u/TravelGirl-ZeldaLove

We will be visiting roatan and would like to visit at least one of the wildlife sanctuaries. It sounds like the main options I’m looking at are Gumbalina, maya eden, Daniel Johnson’s and AJs. We were also curious if arch’s is worth visiting?

Which one (or two places) would you recommend going to for an overall best experience, less people/less rushed experience?

We will be on the island for a week so if going two two is worth it because the experiences are different enough we are open to that. Right now leaning towards visiting both Gumbalina and Maya Eden and/or arch’s. How much time should we estimate for a visit to these parks?

Thank you,

Hi - my friend and I decided to book a 5 night trip to roatan the last week of November for this year.

We are thinking of staying at splash inn dive resort and taking advantage of the 5 night / 10 dives package deal. I’m a pretty new diver, and am still looking to dive in smaller groups and more shallow sites. Since splash inn is a resort, I was wondering if their boat dives typically have a lot more people compared to other shop options? Or are they still able to maintain basically the same size group as other shops? I’m also worried if they do have more people on the boats than other shops, that if I may not always be able to voice too much of an opinion on the dive site or people getting upset with me that we have to go to a less challenging dive site because of me.

My friend and I are 27, and want to also be near the area where there could be some nightlife (again I understand this is the off season). We are females so with the location being so close to all of the bars, this was another very appealing factor to choosing splash inn. Luxury is not as important to us, we will only be in the room to sleep.

I know this is the off season, so I’m assuming most places won’t have as many divers due to that regardless. All this being said please let me know your thoughts or if you have any other ideas or recommendations that may be a better fit based on the information above. We are open to Airbnb and just picking a shop as well, but the convenience of splash with free breakfast and being right by the boats is more appealing.

Hi - my friend and I would like to take a scuba diving trip somewhere that is close or in the US, and still affordable end of November.

We were originally thinking Roatan but I am nervous after seeing how unreliable the weather is and water conditions in our time. We were both certified in Bonaire, and my friend has been to Bonaire twice.

I’m looking for good visibility, and somewhat more of shallow dives. I’m not as comfortable as my friend so I’m trying to get more comfortable (I was certified may this year and did my 4 OW dives and 3 additional shore dives). I’ve done two discovery boat dives in the Galapagos which didn’t have the BEST visibility but was comfortable on the dive that was still close to shore, less comfortable with the shipwreck dive where I couldn’t see shore from our boat drop.

Wondering where you’d recommend for our time frame that’s still somewhat reasonably priced? Roatan flights are expensive, but being there is pretty reasonable which is why we were open to that. Hoping for flights and accomadation to be under $1100, we also stay at hostels often. Flying out from major US airports.

Hi - I’ve read quite a few posts regarding the differences between the two, and have some follow up questions.

For reference, my friend and I are late 20s, newly certified divers, certification received in Bonaire.

It sounds like Roatan has somewhat of “easier” dives? I prefer to stay fairly shallow and not worry about currents which is why Bonaire was ideal to get certified. I’m not the most confident diver yet so really want to just have calm relaxing dives with awesome wild life. If anyone has insight as to average depth of dives, typical visibility, and what water conditions are like in November that would be helpful. Also what are some differences between why you would choose one as a dive location over the other for a new beginner.

given we are late 20s, we do still very much enjoy drinking and partying late. Do either islands have much of a late nightlife scene anymore?? We don’t need a crazy club or anything but love to have drinks with locals and meet people, but also do love to club / live music. It sounds like Utila used to have that but has died down more, has anyone gone recently that can confirm what night life is like? I’m going over thanksgiving break so late November. Does Roatan have late bars / clubs or does everything close early? If anyone knows any names of fun bars / nightlife I can look up that would be appreciated.

Hi - I’ve read quite a few posts regarding the differences between the two, and have some follow up questions.

For reference, my friend and I are late 20s, newly certified divers, certification received in Bonaire. I have done two discovery dives in the Galápagos Islands which were both boat, all my Bonaire diving was shore.

It sounds like Roatan has somewhat of “easier” dives? I prefer to stay fairly shallow and not worry about currents which is why Bonaire was ideal to get certified. I’m not the most confident diver yet so really want to just have calm relaxing dives with awesome wild life. If anyone has insight as to average depth of dives, typical visibility, and what water conditions are like in November that would be helpful. Also what are some differences between why you would choose one as a dive location over the other for a new beginner.

given we are late 20s, we do still very much enjoy drinking and partying late. Do either islands have much of a late nightlife scene? We don’t need a crazy club or anything but love to have drinks with locals and meet people, but also do love to club. It sounds like Utila used to have that but has died down more, has anyone gone recently that can confirm what night life is like? I’m going over thanksgiving break so late November. Does Roatan have late bars / clubs or not really? If anyone knows any names of fun bars / nightlife I can look up that would be appreciated.

Hi - I’m a 27 year old who is horrible with understanding finances. For reference I’m a chemical engineer in sales, so all of my studies has focused me on how to make money not what to do with it.

