Rockstar / Garden of Eden

Rockstar and Garden of Eden are known for their unique topography and impressive displays of marine life. With the Rockstar buoy marker located at a depth of 15ft at the very edge of the reef wall, you can opt to drop down into a large trench at 60ft where you’ll find a substantial overhang at the base of the wall running west to east. Inside the overhang there are distinctive sponges that appear to be fluorescent in color as if someone were shinning a black light on them. Leaving the overhang you remain in the trench formed by the main wall on one side of you, and pinnacle-shaped coral structures distributed parallel to the wall on the other side. These pinnacles reach heights of 45ft up to 25ft, giving you the feeling of being surrounded by coral as you navigate your way through. The north sides of the pinnacles give way to a gradual descent in the event you would like to explore a bit deeper and farther out where you can find examples of vase, striated, rope and encrusting sponges. Continuing east will bring you to a shallower area loaded with a wide variety of sponges and corals, which is why this area is called the Garden of Eden. Among the high concentration of soft corals here, keep an eye out for slender file fish and trumpet fish that like to hide in heavily covered areas such as this. Nearing the buoy marker for Garden of Eden at a depth of 25ft you’ll find pilar, brain and lettuce coral, and perhaps schools of black durgon, seargeant majors, and wrasses.

Keyhole

Characteristic of channels you’ll find on Roatan where lagoon water mixes with the ocean and tides have eroded deep channels into the reef, Key Hole / Gully Galore offers an impressive display of topography with ample wall space and overhangs to explore. Even though there is an outer buoy that can be used as an entrance and exit point, you may find it preferable to be let off at the inner reef indicated by the GPS coordinates shown, and then head out towards the buoy the exit there. Starting form the inner area and heading north, you will begin at a 30ft deep sand bottom containing turtle grass and Pine Cone algae. The reef walls guide you into the channel that gradually descends to a depth of 100ft with impressive walls on either side of you that reach all the way to the surface. Even though the focus of this site is the excellent topography, keep your eyes open for sightings of banded butterflyfish, fan worms, small leaf hanging vines and star coral. For advanced divers there is a swim through in the channel at 90-100ft, and for everyone there is a set of 3 swim through to the right at 50ft and another one at 30ft on the left. Be sure to look in the tight spaces for a possible sighing of the elusive toad fish. The lagoon water mixed with seawater along with the high walls that block the sunlight can sometimes make for cloudy visibility in this channel, giving this site an eerie setting. However, as you make a gradual ascent towards the reef wall and the outer buoy at 35ft, the water quickly clears up as if exiting a smoky room. Near the buoy, the channel widens and opens to the reef where you can find a variety of soft corals such as plumes and rods as well as schools of black durgon and yellow tail snapper. With a reef crest at 20ft, this is a great area for a safety stop as you finish up your dive.

Roatan Marine Park Fee

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