Bali1
Contributor
First trip to Roatan with wife and daughters, ages 12 and 14, to get intensive experience for the girls and rekindle a desire to dive in my wife. My daughters had just a few dives in TCI and were very green and thanks to this board I decided that CCV was the ideal place to get them started.
After this past Winter in Chicago getting anywhere with a warm Sun was a relief and the Saturday Delta flight was only about 40% full. I have not flown Delta for some years but it was a very positive experience. Once on the ground in Roatan, we had barely made it inside the building when the pink tags attracted the attention of one of the CCV handlers who assisted us in getting through Immigration and collecting checked luggage for the second scan. By that time the airport coordinator (I forget her name but she must always be there) had found us and after some 30 minutes all guests and luggage was squared away and we got on the bus for the ride to CCV landing.
Once we docked at CCV we were directed to the dining area to fill out paperwork and get our room assignments. We were split between Nos. 15 and 22 and the luggage arrived soon thereafter. A little effort to get the rental gear (just BCD and regs), weights and dive lockers set up and we were ready for the Sunday orientation. The dive lockers are a very efficient set up and one of the best I have seen anywhere with plenty of space to get ready, and enough rinse tanks and drying racks accommodate everybody. Our weather was excellent - no rain and temps in the mid to high 80's. Some decent wind from the East or ESE which is typical I'm told. Only one day did we have some big waves which made the boat ride interesting and wet.
The orientation explained nicely the procedures for dive boats and shore dives. And the orientation dive itself was a great introduction to the Front Yard. The place is so well marked and simple it is foolproof.
THE DIVING Our boat was Coco3 with Eddie and Jorge. Eddie was unavailable for the Sunday afternoon boat dive so Andrea the nurse filled in and she really connected with my youngest daughter. She pointed out a lot of critters for Katie and really put her at ease. This feeling of extra effort and attention was something we would experience over and over again from a number of the CCV staff. I had reserved a buoyancy class for my wife and the girls to get them properly weighted and more confident in the water. Patty took care of the girls one morning on the boat at Mary's Place and did an outstanding job with them. My wife needed to stay shallow due to some ear problems and Jim from Dockside did a shore dive with her that same morning. After this BCD sizes and weights were changed for them and it was a terrific experience for them.
We did a good mix of boat and shore diving throughout the week. Water temp was about 81 degrees and I just used a t-shirt and trunks - never got cold. The coral diversity was some of the best I have seen in the Caribbean and the macro life was outstanding. Free-swimming morays even! Katie's big wish was to see turtles and we saw 2 of them at Valley of the Kings. We came back and did a shore dive with the entire family, Kate got to be the DM on this dive, and saw a green turtle at the Prince Albert too. Octopus, squid, seahorses and drumfish - we were never disappointed. I can't say enough about the diving and I now understand how you can dive the Front yard over and over again and not get bored. Either boat or shore dive - it was about as effortless as a dive can be. I could spend days at the wreck and be completely happy. Always very relaxing and interesting. I really liked the boats too. 3 points of water entry and is was a simple matter to get to an exit and get in without waiting in line.
Eddie was a fantastic DM and the dive briefs were the best I have ever experienced. What I would give to have eyes like his. The girls picked up quickly on swimming slowly and efficiently and they stayed close enough to Eddie to get to see the things he pointed out before moving away and allowing the camera/video divers to move in. Jorge was wonderful and we appreciated the center well to get back into the boat. They both worked so hard to ensure we had easy and fun dives and were a real pleasure to be with. By the end of the week I could dive and not worry at all about the girls. Their improvement was remarkable. The other guests on the boat were great too and were very encouraging to my newbie daughters. Just awesome. Some of the morning dives had deeper profiles than PADI specifies for jr. divers but I never felt concerned. It was a few dives and my daughters handled it just fine.
Topside the rooms were comfortable and the food was overall very good and sometimes great. Perhaps it was being hungry from diving but only a couple of meals were kind of "meh" which is pretty impressive. It was great not having to worry about your things all the time and the overall tenor of the place is so relaxed it is nearly impossible to describe.
However the one thing which always sticks out was the extra effort and personal attention to everybody exhibited by so many of the staff. There was always that extra something done with a smile which made us feel totally relaxed and yet appreciative. Even the bugs were not that bad. We came well prepared but maybe 2-3 bites a person.
Alas the week went by too quickly and we were back at the airport to go home. Again CCV staff was on hand to guide us in finding our way to the right lines and through the chaos with a minimum of fuss. I though we were at the airport way early but it was explained to me that the crowds in line get really long from 11-2 and the design is to avoid that. Another example of CCV thoughtfulness.
