NWA395
Contributor
Bananarama West Bay Trip Report
Stayed June 20th thru 27th 2014.
After much research for flight dates and times using Matrix - ITA Software we determined chose Fridays as our travel days. We flew United via Houston with an scheduled arrival time of 11:47 a.m. Unfortunately a mechanical issue delayed the flight for 2 hours. We arrived by 1:45 p.m.
Transportation to and from the airport was included in the room cost as well as breakfast. After a brief stop at Eldons for supplies we arrived at Bananarama. We stayed in a Garden Cabana #3 (very basic cabin) with one queen size bed, microwave, coffee pot and 5 gallon bottled water, bathroom and shower. The room has a/c and a ceiling fan. Check in was easy and Victoria then showed us to our room followed by an orientation of the grounds.
The cabanas are located in the back of the property surrounded by palm trees and a manicured garden area which provided privacy and ability to relax. The small but adequate covered porch has a hammock and Adirondack rocker, small table and wooden chair.
Then is was off to the dive shop with my gear for the required forms and to get my name on the board for everyday. The dive shop has a white board which shows diver, DM and boat assignments for the week. The dive shop did a great job keeping the divers grouped by experience and ability
The dive shop is located about 75' from the cabana. They will store all personal dive gear on site and have separate rinse tanks for gear (bcd, regs, cameras, wetsuits). Mariella handled the business end of the dive operations and Marco and the DM's do a fantastic job. Water and fresh fruit are provided on the boat during the SI ride.
The boats are panga style (back roll) boats and the dive shop limits the number of divers to 8. We averaged 6 divers for most mornings with afternoon dives often having only two or three divers. The boat returns to the beach for the surface interval. Bottom times ranged from about 60 to 75 minutes. Dive plans were professional with just the right amount of humor while still covering all topics and safety. Depending on the dive location and surface chop/swells, some dives were negative entry dives and others were group descents. DM's allowed divers to dive their own tanks and profiles.
With a non- diving wife I still managed 15 dives over 6 days with the following profiles listed as location, depth, and water temps.
One challenge was breakfast timing for divers. The Thirsty Turtle begins serving breakfast for divers at 7:45 a.m. About 50% of the time breakfast would not arrive until about 8 or a few minutes after. I was never late for a dive, but a couple of mornings you did have to eat quickly. Food quality and quantity was sufficient with breakfast ranging from Breakfast burritos, pancakes, breakfast pizza etc.
Resort staff was very friendly and attentive to any issues or questions guests may have and we had absolutely no issues and would have no reservations diving or staying with them again.
Stayed June 20th thru 27th 2014.
After much research for flight dates and times using Matrix - ITA Software we determined chose Fridays as our travel days. We flew United via Houston with an scheduled arrival time of 11:47 a.m. Unfortunately a mechanical issue delayed the flight for 2 hours. We arrived by 1:45 p.m.
Transportation to and from the airport was included in the room cost as well as breakfast. After a brief stop at Eldons for supplies we arrived at Bananarama. We stayed in a Garden Cabana #3 (very basic cabin) with one queen size bed, microwave, coffee pot and 5 gallon bottled water, bathroom and shower. The room has a/c and a ceiling fan. Check in was easy and Victoria then showed us to our room followed by an orientation of the grounds.
The cabanas are located in the back of the property surrounded by palm trees and a manicured garden area which provided privacy and ability to relax. The small but adequate covered porch has a hammock and Adirondack rocker, small table and wooden chair.
Then is was off to the dive shop with my gear for the required forms and to get my name on the board for everyday. The dive shop has a white board which shows diver, DM and boat assignments for the week. The dive shop did a great job keeping the divers grouped by experience and ability
The dive shop is located about 75' from the cabana. They will store all personal dive gear on site and have separate rinse tanks for gear (bcd, regs, cameras, wetsuits). Mariella handled the business end of the dive operations and Marco and the DM's do a fantastic job. Water and fresh fruit are provided on the boat during the SI ride.
The boats are panga style (back roll) boats and the dive shop limits the number of divers to 8. We averaged 6 divers for most mornings with afternoon dives often having only two or three divers. The boat returns to the beach for the surface interval. Bottom times ranged from about 60 to 75 minutes. Dive plans were professional with just the right amount of humor while still covering all topics and safety. Depending on the dive location and surface chop/swells, some dives were negative entry dives and others were group descents. DM's allowed divers to dive their own tanks and profiles.
With a non- diving wife I still managed 15 dives over 6 days with the following profiles listed as location, depth, and water temps.
One challenge was breakfast timing for divers. The Thirsty Turtle begins serving breakfast for divers at 7:45 a.m. About 50% of the time breakfast would not arrive until about 8 or a few minutes after. I was never late for a dive, but a couple of mornings you did have to eat quickly. Food quality and quantity was sufficient with breakfast ranging from Breakfast burritos, pancakes, breakfast pizza etc.
Resort staff was very friendly and attentive to any issues or questions guests may have and we had absolutely no issues and would have no reservations diving or staying with them again.
Bears Den | 58' | 82* |
West End Wall | 66' | 83* |
Deep Sea Oasis | 82' | 83* |
Green Roof | 71' | 83* |
Butcher Bank | 53' | 83* |
Pablo's | 67' | 83* |
Jumpin Jacks | 63' | 83* |
Tabayana | 82' | |
Half Moon Bay Wall | 79' | 82* |
Turtle Crossing | 45' | 83* |
Fish Den | 69' | |
Black Rock | 57' | 83* |
Temptation | 54' | 83* |
El Aguila | 106' | 83* |
Blue Channel | 64' | 83* |