I find myself even confused when I try to understand a 401K/roth etc. my older brother who is very financially smart and understands the market has explained it to me multiple times, but I just don’t get it.

At my old job I had a Roth 401K and that continues to grow every year. My current job I make a lot more money but our benefits aren’t as good and you need to know how to invest and manage your money better.

Does anyone have advice on where to start or if I should get a FA? I make over 100K a year and am throwing money away at this point it feels like. Also, how do I find one I trust? What do they expect as a FA? I guess at one point is it advantageous to have one?

Thanks in advance

Puerto Rico scuba diving

Hi - has anyone scuba in Puerto Rico?

I am a new OW diver and have only dove in Bonaire and did a discovery dive in the Galápagos Islands. I am still working on getting comfortable in the water.

Bonaire was amazing (clear waters, no currents, etc). I want to practice diving more but am on a bit of a budget this year. For reference I’m in the north eastern part of us the US.

I’m not comfortable diving in our low visibility quarries or cold water.

I’d like to take a diving trip over Labor Day in September if possible. Flights to Puerto Rico are extremely cheap (but I’ve read online it’s low season due to high hurricane potential). I’m curious if there’s even going to be any “easy” / beginner level dive spots my friend and I can do in Puerto Rico in September.

The only reason for choosing there is just to go somewhere that’s cheap to get maybe 3-5 dives in as more practice this year hopefully.

Thanks in advance. I can get a round trip direct flights for $250-310 right now over the holiday weekend.

Hi - has anyone scuba in Puerto Rico?

I am a new OW diver and have only dove in Bonaire and did a discovery dive in the Galápagos Islands. I am still working on getting comfortable in the water.

Bonaire was amazing (clear waters, no currents, etc). I want to practice diving more but am on a bit of a budget this year. For reference I’m in the north eastern part of us the US.

I’m not comfortable diving in our low visibility quarries or cold water.

I’d like to take a diving trip over Labor Day in September if possible. Flights to Puerto Rico are extremely cheap (but I’ve read online it’s low season due to high hurricane potential). I’m curious if there’s even going to be any “easy” / beginner level dive spots my friend and I can do in Puerto Rico in September.

The only reason for choosing there is just to go somewhere that’s cheap to get maybe 3-5 dives in as more practice this year hopefully.

Thanks in advance. I can get a round trip direct flights for $250-310 right now over the holiday weekend.

Unpopular opinion but I like my ACC? I don’t seem to understand why people don’t like it so I’d like to ask more why people dislike or do like it.

Personally I drive A LOT for my job, when I drive I spent at least 2-7 hours in a day overall in my car. I’ve found it extremely helpful when I’m using CarPlay and slightly distracted in general.

Overall I’m not driving my car to use it to extreme measures, and I assume most people aren’t either so wondering why who much hate on it? Let me know your experiences!

Hi - I’m open water certified and am looking for advice on mouth breathing. I generally am not a mouth breather at all, so diving for extended periods of times makes my mouth really tired and so dry! Are there any tips to prevent how dry it gets or any remedies to use prior to a dive? Or even just like breathing practices to try? I find myself trying to swallow when I’ve been down for longer than 45 min, and a second dive after 45 minutes I start to become very conscious of how dry my mouth is. It makes me a little anxious sometimes to think I can only mouth breathe, but I can always calm myself. I just worry sometimes it’ll be so dry I’ll feel like SpongeBob and Patrick dried up on shore

I also have quite a large overbite naturally. I can use a normal regulator fine… but when I went to Bonaire recently I did my four open water dives over two days (45, 55, 45, 45 min), took a Day of rest, and when I tried to dive again on the fourth day my mouth was just so tired I couldn’t physically do it. I did snorkel the day and a half prior to my open waters. After I rested I was able to do more dives on the fifth day. Can I get a custom mouth piece? Will it work with rental regulators or do I need to buy my own regulator? I also feel like when I take my regulator in and out due to how my mouth is shaped, my mask always gets loosened since I have to open so wide to fit in properly. Not a big deal I can clear it and I don’t take my regulator out obviously. Just was inconvenient in my drills. Anyone who’s used custom mouth pieces please advise.

It’s frustrating as I have pretty good air consumption and want to be able to dive longer. I always end my dives with 500-1500 psi more than everyone else, and that’s typically including even my guides. I’m fairly small so I know that helps, but really would love to extend my undertime water comfortably.

Hi - I recently purchased a new rav4 2026. Im interested in shopping around for a new insurance company, I’ve been with mine for a while and my rates are quite pricey.

After I purchased my car a company called autocomplete reached out and says they look across the top insurers and compare rates for me. Seems great and would save me time. Is this legit? If I use them to get quotes, suppose they come back with a Geico quote that beats my current progressive rate. Is there any reason not to move forward with them or trust them rather then getting quotes directly from Geico for example?

I haven’t seen much online but from what I have seen it sounds like a lot of people were able to secure a lower rate going through them?

Thanks in advance and appreciate any advice.