The important thing is that all 4 of us want to dive even more. Therefore we plan to return next year. I fear that we have been spoiled by CCV and will be hypercritical of other dive operation/resorts we try in the future. How terrible! We can't wait to go back.
After this past Winter in Chicago getting anywhere with a warm Sun was a relief and the Saturday Delta flight was only about 40% full. I have not flown Delta for some years but it was a very positive experience. Once on the ground in Roatan, we had barely made it inside the building when the pink tags attracted the attention of one of the CCV handlers who assisted us in getting through Immigration and collecting checked luggage for the second scan. By that time the airport coordinator (I forget her name but she must always be there) had found us and after some 30 minutes all guests and luggage was squared away and we got on the bus for the ride to CCV landing.
Once we docked at CCV we were directed to the dining area to fill out paperwork and get our room assignments. We were split between Nos. 15 and 22 and the luggage arrived soon thereafter. A little effort to get the rental gear (just BCD and regs), weights and dive lockers set up and we were ready for the Sunday orientation. The dive lockers are a very efficient set up and one of the best I have seen anywhere with plenty of space to get ready, and enough rinse tanks and drying racks accommodate everybody. Our weather was excellent - no rain and temps in the mid to high 80's. Some decent wind from the East or ESE which is typical I'm told. Only one day did we have some big waves which made the boat ride interesting and wet.
The orientation explained nicely the procedures for dive boats and shore dives. And the orientation dive itself was a great introduction to the Front Yard. The place is so well marked and simple it is foolproof.
THE DIVING Our boat was Coco3 with Eddie and Jorge. Eddie was unavailable for the Sunday afternoon boat dive so Andrea the nurse filled in and she really connected with my youngest daughter. She pointed out a lot of critters for Katie and really put her at ease. This feeling of extra effort and attention was something we would experience over and over again from a number of the CCV staff. I had reserved a buoyancy class for my wife and the girls to get them properly weighted and more confident in the water. Patty took care of the girls one morning on the boat at Mary's Place and did an outstanding job with them. My wife needed to stay shallow due to some ear problems and Jim from Dockside did a shore dive with her that same morning. After this BCD sizes and weights were changed for them and it was a terrific experience for them.
We did a good mix of boat and shore diving throughout the week. Water temp was about 81 degrees and I just used a t-shirt and trunks - never got cold. The coral diversity was some of the best I have seen in the Caribbean and the macro life was outstanding. Free-swimming morays even! Katie's big wish was to see turtles and we saw 2 of them at Valley of the Kings. We came back and did a shore dive with the entire family, Kate got to be the DM on this dive, and saw a green turtle at the Prince Albert too. Octopus, squid, seahorses and drumfish - we were never disappointed. I can't say enough about the diving and I now understand how you can dive the Front yard over and over again and not get bored. Either boat or shore dive - it was about as effortless as a dive can be. I could spend days at the wreck and be completely happy. Always very relaxing and interesting. I really liked the boats too. 3 points of water entry and is was a simple matter to get to an exit and get in without waiting in line.
Eddie was a fantastic DM and the dive briefs were the best I have ever experienced. What I would give to have eyes like his. The girls picked up quickly on swimming slowly and efficiently and they stayed close enough to Eddie to get to see the things he pointed out before moving away and allowing the camera/video divers to move in. Jorge was wonderful and we appreciated the center well to get back into the boat. They both worked so hard to ensure we had easy and fun dives and were a real pleasure to be with. By the end of the week I could dive and not worry at all about the girls. Their improvement was remarkable. The other guests on the boat were great too and were very encouraging to my newbie daughters. Just awesome. Some of the morning dives had deeper profiles than PADI specifies for jr. divers but I never felt concerned. It was a few dives and my daughters handled it just fine.
Topside the rooms were comfortable and the food was overall very good and sometimes great. Perhaps it was being hungry from diving but only a couple of meals were kind of "meh" which is pretty impressive. It was great not having to worry about your things all the time and the overall tenor of the place is so relaxed it is nearly impossible to describe.
However the one thing which always sticks out was the extra effort and personal attention to everybody exhibited by so many of the staff. There was always that extra something done with a smile which made us feel totally relaxed and yet appreciative. Even the bugs were not that bad. We came well prepared but maybe 2-3 bites a person.
Alas the week went by too quickly and we were back at the airport to go home. Again CCV staff was on hand to guide us in finding our way to the right lines and through the chaos with a minimum of fuss. I though we were at the airport way early but it was explained to me that the crowds in line get really long from 11-2 and the design is to avoid that. Another example of CCV thoughtfulness.
The important thing is that all 4 of us want to dive even more. Therefore we plan to return next year. I fear that we have been spoiled by CCV and will be hypercritical of other dive operation/resorts we try in the future. How terrible! We can't wait to go back.
