divers want to dive and often single and buddy-less divers don’t have the opportunity. We offer these trips as an alternative and they have proven quite popular.”
While the local waters are normally a marine park and preserve, many of the single divers participated in a short course on lionfish hunting. The result? High enthusiasm and a high number of lionfish speared and eaten. The predatory lionfish has been wrecking havoc throughout the Caribbean because it has no known predators. Local governments are allowing divers to specifically hunt the lionfish the reduce and eliminate the threat.
During the week, more than 50 lionfish were speared – include 20 on one single dive – and brought to shore. One evening, the cooks at the Henry Morgan resort cooked up the catch and the group enjoyed some “lionfish bites”. The fish has a texture similar to halibut and it actually quite tasty according to members of the group.
One of the highlight dives of the week was a trip to the El Aguila wreck. The 100-ft wreck, which is split into three sections, allowed for some easy penetration, encounters with the giant green resident moray eel and some friendly encounters with some large groupers that didn’t mind interacting with the divers.
The market for single scuba divers continues to grow. Since diving IS an activity that is best shared, divers frequently look for buddies and friends to enjoy the sport. SingleDivers.com has members throughout the United States. The 60 participants at Pirate’s Week came from such diverse places as Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, Texas, and Florida.
For more details about upcoming SingleDivers.com trips, be sure to check the website at www.SingleDivers.com
