CCV (or other suggestions for Roatan)

[Rainer]

Starting to look into possibly diving in Roatan, and keep hearing good things about CCV. Could those who have stayed there please answer the following (or just link to relevant posts)?

(1) What is the resort (or whatever word you want to use) like? The rooms? The general areas? The town? The island?

(2) How is the boat diving scheduled? When do you leave/return each day? Two dives per trip? Two boats per day? Are the dives led or do you follow your own profiles? Average depths? Average run times? Number of divers per boat?

(3) What marine life can you expect to see on the dives?

(4) Best/worst times a year to visit? Why?

(5) How's the food? Options for vegetarians (and those willing to eat seafood)?

(6) Best options for airfare (coming from either the east or west coast of the US)?

(7) Is Nitrox readily available? If so, what are they banking and what's the cost?

(8) Average costs for staying for a week (assuming 2-4 boat dives per day [ideally 4], plus shore diving if possible)?

(9) And finally, other than CCV, any other places on Roatan we should seriously be considering? We would be looking for a dive vacation, not a resort vacation.

Many thanks.

 

[joystershell]

All these questions, and more, can be answered by going to their website. http://www.cocoviewresort.com/. Be sure to check into their Chat Room. Unsolicited opinions on everything. Should answer all of your questions, plus some you haven't even thought of.

 

[Rainer]

All these questions, and more, can be answered by going to their website. http://www.cocoviewresort.com/. Be sure to check into their Chat Room. Unsolicited opinions on everything. Should answer all of your questions, plus some you haven't even thought of.

Definitely answers some questions (thanks!), but not all. I'll also look into posing in their forum.

 

[Doc]

I find these answered on Joystershell's hotlink, but....

(1) What is the resort (or whatever word you want to use) like?

It is a place that is biased towards and set up for divers above all else.

The rooms? The general areas? The town? The island?

A very broad question. Better answered on SB search and at the CCV chat group. CCV is located on its own private ten acre key. You will see no one there for the week unless its staff or guests.

(2) How is the boat diving scheduled? When do you leave/return each day? Two dives per trip? Two boats per day? Are the dives led or do you follow your own profiles? Average depths? Average run times? Number of divers per boat?

0900 and 1400. Two tanks each. Lead dives or go on your own and see less. As deep as you want, but most cool stuff is surface to 45fsw. 6-10 minutes to dive sites, some longer. Set up for 32 divers, 15-17 are assigned, 12 show up- the rest are shore diving.

(3) What marine life can you expect to see on the dives?

Depends upon your skills. Crack open the Paul Humann Reef Creature and Fish ID book. I have seen most of it there on the South side of Roatan.

(4) Best/worst times a year to visit? Why?

March>July/September>February. The weather.

(5) How's the food? Options for vegetarians (and those willing to eat seafood)?

Never lost any weight. Similar to the Officer's Mess on a USN aircraft carrier. I have a dive buddy who is a vegan. She never bothers to tell them in advance of a need for a special menu. You can let them know and other things will happen.

(6) Best options for airfare (coming from either the east or west coast of the US)?

I always let Roatan Charter do it, I am lazy. Check CoCoChat- all sorts of deals are posted there by internet price savvy members.

(7) Is Nitrox readily available? If so, what are they banking and what's the cost?

Yes. 32% blend. The cost is more than its worth because you don't need it on those profiles. $100 for the week.

(8) Average costs for staying for a week (assuming 2-4 boat dives per day [ideally 4], plus shore diving if possible)?

It's all inclusive. The place only makes sense if you dive a lot. $900+ depending on season. Best shore dive in Roatan. Starts at your door, intact upright 140' wreck, 200 feet away, sitting in 45fsw.

(9) And finally, other than CCV, any other places on Roatan we should seriously be considering? We would be looking for a dive vacation, not a resort vacation.

There are all sorts of resorts on Roatan. The divers and diving is at CCV.

Many thanks.

There are a lot of resorts on Roatan, there are also many guest houses where you can buy everything you want ala carte.

Quoting- "We would be looking for a dive vacation, not a resort vacation."

Go to CCV. Perfect match.

 

[Rainer]

Thanks. We'll seriously be looking at CCV for next March.

 

[Rainer]

Based on what some people have told me, is it the case that CCV only does two of the four boat dives to sites other than the basic house reef? If that's actually the case, are people getting bored after that many dives at the same site?

 

[citydiver]

Of course Roatan Man answered all your questions, he is good like that. I just thought I would add a few things...
CCV sounds perfect for you, it is all divers...with a few non divers, and I mean a few. You get two boat dives a day, you leave in the morning and you go to a boat dive site then the second dive in the am is a drop off dive at one of the resorts 2 walls. You go to one wall in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Then the same routine in the afternoon...leave on the boat around 2pm go to a boat dive site and then the second dive in the afternoon is the other wall.
Now ususally at the end of the week we can get them to take us to another boat dive site instead of the drop off...we just give them an extra little something when we tip he dive crew at the end of the week!
We fly from Newark to Roatan nonstop on Continental..which is great, however if that flight is cancelled for any reason it is a pain in the but since they only fly there once a week. The one time it did happen because of weather in Houston, CCV took care of all the flight changes and didn't charge anyone in the resort for having to stay longer, they just said dive, eat and enjoy! Delta also flys from NYC to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Roatan nonstop. I would check on their specific websites for fares, I have gotten some great fares from New York, sometimes 460.00 roundtrip!!
If you are thinking March I would check availability as CCV books up fast!
When we were there in January Nitrox was 100.00 unlimited for the week..so it was well worth it...and I can tell you those in our dive groups that were diving air had to dive with a more shallow profile by the end of the week because their NDCL was starting to catch up to them.....

