Trip Report CoCo View 5/26, we am be here

[Doc]

And another thing....

(This occurred 6/2/18, anybody's guess as to what happened the next day or will happen tomorrow)

At RTB Airport, United Airlines:

A UAL employee greeted people at the beginning of the line and asked inane marketing questions....or were they Mosaad-like probing interrogatories? Again by a UAL employee, very weird.

Tagging your bags with the UAL paper luggage tag was suggested but not absolutely Tag Naxi enforced.

At Honduran TSA, ordered you to take off your glasses, pre-emptively. Even UAL employees had to take off their shoes.

You could carry on bottled liquids that were purchased inside the secure waiting area. Unsure whether that's the fluke of the day.

One small sandwich shop remains inside waiting area, the good one. Expanded seating was nice. But- last minute purchases were relegated to main lobby, in the unsecured area.

If Honduran TSA needed to inspect your luggage, UAL put an orange vest on you and escorted you back to "the back" where the HTSA would gently open, inspect and repack your bag. Very neat, polite and unexpected.

The gate "final bag inspection table" was very small and we were not subjected to what in previous trips had been universal, one final look at your carry on crap. We boarded first, so I don't know if that's a new process, but that table was insufficient to do everyone as was the standard previously.

Note that US TSA in Houston has not changed, apparently staffed by gorillas and supervised by cats. Two of our four bags were "tossed", left unzipped, TSA locks disappeared, cute little white TSA calling card jammed in, a bit crumpled. Welcome back to the comforts of the First World.

 

[grantwiscour]

Good info and good pics...thanks for sharing. Next month, we'll be headed back to RTB after a few year hiatus. This time around we're doing the West End/Sandy Bar for a week and moving over to BFK for another week and a half. It'll give us a chance to check out some new and different territory.

Looking forward to the warm summer waters of Roatan. I'll post up some info/reports when time permits.

 

[Bubblesong]

@Doc Thank you for your info on Coc0 View, I have it next on my list of vacations. Also, I am curious about the Sea Drops Plutonium mask defogger that you are advertising: How can you guarantee that the donating subjects are, in fact, virgins? I don't want to think what other bodily fluids might end up in my mask defogger...

 

[chillyinCanada]

Good info and good pics...thanks for sharing. Next month, we'll be headed back to RTB after a few year hiatus. This time around we're doing the West End/Sandy Bar for a week and moving over to BFK for another week and a half. It'll give us a chance to check out some new and different territory.

Looking forward to the warm summer waters of Roatan. I'll post up some info/reports when time permits.

Where and/or what is BFK, as in the resort.

(I know BFK only as what some divers strap to their leg)

 

[grantwiscour]

Barefoot Cay. Roatán Luxury Resort & Private Cay Diving | Barefoot Cay™ Resort | Dive and experience Barefoot Cay, a luxury boutique resort in the Caribbean , located on a 4-acre private cay on the south shore of Roatán Island.

 

[Dee]

Table looks great, Doc! We just missed it all, left the 26th. We did see lots of Spotted Eagle Rays and Southern Stingrays in the Front Yard the 2 weeks we were there. Gringo and Kirk told us not to be surprised if we saw sharks, that they come in to feed on the rays.Our excitement was seeing a huge Manta Ray off the reef at Howard's Hotel on Thursday the 24th. Very cool!

 

[Doc]

Holy Cow, kids, the Dee speaks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <^}})))))>< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was there in 2011. Recall that the walls were pretty dead, are they about the same?

The chain didn't go all the way to the wreck, it stopped somewhere on the slope, did they extend it?

Do they still do the second dive of each trip as a drop off on the house walls?

1) Yes, about the same, life slowly returning after volcano, last sacrificial (non-Swedish) virgin tossed in 2012, you just missed converting him.

2) Chain always went to wreck, but still no slope (even after volcano), chain not extended but was finally replaced after 30 years of trained "heavy current specialty" patch wearing divers a'yanking on it lest they be dragged once again seaward by the common 7 knot tidal bore, back off to Davy Jones Locker.

3) Yes, unless your boat buddies vote instead for a second moored dive, then you'd be that one odd man out, but they'd still drop you off, giving you a third dive on one boat ride. Making choices while on vacation mode is not what many of us signed up for, this can be unsettling.

