Parrot Tree Coco View Resort Roatan
Martin Gomez Aug 12, 2026
15. Parrot Tree
Dive type: Very shallow reef + deep cuts + ledges + overhangs
Reef top: approximately 10–20 ft / 3–6 m
Main feature: Dense Lettuce, Staghorn, and Elkhorn corals forming hedge-like structures separated by deep cuts
Best for: Coral topography, shallow-water photography, slow exploration, and excellent buoyancy practice.
What makes Parrot Tree special?
Parrot Tree is another excellent example of why you don't need to go deep to experience impressive diving in Roatán.
According to CoCo View, the reef top ranges from only 10 to 20 feet and is covered with Lettuce, Staghorn, and Elkhorn corals. These corals form large hedge-like structures, with deep cuts running between them. The site also features dramatic ledges and overhangs.
So the personality of Parrot Tree is easy to visualize:
Shallow coral garden → coral hedges → deep cuts → ledges → overhangs
This is a site where the reef architecture itself is the attraction.
The experience
When you descend at Parrot Tree, you're almost immediately on the reef.
There's no need to make a long descent before the dive becomes interesting.
At 10–20 feet, sunlight can illuminate the coral beautifully. As you move across the reef, the coral formations create natural corridors and cuts.
Instead of seeing one flat coral garden, you're moving through a reef with height, texture, channels, shadows and openings.
That's what makes this site interesting.
Three important corals
Parrot Tree is also a very good site for teaching guests to recognize three Caribbean coral forms.
Lettuce Coral
It grows in overlapping plates or leaf-like structures, giving it the appearance suggested by its name.
Staghorn Coral
Its narrow branches resemble antlers and can create dense three-dimensional habitat.
Elkhorn Coral
Its branches are much broader and flatter, resembling the antlers of an elk.
CoCo View specifically identifies all three at Parrot Tree.
Once guests learn to recognize them, the reef becomes much more interesting.
Instead of saying:
“There's coral everywhere.”
they start saying:
“That's Elkhorn.”
“That's Staghorn.”
“Look at all that Lettuce Coral.”
That's a big step toward actually understanding what they're seeing.
The deep cuts
The deep cuts separating the coral hedges are one of the site's defining topographical features.
These cuts create natural pathways through the reef and give the site much more depth visually.
For a diver, they also create opportunities to look at the reef from different angles.
You can be:
Above the reef
then
Beside a coral formation
then
Looking through a cut
and later
Exploring along an overhang.
That constant change in perspective makes the dive feel much more dynamic.
Don't treat every cut as a swim-through
This is an important briefing point.
A deep cut in the reef isn't automatically an invitation to squeeze through it.
Follow the divemaster's route and evaluate the space carefully.
Good reef diving means knowing when to:
go through,
go around,
or simply
look inside.
Protecting the coral is more important than completing a particular passage.
Ledges and overhangs
CoCo View also highlights dramatic ledges and overhangs at Parrot Tree.
These are worth exploring slowly because they create shaded areas that are very different from the brightly illuminated reef top.
This is where a small dive light becomes useful even during the day.
Use it to inspect:
Under ledges
Inside small openings
Along the underside of overhangs
Between coral formations
But remember:
Look—don't touch.
And don't put your hands into openings where you can't see what's inside.
Marine life
I wouldn't sell Parrot Tree by promising a specific animal.
CoCo View's description emphasizes the coral formations and topography, rather than guaranteeing particular wildlife.
That's actually useful when briefing the dive.
Tell guests:
“The reef is the main attraction. Slow down and let the animals reveal themselves.”
Complex coral habitat creates many places for reef animals to feed, hide and interact.
So use a search pattern:
Look over the coral.
Look between the branches.
Look underneath the ledges.
Look inside the cuts.
Then turn around and look into the blue.
Photography
Parrot Tree should be excellent for wide-angle photography, especially because of how shallow the reef is.
At 10–20 feet, you can potentially combine strong ambient light with colorful reef structure.
One composition could be:
Elkhorn coral → diver → blue water → surface
Another:
Coral hedge → deep cut → diver inside the scene
And another:
Overhang → diver silhouette → sunlight
The shallow depth also makes sunburst photography particularly attractive when surface and lighting conditions cooperate.
