Trip Report - Cocoview Resort, Roatan, Nov 2008

[robint]

thanks everybody! If you have any questions feel free to ask. I realize now that I forgot to add water temps and bug info into the report. I will go back and add that in later today.

water temps: 79-81, vis terrible the first few days due to huge downpours of rain, skies overcast much of week. Later in week more sun and less rain so vis was up to 100' on some reefs, averaged about 40-50' at PA.

bugs: yes, there are noseums! Especially with all the rain, everyone got a few bites. Everyone used Cactus Juice anytime they were out of water except after the last dive of the day, then the DEET came out for the mosquitos which seemed to appear at dusk. The bugs seemed the worst over by the dock/gear room area so everyone kept spray in their lockers. As soon as the wetsuit came off, the bug spray went on. I didn't mind it so much as the Cactus Juice smells pleasant. We went through a whole spray bottle in the week. Ron didn't put on spray one day and used the restroom out by the dock, then walked to the room. He got covered in bites on his back! They were all pretty much gone the next day though. I got a few on my feet but likewise the bites were gone by the end of week. One lady did get covered in bites, all over her body, but she says she always get bitten and nothing helps her. Other than that, no one was really bothered by the bugs, everyone just assumed they were in the sand and used appropriate measures to prevent the bites. I didn't think they were an issue and they certainly wouldn't cause me not to visit Roatan. (Rumors about these horrible bugs had been one of the reasons it took us so long to actually visit Roatan. Now that seems very silly!)

robin

edit: weather, water temp, nitrox, and bug info now added in a General Information section near the end.

 

[ronscuba]

Great report Robin. Sorry to hear about your camcorder/housing problems. Get any good footage from the 1st day ?

 

[robint]

Great report Robin. Sorry to hear about your camcorder/housing problems. Get any good footage from the 1st day ?

Thanks! The place was as good as you reported last year.
As for usuable footage - maybe a little bit. The vis was horrible the first day, lots of floaties in the water, it looked like it was snowing all day. I don't know if I will ever edit it, depends on whether I get a camcorder that is tape or HDD. I have nothing right now to download it into my computer to edit! :shocked2: I didn't even think about that until halfway through the trip.... I did view it once, the light on the night dive was the best part!!! It was so good, clear, no hot spots, Ron even said it was like daytime underwater when I turned it on!!!

cross your fingers that there are some good after xmas sales on camcorders!!!

robin

 

[ncchuck]

Our trip report is up now on our website with topside and underwater photos:
CoCoView Resort, 2008
there is a link also for just the photos if you don't want to read the details. Hope you enjoy!

robin

Thanks. I think that may be the best trip report I've ever seen. Great pictures as well.

 

[mikemill]

Thanks so much for that report. My brother and I have a trip planned for May.

 

[robint]

Thanks so much for that report. My brother and I have a trip planned for May.

are you booked yet? If not, I would call ASAP to see if they are full yet. That is peak season and they usually book up waaaaay in advance.

robin

 

[CLEAR BLUE]

Thanks for the GREAT trip report. We are always looking for new places to go and now this has been added to the list!

 

[John_B]

Sorry, I've been away from SB for the better part of a week (Christmas and all). But I wanted to revisit this thread to correct some misconceptions by divers who have apparently never been to CCV.

My training taught me to do an s-drill, bubble check, etc. at the start of every dive, no exceptions. So in no way did I feel "too special" or "too experienced" to do a quick skills check at the beginning of the orientation dive; where we were also briefed on how to find our way between the Prince Albert, Newman's Wall, Coco View Wall, etc. and "the cut" back to the resort; not to mention the procedures for self-guided night dives. Not a bad idea, IMO, given that every week they a different group of 50 +/- divers; and -- let's be honest here -- not all of which will be entirely forthright when it comes to their dive experience. Also, if its important to anyone, the DM for my orientation dive didn't mind when I asked to do the skills mid-water.

As to the rest of the week... In no way did I feel like I was treated as anything but a capable, independent diver. The DMs on the boat dives had no problem allowing people to dive their own profile vs. diving with the group (hint: the DMs definitely know where the critters lurk). If you and your buddy were going to drop to 100' down the wall at the start of a dive, they didn't have a problem with that, they just asked that you let them know in advance so they wouldn't be surprised by it. You could pretty much do whatever you wanted on the drop off dives.

The only restrictions I can remember were:

• Nitrox divers were asked not to exceed the MOD we calculated/recorded in the log book by the analyzers.
• Those doing night dives to the "front yard" were asked to follow the sign out/sign in protocol and to appropriately set the strobe marker at the 15' safety stop buoy (at "the cut").
• For boat dives we were asked to limit down time to 1 hour in respect to other divers on the boat (this wasn't an issue all week given the nitrogen loading of 20-25 dives in 5-1/2 days, even with Nitrox).

The week I was there, I was the only diver with a BP/W and long hose, but the crew had zero issues setting up any of my gear (I always double check in any case). We had one buddy pair on our boat that wanted to set up their own gear, switch out their own tanks, check that their valves were "on", etc. by themselves. The crew had zero problems with that as well. Its nice having the same captain and DM assigned to the same boat all week, they got the chance to really know how the divers liked to do things.

The wall dives were absolutely amazing, and I loved the swim-throughs at Mary's Place, Calvin's and Valley of the Kings. I'm absolutely, positively going back with my LDS's group next November! The only question is whether I'll go for an extra week before then! :cool2:

John_B

 

[mikemill]

are you booked yet? If not, I would call ASAP to see if they are full yet. That is peak season and they usually book up waaaaay in advance.

robin

Booked, plane tickets bought, and drooling has already started

 

[H20Bubbles]

Not to be too simple, but in getting to CCV where do you fly into? Looking at a Spring break trip for the end of March.