Hammerhead was seen on a drop-off/shore dive, but the DMs can move him over by where the boat moors. Good bunch of DMs, for Swedes, anyway.

S.O.S.

 

[Dee]

LOL....yeah, it's been awhile! The last 7 years have been medically challenging but we're back in the game.

 

[Doc]

@Dee Yeah, me too, but what's a little Canker Sore among friends? Oh, that's not the correct spelling? Yeah, that other stuff, I just thought it was my zodiac sign, not to be a crab about it.

Also, my lawyer keeps getting me back on the street.

To that end, I'll expand this so everyone can get some use, why CCV still works for me, even in my advanced decrepitude and diminished physical capabilities....

This too was my first dive trip in a long while. About 18 months ago, a Doctor finally told me what was (physically) wrong with me. In that time they took a fair shot at killing me, but my wife had other plans. So, I made it through the cancer thing, but Long term ancillary issues such as crippling arthritis were exacerbated.

In short, I now walk like a 1 year old baby. Get me underwater, I'm just fine.

CoCo View has allowed me to keep diving. I can still get from my room the very few steps to the gear deck and boats, I can get up the few steps (or ramp) to eat at the main clubhouse. At home, I have to think with care about what groceries that I can tolerate, at CCV, I just went through the serving line and found plenty to eat that my now 1/2 stomach could tolerate.

If you're a fellow wobbler, I suggest rooms on the lower floors of the on-shore buildings, room 16, 17, 18 are my choice.

The boats are so easy. They put us gimps near the aft or one of the two mid-ship gunnel cut outs. Help you stand up, grab a handle, flop in. On return, hand up your gear, flippers, then the ladder.

The center moon-well ladders are perfect for any who eschew rock and roll.

Two things I've added to the equation to make this easier. I have a 3' lanyard tied to my BC to give the boatsman something to haul my gear with. Additionally, I have 6' lead of tubular nylon (mountaineering) sling tied around my thorax that I hand to the boatsman (Ruben) to steady my ladder climb. It works very well. He hauled me aboard much like a Flounder.

On CCV shore dives? On return, at 2fsw I get up with my buddy's hand but not before floating my gear off my back. Every time I did this, all week, twice a day, a DM (Marco) magically appeared from the shore and took my gear back to the dive locker. All rinsed off. I love these guys.

We also did a night dive every night. The Night DM (David) would assemble my gear, put it on a cart, and get me geared up at the waters edge. He then would again reappear when we surfaced after an hour twenty, haul my sorry @ss out of the night dive, take my gear and rinse, etc. Incredible service and attitude.

Remember to tip the dive staff, anywhere you may go, especially if you require additional service.

 

[Brodydog]

@Dee

CoCo View has allowed me to keep diving. I can still get from my room the very few steps to the gear deck and boats, I can get up the few steps (or ramp) to eat at the main clubhouse. At home, I have to think with care about what groceries that I can tolerate, at CCV, I just went through the serving line and found plenty to eat that my now 1/2 stomach could tolerate.

If you're a fellow wobbler, I suggest rooms on the lower floors of the on-shore buildings, room 16, 17, 18 are my choice.

The boats are so easy. They put us gimps near the aft or one of the two mid-ship gunnel cut outs. Help you stand up, grab a handle, flop in. On return, hand up your gear, flippers, then the ladder.

The center moon-well ladders are perfect for any who eschew rock and roll.

Two things I've added to the equation to make this easier. I have a 3' lanyard tied to my BC to give the boatsman something to haul my gear with. Additionally, I have 6' lead of tubular nylon (mountaineering) sling tied around my thorax that I hand to the boatsman (Ruben) to steady my ladder climb. It works very well. He hauled me aboard much like a Flounder.

On CCV shore dives? On return, at 2fsw I get up with my buddy's hand but not before floating my gear off my back. Every time I did this, all week, twice a day, a DM (Marco) magically appeared from the shore and took my gear back to the dive locker. All rinsed off. I love these guys.

We also did a night dive every night. The Night DM (David) would assemble my gear, put it on a cart, and get me geared up at the waters edge. He then would again reappear when we surfaced after an hour twenty, haul my sorry @ss out of the night dive, take my gear and rinse, etc. Incredible service and attitude.

Remember to tip the dive staff, anywhere you may go, especially if you require additional service.

These guys are great. Glad to hear you’re back in the water Doc.