Where to stay in Roatan (in July) for experienced Divemasters

[Alexandra]

Thanks for your feedback. I will definitely take the Utila thought off my list given the time of year and the challenge to get there.

I also heard back from Barefoot cay and although they sound lovely, I think the price of the stay plus the cost of the additional dives (only 10 includes) puts them outside my budget range. So I think I'm going to focus on AKR and CCV.

 

[Cudabait]

I am planning a week-10 day trip to Roatan the first week of July and am trying to figure out where we should stay. I have read some great reviews but a lot of them seem to be from beginner divers/OW. We are both DMs and have hundreds of dives so I want to make sure we stay somewhere where we won't constantly be following a group of folks with a dozen dives.

I also plan on doing a good 4 dives a day (and a few night dives).

The options seem to be:
1 Anthony's Key - are the accommodations really that barebone if you staying a room with AC?
2 Coco View - good reviews although not sure about 50% of the dives being drop offs at the hotel reef (can't you do that dive from shore?)
3 Barefoot Cay - don't get why they only include 10 dives with their 7 day package -- less than 2 dives a day?!
4 Cocolobo - highly rated on tripadvisor but only offers breakfast so does that mean hunting down lunch and dinner and paying for that is going to be a pain

Also, is it possible and worth it to go to Utila for a day?

thanks for your advise and feedback.

Alexandra

Alexandra,

Based on your profile you seem to well traveled and an experienced diver. Much of what has been said above are comments by Coco View Locos. LOL. I also have dove with numerous AI's on Roatan, including Coco View. But like diversteave, I've become very partial to the great diving the West End Marine park has to offer and the West End atmosphere. I usually live in the Bay Isands a good part of each year. Going for 25 days the last week in May.

A one day trip to Utila is problematic on your planned short stay. If you must stay in an AI..you will not be disappointed with Coco
view. On the other hand you might try www.roatansplashinn.com. You'll find the rooms with AC, dive shop, restaurant and in close proximity to numerous other restaurants and small local hangouts frequented by other divemasters and instructors. Check out the videos in the dive section of the website. Should you decide to contact them email Adriana (owner) and tell her that Paul (Cuda) suggested her place. Anyway. have a great time!!

 

[parrotheaddiver]

I just posted the link so that the original poster would have a better idea of what's nearby. I've never met him.

for the record Tulio died in 2005...wow has it really been that long...for Alexandra go here CoCo Chat you should be able to see what all the fuss is about I hope you have fun wherever you end up

 

[Doc]

.... But like diversteave, I've become very partial to the great diving the West End.....

In these discussions, it is rare that an OP comes in and states what dive schedule that they want. 4 a day plus more than one night dive.

Like diversteve, you are happy with that 2 a day schedule. As Steve said, he really pushed it and for two days he managed to get in 4 a day.

That's not what the OP wanted. Puzzling, aint it?

The draw of the AI, and on Roatan- this means Coco View, can only be fully understood by someone who is in that dive-dive-dive category. It is not a place for someone who wants anything else.

Say what people do about the Marine Park's affect on the formerly bleak North and West zones, although it has brought back the big Lobsters and Crabs, the larger Parrotfish and Barracuda (etc), these are creatures that are a decided draw to any number of less experienced divers- and they are a huge draw. But- what to do after you've seen your 37th Lobster?

This is the allure of the South side, again- an area that is unique in the Caribbean, about 180° off from anything that has been resurrected by the Marine Park. Again- I say- see it now- before it is destroyed by the success of Roatan. When this specific environment is gone- no Marine Park will ever bring it back.

Don't confuse being a "Coco Loco" with my being a huge fan of the unique South side of Roatan. I love diving this area, and when I find a resort that is better put together for diving this niche zone, I will try using it. A lot of attempts to date, nothing close to sway my valued vacation time.

I've seen enough Lobsters, I'll drink when I'm back home, I'll lay on the beach in Chicago. When I'm in Roatan- I'm diving a lot, and on the South side... it's all in the details.

 

[SoSiouxme]

In these discussions, it is rare that an OP comes in and states what dive schedule that they want. 4 a day plus more than one night dive.

Like diversteve, you are happy with that 2 a day schedule. As Steve said, he really pushed it and for two days he managed to get in 4 a day.

That's not what the OP wanted. Puzzling, aint it?

The draw of the AI, and on Roatan- this means Coco View, can only be fully understood by someone who is in that dive-dive-dive category. It is not a place for someone who wants anything else.

Say what people do about the Marine Park's affect on the formerly bleak North and West zones, although it has brought back the big Lobsters and Crabs, the larger Parrotfish and Barracuda (etc), these are creatures that are a decided draw to any number of less experienced divers- and they are a huge draw. But- what to do after you've seen your 37th Lobster?

This is the allure of the South side, again- an area that is unique in the Caribbean, about 180° off from anything that has been resurrected by the Marine Park. Again- I say- see it now- before it is destroyed by the success of Roatan. When this specific environment is gone- no Marine Park will ever bring it back.

Don't confuse being a "Coco Loco" with my being a huge fan of the unique South side of Roatan. I love diving this area, and when I find a resort that is better put together for diving this niche zone, I will try using it. A lot of attempts to date, nothing close to sway my valued vacation time.

I've seen enough Lobsters, I'll drink when I'm back home, I'll lay on the beach in Chicago. When I'm in Roatan- I'm diving a lot, and on the South side... it's all in the details.

I'm not about to get between the West End fan club and the Southside AI junkies, but Coconut Tree Divers of West End has four regularly scheduled dives a day. This is not a recent development but has been the case in the almost 8 years I've been diving with them. If you don't believe it - see it for yourself: Coconut Tree Divers - PADI 5-Star IDC Dive Resort on Roatan, Honduras. The idea that a diver in the West End will be hard pressed to get four dives a day is fiction. It can be done and done easily - with the same shop. I believe most other larger West End ops offer at least three regularly scheduled dives. Coconut Tree offers at least one night dive a week, but I know from experience that they almost always do more on demand. They are very customer-service driven. If your chosen dive shop is not diving that night, go next door, or to the dive shop fifty yards down the road. You will not want for night diving. Please stop spreading the myth of the 2-a-day-dive-limitation if you opt for West End diving. It just isn't true.

No where in Cuda's post did he intimate his preferred dive frequency - yet you assumed, perhaps erroneously, his preferred dive frequency to point out a false deficit of the West End. You now have the correct information. If you are going to make comparisons, please do so with correct information and without assumptions.

That being said, I do think the OP would be happier by opting for an AI -- CocoView or AKR checks the boxes.
That's what is so awesome about Roatan - lots of choices to tick all kinds of boxes.

 

[Cudabait]

Sosiouxme,

Thanks for the flowers! It is evident from my avatar photo that I do not have a chip on my shoulder. That said, some of the Coco Loco posters on this board have been friends of mine for years and I have dove with many of them. Even though some may sound crusty and all-knowing plentipotentiarial, they are really good and well meaning people.