This year we managed to sell a total of 20 dive sites, 5 more than last year’s number. Some of this was due to the excellent salesmanship of Peter Hughes from AKR who talks about the RMP and the possibility of buying a dive site every week during his fish ID course. A third of the new sites are in Sandy Bay, while 5 are in West Bay and 4 in West End. The remaining were installed around Oak Ridge, Big Bight and Palmetto.
Lisa and Sean Lacey dedicated their site in Sandy Bay to their cat who recently passed, naming it “Nellie Bean”.
William Emmett and William Webb wanted to commemorate their trip to Roatan and called their site “William’s Playground” which is just to the west of the AKR channel.
“Mr Bills Happy Place” inside of Blue Channel was created by Kim and Larry Morris in memory of Bill Larson to honor his life, friendship and love for the island. They also named another site “El Rancho” which is just to the west of Big Bight channel.
Gail Juppenlatz paid tribute to her late husband with “Richard’s Realm” on the inside of Spooky Channel, a great site which can be visited by all his friends and neighbors.
Shirley Blakely organized a fundraiser to purchase a dive mooring to celebrate Marilyn and Chuck Nelson's 50th anniversary, naming it “Nelson’s Nest” which is near the dolphin dive by AKR.
The crew from Singledivers.com purchased their sixth dive site, “Singledivers2022” which is located in the shallows to the east of the West Bay channel.
Greg and Cris Buscetto, longtime supporters of the RMP, dedicated “Bella Bean” which is near their house in Blue Harbor to Bella, their 13 year old Cavapoo who passed away in August 2020.
The Pearsons won a raffle held by Seadivers to support the RMP and named their site “Pearson’s Prize” which is located by Marbella Beach.
Mary & David Casement had such a great trip diving at AKR that they wanted to name a site for their Dive Master, calling it “Consuelo’s” which is in front of Lawson Rock.
The Pitcher family wanted to honor their son who sadly passed away by naming his site “Brady’s World” as he had a true passion for the ocean. The site is located by Oak Ridge, close to where his great grandfather was born.
After the sudden passing of Rino Jackson, friends and family pooled together to buy a site to commemorate him which is installed around West Bay point, calling it “Rino Phores”.
The Paradise Hotel family in West Bay wanted to honor Doña Cleta with a dive site by the same name, with the site sitting right on the wall in 20ft, close to Black Rock, West Bay.
A dive group that visits AKR each year wanted to reward their group leaders Jake and Vicky Powlison for all their hard work by supporting a cause that they cared for and dedicated “Dos Anguilas” which is around the corner from the resort.
Brenda Balment loved visiting the coral nursery in West End and appreciated all the efforts of the RMP so donated to a worthwhile cause and named the site for herself, calling it “Queen B”.
Joshilyn Winn and her dive group, after having such a fantastic time on Roatan wanted to commemorate their holiday by naming their site “Rocktopus Reef” which is just east of Hole in the Wall dive site.
Jennifer Ziehe wished to commemorate the passing of a very special young girl by dedicating a site and naming it “Giuliana’s Grace”. The mooring located close to Marbella Beach and the family hope you will explore and wander at the magic of this site.
Jeff Conrad wanted to dedicate his site to his parents so he could remember the fun he enjoyed with them when they were still around. “Fun with Dick and Jane” is a parody to the movies which happen to share the same name as his parents.
Matt Pellegrino gifted his wife “MB’s Wall” in West End as a surprise Christmas present and in his own words says “Thanks for giving us the opportunity to invest in protecting Roatan's marine life! Hopefully this will ensure that it can be enjoyed for future generations underwater explorers”.
Rob Ponte named his site by Mud Hole after Lucille Ponte, naming it “Lucille’s Ledge”. Through all the important, formative, tumultuous years, she was a lot like his mooring line, keeping him close, grounded, and supported.
An additional shallow snorkel site just to the west of the West End channel was installed for the water taxis to use, and a line was added to the stern of the Odyssey wreck to help boat captains when the wreck is busy.
In addition to the 22 new dive sites installed in 2022, 30 already existing sites required new chain to be recemented into the reef due to wear and tear or improper use, with a further 64 dive sites having the rope replaced.
Photo Credits Antonio Busiello
For more information on naming a dive site, contact us at info@roatanmarinepark.org