Shoot upward
Parrot Tree is one of those sites where photographers should repeatedly remind themselves:
Look up.
When you're only 10–20 feet below the surface, the surface itself can become part of the photograph.
You can potentially capture:
Coral + diver + sunlight + surface reflection
That's a very different image from pointing the camera horizontally at the reef.
Buoyancy is critical here
The shallow depth creates one challenge:
You're very close to the reef.
When coral comes within 10 feet—or less—of the surface, there isn't much vertical room.
A diver with poor trim might be thinking:
“My body isn't touching anything.”
while their fins are directly behind them hitting coral.
Think about your entire profile:
Head → body → tank → legs → fins
You need awareness of all of it.
Shallow water doesn't mean easy buoyancy
There's another reason Parrot Tree can actually demand good buoyancy skills.
Your breathing has a proportionally greater effect on buoyancy in shallow water because gas-volume changes are greatest near the surface.
So when you're moving around coral in only 10–20 feet:
Small depth changes matter.
Control your breathing.
Don't constantly inflate and deflate the BCD.
Stay horizontal.
Move slowly.
Parrot Tree can therefore be a fantastic place to practice precision buoyancy while enjoying the reef.
Don't rush to get deeper
Some divers have a strange habit:
They descend and immediately think:
“Where's the deep part?”
At Parrot Tree, that mindset can make you miss the point.
The shallow reef is exactly what makes the site distinctive.
The Lettuce, Staghorn, and Elkhorn formations are already right there.
Take advantage of the light.
Take advantage of the coral.
Take advantage of the long potential shallow portion of the dive.
Parrot Tree vs. Gold Chain Reef
These two make an excellent comparison because both feature prominent shallow hard corals.
Gold Chain Reef
Shallow hard corals → sloping wall → large sandy slope.
Parrot Tree
Shallow hard corals → hedge-like formations → deep cuts → ledges and overhangs.
So remember:
Gold Chain = coral + slope
Parrot Tree = coral + cuts
Parrot Tree vs. Inside Outside
These two are even closer.
Both feature Lettuce Coral and deep cuts.
But I'd remember them this way:
Inside Outside = cuts through the reef and transition toward the outside wall
Parrot Tree = very shallow coral hedges, deep cuts, ledges and overhangs
The extremely shallow 10–20 ft reef top is one of the easiest ways to remember Parrot Tree.
How I would describe it to a guest
“Parrot Tree is a beautiful shallow reef dive where some of the best scenery is only 10 to 20 feet deep. The reef top is covered with Lettuce, Staghorn, and Elkhorn corals that form large hedge-like structures separated by deep cuts. You'll also see dramatic ledges and overhangs, so this is a great site to slow down and explore the structure of the reef. Because we're so shallow and close to the coral, good buoyancy and fin control are especially important. Don't rush deeper—the shallow reef is what makes Parrot Tree special.”
A simple way to remember Parrot Tree
Parrot Tree = 10–20 ft + three corals + hedges + deep cuts + overhangs.
| Site | What to remember |
|---|---|
| Mary’s Place | Cracks & channels |
| Calvin’s Crack | Descending crevice |
| Menagerhea’s Reef | Ledges, overhangs & sponges |
| Carib Point | Sea fans & schooling fish |
| Castle Canyon | Shallow reef formations |
| Chimney’s | Coral boulders & dramatic wall |
| Gold Chain Reef | Hard corals, slope & sand |
| Inside Outside | Lettuce Coral & narrow cuts |
| John’s Spot | Coral ridges & steep wall |
| Little French Cay | Shallow reef & overhangs |
| Missing Link | Hard-coral hedges & schooling fish |
| Mr. Bud | Wreck & artificial reef |
| Neverstain Bight | Cleaning stations & reef behavior |
| Newman’s Wall | Front Yard, sand chutes & vertical wall |
| Parrot Tree | Shallow coral hedges, deep cuts & overhangs |
Next: Patty’s Paradise. This one is special for two reasons: it was named by CoCo View in 2019 in recognition of Patty Grier, and its underwater profile is distinctive—the mooring is around 40 feet at a sand chute, followed by a steep wall with tube sponges and a rich outcropping reef ledge.
