Punta Gorda, Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras

Punta Gorda Wall

Punta Gorda Wall is a north-shore wall dive on the eastern half of Roatán, near the Garífuna village of Punta Gorda. The dive begins on a coral plateau at 10 meters with stands of brain coral, sea rods, large barrel sponges and pillar coral, and runs to a stepped wall that drops from 18 past 35 meters. The wall is heavily decorated with deep-water gorgonians, rope sponges in oranges and purples, tube sponges and clusters of black coral. Reef fauna is consistently rich: hawksbill turtle, queen and French angelfish, schooling creole wrasse, midnight parrotfish, spotted moray and reliable spotted eagle ray fly-bys. The deeper wall is occasionally visited by Caribbean reef shark and large grouper. The east end of Roatán sees fewer divers than the west and the site has retained particularly healthy coral cover. Visibility runs 25 to 32 meters.