Booked! - Coco View & Anthony's Key

[Fab]

Hey everyone,

So, we booked our trip to Roatan August 16th - 31st! We had originally planned to go in July, but the places we wanted to stay were fully booked! August was open, so we went for it. We're staying at Coco View for a week, and Anthoy's Key for the last week. We're hoping we will get to experience a bit of both words, south part of the island, and the west. This will be our first trip to Roatan, so we don't really know what to expect. I've heard nothing but good things about both places,...and am really looking forward to the dives. I've read of ton of info on this board,..and it's been very helpful. There are a few things I'm not to clear on, hopefully you can help me out!

- Has anyone dove in August,...? Curious about water temp. visibility and weather?

- How about those sand fleas (No see-ums)? I'm a bit worried about being uncomfortable, as I've never had a problem on any of my other vacations. I've been eaten alive way worse here, during black fly season. Not fun. I heard Cactus juice helps? Where can I buy this....tips please! (I'm a scratcher)

- Towels! Seems like such a silly thing to worry about,..but every vacation spot I've been to has fresh towels everyday,..and I don't think any of these places do. Just wondering, do we bring our own? Do the towels even get a chance to dry in the humidity?!

- Snorkeling - As much as we LOVE diving..we LOVE snorkeling. I've heard that there's great snorkeling at both these spots (from the resort website)...but, never really read anything about it in a thread. Just wondering if it's "hours" worthy,..as we like to hang out for hours after our dives,.. just poking around.

- Anything about the rooms...I'd love to hear it.

Any info or advice would be great...thanks!

 

[Doc]

We're staying at Coco View for a week, and Anthoy's Key for the last week.

Wow... this promises to be a good trip report!

- Has anyone dove in August,...? Curious about water temp. visibility and weather?

August is well within the rainy season, but I have had it warm and still, dry and comfortable the three times I have been in August. You will hear all sorts of variations.

Roatan is never known for it's visibility. Water temps will likely be 82-85 degrees.

- How about those sand fleas (No see-ums)? I'm a bit worried about being uncomfortable, as I've never had a problem on any of my other vacations. I've been eaten alive way worse here, during black fly season. Not fun. I heard Cactus juice helps? Where can I buy this....tips please! (I'm a scratcher)

You will find that they prosper in still air around moist and decaying vegetable matter. Beware wet wooden buildings and rotting tree debris. If you "are a scratcher" go to Mallwart and buy Equate versions of Benadryl tablets as well as the lotion. CCV sells the Cactus Juice, I go with the highly chemicalized DEET.

- Towels! Seems like such a silly thing to worry about,..but every vacation spot I've been to has fresh towels everyday,..and I don't think any of these places do.

I know CCV does give you fresh towels daily, whether they say the do or not is another question. They will also "rent" beach towels.

- Snorkeling - As much as we LOVE diving..we LOVE snorkeling. I've heard that there's great snorkeling at both these spots

You will find the snorkeling at CCV to be the better of the two.

- Anything about the rooms...I'd love to hear it.

AKR has flashier rooms, CCV's attempt to blend in with the surroundings.

Any info or advice would be great...thanks!

Just try to be aware, that even as the weather changes during your two week stay, what you see on one side of the Island means that it is having an entirely different effect on the other side.

Your about to see some variations, but it would be kind of hard to see both islands ion the same day of any given weather pattern so as to understand what it does.

Try to expand on your dive profile, or, when you do write the report- maybe expand on your non-dive related travel. The broader the base of travel experience further validates your observations. I hope you write a good report!

 

[UnderwaterBumbleBee]

My husband and I were in Roatan last August at AKR, Visibility was not the best but some dives were better than others. I have not stayed at CoCo View but AKR was nice, it will be nice to hear your perspective when you come back.

We were worried about the bugs and they weren't nearly as bad as we thought they would be. That being said, my legs especially had lots of bites. If you are really careful to always re-apply repellent whenever you get out of the water or are about to venture outside make sure you are covered and wear longer pants if you can, Try not the be around the beach/sand when it gets dark, they were worse then. AKR has cactus juice for sale in their little snack shop. We also brought 100%DEET (which we didn't like, actually think it made us not feel well) and we brought Bull Frog and another Naturapel which is 100% natural, I liked it the best. We used it all, including the cactus juice. I still would go back to Roatan despite the bugs.

I don't recall AKR giving out towells for the pool or beach aside from the ones in your room. We always pack at least two beach towels around our equipment for added protection so we used those. If you have a Key Room (which I think is well worth the money) you'll probably have a private covered deck that you can hang all your wet stuff out, we got a pretty good breeze most of the time so our things dried out. If you booked a Hill Superior Room, be prepared for a steep flight of wooden stairs to climb and more bugs.

