Roatan vs. Utila... and crew tips

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I just did a dive trip to Roatan @ Coco View Resort this past July and did a day trip to Utila via plane with a local. I'd have to say that I recommend Roatan for all the amazing diving, activities, and cultural experience. Utila is very small and there is not much to do, but I am sure the diving is great.

After spending thd day in Utila, I was glad that I went, but I was also glad that it was just for a day. I much enjoyed Roatan v Utila.

My two pennies!
 
Try Reef House resort in Roatan if you want a truly fantastic diving vacation ...The resort is only fifteen cabins and is a family run business The owners Larry and Carol Stevenson and their daughter Ashley and son in law Barry will treat you just like one of the family.The food is fantastic the rooms clean and comfortable and the dive sites are great and not ussualy visited by all the cattle boats from the west end.
I had the opportunity to spend time there this past winter and can honestly say I feel homesick for Roatan ever since.

If you plan to visit Utila while there I would highly recomend Utila Dive Center, they are a top notch diving operation with fast boats competent dm's and great boat captains that seem to have a knack for finding whale sharks ( note a few extra lempira for the captain always seems to help his ability to find whale sharks)
Utila has lots of places to stay on the cheap and a couple of hours spent wandering in and out of the local inns will ussually find a good deal and quite adaquate accomodations. If you want to play it safe and spend a few extra limps the Mango Inn is quite a nice place to stay by Utila standards...about 50 -65 us a night.

Hope this helps ...have a great trip
 
I recommend CoCo View b/c it is the #1 repeat resort in the world for a reason!

It is off the island of Roatan, so you have to take a boat there. Rooms are on the water, cleaned every day, sheets washed smelling like Mom. Excellent home made food and not one of the meals was repeated - it was outstanding. No phone, tv, or radio, just tons of hammocks, piers, and a five star dive operation. 5 dives a day, night dives, boat dives, and unlimited shore diving.

On the East end away from tourists. You can do several activities like a day trip to the island to visit the west end for shopping, the botanical gardens tour, and the Iguana farm :)

I agree with deepstop...I am homesick for Roatan. It's a great place with family oriented people. Hospitality is their #1 income...

I am sure Reef House is great, but I wanted to also share my two pennies about CoCo View!!
 
CoCo View has a Television, its upstairs. Of course the one night we wanted to watch it a bunch of Brits were watching a US Political debate or something like that.

As for night life, they have a bar, but its very quiet. Most of us either did a night dive, sat around and chatted, or went to bed. You do 5 or more dives a day, and you get very tired, even on Nitrox.

Of course that was a year or two ago.
 
Tipping is 'touchy issue', but I would have to agree with Penti, tipping is an American custom and on the whole, most Europeans won't tip, or if they do don't tip as much. On a recent trip to Cozumel I was amazed as the standard seemed to be to tip $5 a tank, so on a two-tank dive it would be $10 a trip. Now mulitiply this by 6 passengers (at least). $60 in tips divided by 2 crew = US$30 each tax free! Now others will say, "Their base pay is so low, they need the tips", BS! I work in the snow ski industry and some of our lift opertors after working 8 hours outside in the snow after taxes don't take home a whole lot more than these dive masters do in tips! I spoke with others while on this trip and they felt the same! It was almost like 'extortion' if we did not tip after each dive we felt we might not get this good service or something worse for the next day. This habit of always tipping after each dive is something I have only experienced in the Carribean as most of my diving is in SE Asia. And will continue to be!
 

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