RichKirby
Contributor
Our week long dive trip to Reef House Resort began on July 7th. After our (mostly) uneventful trip down to Roatan, we arrived around 11:15am. We made it through Customs and grabbed our bags. We were met by Mike (the owner). The drive to the resort was about 40 minutes. Well, the ride to the boat pickup was about 40 minutes. It was another 5 minutes or so by boat to the house dock. Given the condition of the van and the tiny boat, we were a little apprehensive and began to question our choice of vacation spots.
Let me interject here that we knew going in that Reef House Resort (RHR from here on out) was not by any stretch of the imagination considered a luxury resort. Rustic is a great way of describing it. From the reviews I had read on ScubaBoard and TripAdvisor, the consensus was that it was definitely a bang-for-your-buck diving facility. Our intention was to dive, dive, dive, and have good food, relaxation, and sleep in-between.
Our apprehension disappeared when we arrived and really began our vacation. The room was air conditioned (we asked for one of the two second story rooms that are separate from the main rooming section) and had satellite TV. It was nothing special, but it was cleaned daily and fresh water (via a little jug) was provided. We found it to be quite comfy, just dont expect luxury. There is an endless supply of hot water for showers which was most welcome.
In an odd turn of events, we turned out to be the only two people on site for the entire week. Another guy showed up our next to last day, but, other than that, we had the place to ourselves. This was good and bad. We had the dive boat to ourselves, with one dive master (Davit) and the boat captain. We HATE crowded dive boats, so this was fantastic! On the other hand, we really missed out on meeting new people and sharing the experience with others. The week before (the July 4th week) there were over 20 people at the resort. We just happened to catch them on an off week. Luck of the draw, I guess. Some of our best memories are of meeting other divers while on trips, so that was a definite negative.
Upon our arrival and after getting settled into our room, Mike gave us a little tour of the place and gave a general layout of the schedule. Breakfast was at 8am, hit the dive boat at 9am. We were usually jumping in around 9:30. Since Im the air hog, my air usually dictated dive times for the week. However, given we often went to 80, 90, or even a 100 feet during our dives, we usually averaged 45 or more minutes, most often somewhere between 50 minutes and an hour. After the first day or so, Davit got used to my air usage and I rarely had to update him to my status. He would have us back to the boat swimming around the reef above 20 feet for our 3 minute safety stop in enough time to surface with a comfortable cushion of air. A 40 minute to 55 minute surface interval later and we were at another site and jumping in for our second dive of the day. Upon surfacing, we would return to the resort for lunch (usually around 12:30 or 1). We would head out again around 2:30 for our third dive of the day. We always went to different sites except for the day we did our one night dive, which was on a reef we had done earlier in the day (one night dive is provided in place of one afternoon dive, conditions permitting). This was our very first night dive. We had always been somewhat apprehensive about doing a night dive, but we figured circumstances couldnt possibly ever be better than this. We had a wonderful time! Davit kept us entertained and we saw tons of cool stuff, including an octopus out for his evening hunt.
On that note, I have to say that the diving all week was incredible. The reefs were fantastic. We would usually jump in around 15-20 feet, swim out a short ways, and then the wall would drop off to 100 feet or more. The walls were amazing! We also did several swim thrus during the week that were to die for. Davit, as mentioned on numerous reviews, has amazing eyes and he is constantly pointing out the micro stuff that is easy to miss, like seahorses. He also spotted several toad fish on this trip that were camouflaged almost to be invisible. Given the lion fish problem plaguing the Atlantic and Caribbean, he usually killed 2-3 per dive. We got where we would spot them and then point them out until he could move in take care of them. Unfortunately, like everywhere else, they are taking over at an alarming rate. We saw them on every dive. While beautiful, they are wreaking havoc on the reefs.
Anyway, to bring this story to an end, we had a wonderful time all week. The food was excellent! I am a very picky eater and I sent Mike an email ahead of time to let him know about my issues. While Im not sure what it would have been like had a bunch of other people been there, he was able to accommodate me. We always had too much food and left the table stuffed. I tried some things I never would have tried and wound up having a great time with the food. They provide breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack (the oatmeal and chocolate cookies were to die for), and dinner. Lemonade and an island sweet tea are provided for lunch and dinner. A Tang type drink and two fruit juices are provided for breakfast. Of course there is always safe water and coffee. Overall, I found the food to be very good and the portions large. Im not a huge eater, but I almost always left the table stuffed and regretful I had eaten too much.
We both felt that this was one of the most relaxing vacations we had ever taken. The diving was terrific (and easy), the food was good, and the price was outstanding. Mike inquired several times a day to ensure everything was okay and, while we never had any issues, we felt he would jump to take care of anything we were unhappy about. On a side note, while Ive read numerous reviews of other locations on Roatan that have bad sand flea problems, we didnt have that where we were. Part of it may have been that the winds were 15-20mph while we were there, and part is due to the fact that RHR has such a small sandy area. Im not saying there werent any, but they werent awful. We had plenty of bug spray as backup.
We want to give a special shout out to Azule, the resort cat. She was very friendly and kept us company all week. We loved it. A word of caution, if you befriend her, she can be very demanding of your attention. We didnt mind this and actually welcomed it. You are warned. LOL
The honor bar is well stocked and cheap. Beth preferred the Barena and I liked the Salva Vida better. Either way, the beers, wines, sodas, and liquor were there and the price was great. Drink up and enjoy and dont worry about the price. Just be sure to keep track of what you drink so Mike can figure it in at the end. What could be better?