The snorkeling at the Shore Dive is okay but I think it would have been more enjoyable as a dive. I never ended up lugging my stuff across the Key to it but I did snorkel. There are lots of little channels in the shallow coral, If you aren't real careful it could be a little easy to have a wave push you into the coral. I think you can also snorkel off Bailey's Key where the Dolphin's are located.

Food at AKR was pretty good, good fresh juices for dinner and fresh steamed veggies. Always a couple choices for every meal. Pool on the Key is really nice and they have a decent bar there with snacks (for a fee). Enjoyed some good mudslides while relaxing in the pool. Loved the dolphins, you can hang out on Bailey's Key and watch them swim. The encounter was a lot of fun and the snorkel was fun but a work out. (WEAR PLENTY OF SUNSCREEN IF YOU DO THE ENCOUNTER!)

The free horseback riding was great, even for my husband who has rarely been on a horse. We did the zip line but didn't enjoy it personally and apparently someone recently died there so I wouldn't do it again. Shark dive was great and well worth the money. AKR also has a spot on another island that mid week they have a lunchtime BBQ at and there are some nice beach areas and more snorkeling there. Initially I was a little disappointed with the diving, vis might have partly played into that and not seeing huge numbers of fish. But I loved the wrecks, the shark dive and some of the interesting creatures I haven't seen in other places. When I started to look through my photos after our trip I realized Roatan was more about the entire package. It felt more like a tropical paradise because of the hills and heavy vegetation, beautiful beach, the green tint of the water and for everything you can do there. It's worth it just for lounging in your own private hammock/deck at the end of the day, that was great.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Cactus Juice they also sell it at the resorts... looks like the other two posters have filled you in on most stuff...and yes CCV does have beach towels I think it is a $3.00 charge and you get a fresh one everyday....see the girls in the front office....and snorkeling is great at CCV and yes you can spend hours in the "Front Yard" there are all kinds of critters in the eel grass that is in the shallows....the rooms are rustic but comfortable at both resorts.....try to get one on the cay at AKR all rooms at CCV are nice I prefer the cabanas over the water....they are very large with a private porch with a hammock the rooms at CCV all have a/c but they also have celing fans and floor fans if you want to sleep with the windows open and feel the cool southeasterly breezes....very nice....but in Aug the a/c will feel good during the day... be sure to give us a detailed trip report when you return

also if you have specific questions that were not answered about CCV then go here CoCo Chat this is where we are when we aren't there

 

[lmorin]

We were at CocoView last August. Inshore vis was not great (lots of organic material being churned off the reef). Weather was great! Flies were non-existent, fortunately.

 

[Fab]

Great! Thanks everyone, that info is going to be very helpful. Looking forward to the Shark dive, and maybe the Dolphin dive. We have a Key Room with A/C (thank goodness) so we'll be able to hang our towels. Good idea about packing towels with the equipment. That way we don't have to stuff it in our luggage. We couldn't get a room over the water at Coco View, they were all booked. We actually got one of the last 2 rooms they had.

My husband and I don't have our own BC's, so we'll be renting them. I contacted The Coco View Dive shop, Dockside,..and they said that they'll be getting new weight integrated BC's this month. I wasn't sure about AKR, do you guys happen to know if they have a weight integrated BC's to rent? I hate that stupid belt.

RoatanMan: What lotion are you referring to? I'll definitely get the tablets. Will this make me drowsy?

Anyway, thanks again! I'm sure I'll have more questions. And I'll check out coco chat.

 

[Doc]

RoatanMan: What lotion are you referring to? I'll definitely get the tablets. Will this make me drowsy?

Lotion? Walk into MallWart. Look for the Benadryl lotion. Right next to any high priced name brand, they display the "Equate" brand. Same deal, much mo cheapah.

The tablets will indeed make you drowsy. But it is better than the possibility of insane itching. Don't take them if you don't need them. I have never fallen asleep while diving, but I have passed out snoring on the boat during SI. :11doh:

You are overanalyzing the Full Foot Fins thing on the other thread . Get yourself a pair of $9 "Crocs" copies while your at Sam's Store. That's all you'll need for the short walk out to the diving platform sitting in 4 fsw.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Cactus Juice

If you only pay attention to this your trip will be much better

 

[Fab]

I'll get it all, just to make sure I have it all covered. What's up with the Cactus juice? Do you apply it before the sunscreen or after? Why does all this have to be so complicated! ;-)

About the FFF,..good idea, I'll get a pair of crocks..or crock rip offs.

 

[szohn]

The tablets will indeed make you drowsy. But it is better than the possibility of insane itching. Don't take them if you don't need them. I have never fallen asleep while diving,

I've found claritin to be a little more effective without the drowsy side affect.