El Aguila Wreck

Former cargo ship sunk on purpose as an artificial reef off the north shore between West End and Sandy Bay, later broken into sections by Hurricane Mitch (1998). The stern lies at roughly 30-34 m on a sloping bottom beside a wall; groupers, barracuda, big morays and garden eels live around the sections, and the dive usually ends on the shallow Pillar Coral mooring. Sources disagree on the ship's length (about 70-87 m) and the year it was sunk, so treat those figures as approximate. Position = Roatán Marine Park mooring buoy for this site (RMP 'dive sites' map, Sept 2026 list).

Facts

Region: Honduras – Roatán
Area: Sandy Bay & north shore
Depth: 24–34 m
Level: advanced
Current: low
Type: wreck, reef
Coordinates: 16.3275054, -86.5790357
Highlights: cargo-ship wreck, swim-throughs, garden eels, groupers, barracuda, large moray eels
Permit: Roatán Marine Park (RMP) user fee: the park's own page calls it a 'voluntary user fee' of US$10 and gives a bracelet/token in return; it is sold at the RMP EcoStore in West End and at partner dive shops and resorts. In practice dive operators ask divers to hold it before diving the park's reefs (one operator lists US$10 per year or US$3 per day), so treat it as required and confirm the current amount and validity with the park or your shop. The fee funds the mooring buoys and reef patrols.
Issuer / contact: Roatán Marine Park (RMP)
- Phone: +504 9430-3193
- Email: info@roatanmarinepark.org
- Website: https://www.roatanmarinepark.org/voluntary-fee
- Phone and e-mail from roatanmarinepark.org; fee amount from the park's voluntary-fee page (US$10). Per-year/per-day wording comes from an operator listing, not the park.
Tips: Advanced Open Water or deep-adventure level; penetration of the sections needs wreck training. Most operators dive it from West End or Sandy Bay in a few minutes' boat ride.