The food is good, we surely never went hungry! They have a lot of different options, and always a salad bar at lunch and dinner, it is buffet style and lots of food!
We are hard core divers in the sense that my husband tries to get in 25-30 dives a week while we are there and I usually get in 20...
Night diving every night (conditions allowing of course) right in the front yard you have the wreck and 2 walls!!
Enjoy....

 

[Rainer]

Of course Roatan Man answered all your questions, he is good like that. I just thought I would add a few things...
CCV sounds perfect for you, it is all divers...with a few non divers, and I mean a few. You get two boat dives a day, you leave in the morning and you go to a boat dive site then the second dive in the am is a drop off dive at one of the resorts 2 walls. You go to one wall in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Then the same routine in the afternoon...leave on the boat around 2pm go to a boat dive site and then the second dive in the afternoon is the other wall.
Now ususally at the end of the week we can get them to take us to another boat dive site instead of the drop off...we just give them an extra little something when we tip he dive crew at the end of the week!
We fly from Newark to Roatan nonstop on Continental..which is great, however if that flight is cancelled for any reason it is a pain in the but since they only fly there once a week. The one time it did happen because of weather in Houston, CCV took care of all the flight changes and didn't charge anyone in the resort for having to stay longer, they just said dive, eat and enjoy! Delta also flys from NYC to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Roatan nonstop. I would check on their specific websites for fares, I have gotten some great fares from New York, sometimes 460.00 roundtrip!!
If you are thinking March I would check availability as CCV books up fast!
When we were there in January Nitrox was 100.00 unlimited for the week..so it was well worth it...and I can tell you those in our dive groups that were diving air had to dive with a more shallow profile by the end of the week because their NDCL was starting to catch up to them.....

The food is good, we surely never went hungry! They have a lot of different options, and always a salad bar at lunch and dinner, it is buffet style and lots of food!
We are hard core divers in the sense that my husband tries to get in 25-30 dives a week while we are there and I usually get in 20...
Night diving every night (conditions allowing of course) right in the front yard you have the wreck and 2 walls!!
Enjoy....

Very nice post. Thank you. Still left wondering, though, if you're getting bored of diving the same two walls for the majority of your dives? Wondering if that would bore me to death.

 

[citydiver]

Bored is definatley not the word I would use! The same wall is different evey time depending on time of day, depth and the speed at which you swim by it! Also there were days we wanted to spend the whole second dive on the wreck so they would drop the other divers off at the wall and drop us right on top of the wreck, see the walls "meet" so to speak, not literally of course, and the wreck is there. So when you follow the wall from where they drop you off depending on how fast you swim or breath you might have time to check out the wreck. We are slower because we like all the little critters that you see in Roatan, so sometimes we wouldn't really have much time at the wreck, so we would just have them drop us off at the wreck so we could spend some time there.
You shouldn't get bored, unless you are a new diver and you don't realize you have to slow down and look for stuff. It is two huge walls, and a wreck and a DC9 wreck. We just like to shake it up..and sometimes we wanted to go back to some of the great boat dives for a second look!
You should head over to the CCV chat boards, someone over there has a map of the "front Yard" that way you can see the layout of the shore diving...

 

[Doc]

Based on what some people have told me, is it the case that CCV only does two of the four boat dives to sites other than the basic house reef? If that's actually the case, are people getting bored after that many dives at the same site?

I think some people might get bored. The more advanced diver: no.

The second dive of the am and pm boat dive is indeed "the drop off dive", where they will plop you in on either CoCoView Wall or Newman's wall. These two walls converge after a while to form CoCoView Channel where the 120' tanker lies next to the DC3 aircraft.

Get to know this area intimately- It is where you will do your night dive. The Prince Albert Wreck's anchor chain has been laid out from the wreck and takes you back into the resort. No brainer.

I have never been a big fan of the drop off dive as practiced at CCV. Sure- you can get them to do an "Enduro" which is a very long drop off dive, or if your dive group doesn't mind- they'll do another moored dive for you. This second moored dive puts the DM back in the barn a bit late, so if you tip him and the driver at the end of the week, that would be a good thing.

I think it's all highly over-rated. Again, I am no big fan of the drop off dive...at least not the one that most divers do. Everyone is so hell bent on seeing something new- they quite often miss the most obvious.

I let the boatman drop the herd off out over the reef for the 25 minutes along the wall, but I sit tight until the boat enters the channel and drops me right atop the Prince Albert wreck. El ploppo.

Here's the magic of CCV. The PA Wreck sits intact, upright in 35-65fsw, decks top out in 25 feet. She's 140' long and has lots of easy swim throughs and is home to a very predictable array of critters. I estimate 65 or so seperate niche environment inhabitants. The obvious 7 foot Moray, the large Grouper and Cuda, the Crabs and Lobsters... but also the really cool small stuff.

I prefer to be dropped on the wreck. I'll spend 45 minutes and more just nosing around her in the quiet. I always look out onto the sand flats of the channel- this is where the Spotted Eagle Rays are seen before the drop off divers make their return.

Sometimes, we will just sit out on the flats on 30fsw and wait, quietly. Be very surprised who comes by. I have seen Whale Sharks from spots you can easily reach from a shore dive, much less from a ho-humm drop off dive.

So while many are eager for "something new", many of us understand that there is always something new... if you are patient and quiet and observant!

A lot of poeple worry about the drop off dive being redundant... until they have done it. Then- they're hooked.