Sandy Bay, Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras

Bear's Den

Bear's Den is a north-shore dive in the Sandy Bay marine reserve known for a small cave system in the reef shelf at around 16 meters that has been used for decades as a divemaster training feature. From the mooring the site begins on a coral plateau at 10 meters and runs to a steep wall that drops past 30 meters; a short swim along the wall reaches the cave entrance, a low-arch swim-through with several internal branches that requires good buoyancy and a guide. Inside divers see sleeping nurse sharks (the source of the name), large lobster, channel-clinging crabs and dense schools of glassy sweepers. Outside the cave the wall is decorated with deep-water sea fans, tube sponges and black coral, and queen angelfish, midnight parrotfish, hawksbill turtles and creole wrasse are routinely seen. Conditions are mild with 20 to 30 meters of visibility under typical Sandy Bay weather.