I guess the best praise I can give about our week is that Im already wondering when we can go back. We both had a great time and the diving was some of the best we have done. If youre looking for an inexpensive place to dive that includes all your meals, youve found your place. If you want a luxurious room or things to do between dives besides relaxing and looking at the water, this may not be your place. The Wifi is free, but I didnt get a good signal in my room until I hooked up my (borrowed) C. Crane Wifi Antenna 3. YMMV. Once hooked up, my signal was rock solid from my room.
Let me interject here that we knew going in that Reef House Resort (RHR from here on out) was not by any stretch of the imagination considered a luxury resort. Rustic is a great way of describing it. From the reviews I had read on ScubaBoard and TripAdvisor, the consensus was that it was definitely a bang-for-your-buck diving facility. Our intention was to dive, dive, dive, and have good food, relaxation, and sleep in-between.
Our apprehension disappeared when we arrived and really began our vacation. The room was air conditioned (we asked for one of the two second story rooms that are separate from the main rooming section) and had satellite TV. It was nothing special, but it was cleaned daily and fresh water (via a little jug) was provided. We found it to be quite comfy, just dont expect luxury. There is an endless supply of hot water for showers which was most welcome.
In an odd turn of events, we turned out to be the only two people on site for the entire week. Another guy showed up our next to last day, but, other than that, we had the place to ourselves. This was good and bad. We had the dive boat to ourselves, with one dive master (Davit) and the boat captain. We HATE crowded dive boats, so this was fantastic! On the other hand, we really missed out on meeting new people and sharing the experience with others. The week before (the July 4th week) there were over 20 people at the resort. We just happened to catch them on an off week. Luck of the draw, I guess. Some of our best memories are of meeting other divers while on trips, so that was a definite negative.
Upon our arrival and after getting settled into our room, Mike gave us a little tour of the place and gave a general layout of the schedule. Breakfast was at 8am, hit the dive boat at 9am. We were usually jumping in around 9:30. Since Im the air hog, my air usually dictated dive times for the week. However, given we often went to 80, 90, or even a 100 feet during our dives, we usually averaged 45 or more minutes, most often somewhere between 50 minutes and an hour. After the first day or so, Davit got used to my air usage and I rarely had to update him to my status. He would have us back to the boat swimming around the reef above 20 feet for our 3 minute safety stop in enough time to surface with a comfortable cushion of air. A 40 minute to 55 minute surface interval later and we were at another site and jumping in for our second dive of the day. Upon surfacing, we would return to the resort for lunch (usually around 12:30 or 1). We would head out again around 2:30 for our third dive of the day. We always went to different sites except for the day we did our one night dive, which was on a reef we had done earlier in the day (one night dive is provided in place of one afternoon dive, conditions permitting). This was our very first night dive. We had always been somewhat apprehensive about doing a night dive, but we figured circumstances couldnt possibly ever be better than this. We had a wonderful time! Davit kept us entertained and we saw tons of cool stuff, including an octopus out for his evening hunt.
On that note, I have to say that the diving all week was incredible. The reefs were fantastic. We would usually jump in around 15-20 feet, swim out a short ways, and then the wall would drop off to 100 feet or more. The walls were amazing! We also did several swim thrus during the week that were to die for. Davit, as mentioned on numerous reviews, has amazing eyes and he is constantly pointing out the micro stuff that is easy to miss, like seahorses. He also spotted several toad fish on this trip that were camouflaged almost to be invisible. Given the lion fish problem plaguing the Atlantic and Caribbean, he usually killed 2-3 per dive. We got where we would spot them and then point them out until he could move in take care of them. Unfortunately, like everywhere else, they are taking over at an alarming rate. We saw them on every dive. While beautiful, they are wreaking havoc on the reefs.
Anyway, to bring this story to an end, we had a wonderful time all week. The food was excellent! I am a very picky eater and I sent Mike an email ahead of time to let him know about my issues. While Im not sure what it would have been like had a bunch of other people been there, he was able to accommodate me. We always had too much food and left the table stuffed. I tried some things I never would have tried and wound up having a great time with the food. They provide breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack (the oatmeal and chocolate cookies were to die for), and dinner. Lemonade and an island sweet tea are provided for lunch and dinner. A Tang type drink and two fruit juices are provided for breakfast. Of course there is always safe water and coffee. Overall, I found the food to be very good and the portions large. Im not a huge eater, but I almost always left the table stuffed and regretful I had eaten too much.
We both felt that this was one of the most relaxing vacations we had ever taken. The diving was terrific (and easy), the food was good, and the price was outstanding. Mike inquired several times a day to ensure everything was okay and, while we never had any issues, we felt he would jump to take care of anything we were unhappy about. On a side note, while Ive read numerous reviews of other locations on Roatan that have bad sand flea problems, we didnt have that where we were. Part of it may have been that the winds were 15-20mph while we were there, and part is due to the fact that RHR has such a small sandy area. Im not saying there werent any, but they werent awful. We had plenty of bug spray as backup.
We want to give a special shout out to Azule, the resort cat. She was very friendly and kept us company all week. We loved it. A word of caution, if you befriend her, she can be very demanding of your attention. We didnt mind this and actually welcomed it. You are warned. LOL
The honor bar is well stocked and cheap. Beth preferred the Barena and I liked the Salva Vida better. Either way, the beers, wines, sodas, and liquor were there and the price was great. Drink up and enjoy and dont worry about the price. Just be sure to keep track of what you drink so Mike can figure it in at the end. What could be better?
I guess the best praise I can give about our week is that Im already wondering when we can go back. We both had a great time and the diving was some of the best we have done. If youre looking for an inexpensive place to dive that includes all your meals, youve found your place. If you want a luxurious room or things to do between dives besides relaxing and looking at the water, this may not be your place. The Wifi is free, but I didnt get a good signal in my room until I hooked up my (borrowed) C. Crane Wifi Antenna 3. YMMV. Once hooked up, my signal was rock solid from my room.
