Trip Report CocoView Resort May 8-15, 2021

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And shelves and swim-throughs.

 

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Animal Life

The impression I got researching Roatan was ‘lush but over-fished reefs.’ On the boat trip sites, I agree with lush. ‘Fishiness’ varied from a lacking to pretty good, so I’d say decent overall. Some fish (e.g.: blue-striped grunts (but I saw a school!), French grunts, pork fish) I saw mainly singly where at some destinations they might be in schools, but I saw a good variety. Off the top of my head, angelfish (queen, gray and French), various grunts, 1 ocean triggerfish, eagle rays, a couple of southern stingrays, 3 sea horses (guide Ruben found a 4th), pipe fish (Ruben’s got good eyes), multiple flounder and pipe fish, a horde of tiny puffers, multiple anemones, some nudibranchs, various crabs, 1 nurse shark (my find), somebody saw a reef shark, 2 squirrelfish, grouper (black, tiger, Nassau and yellow-fin), dog snapper (a huge one joined me on a night dive), an Atlantic spadefish, multiple squid (some night divers who hired Ruben had a good octopus encounter; I wasn’t on that), a sea star (thanks, Ruben), reef and white mantis shrimp, 2 flamingo tongues, conchs…in other words, general Caribbean fare. But I saw no sea turtles.

Ruben showed us this bearded toadfish.​

 

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One drop-off dive by Newman’s Wall I was thinking, if God wanted to show me something extra special, what would I want? An octopus or a Goliath Grouper. Of the two, I’d prefer the GG. Earlier in the week a fellow diver raved about a huge grouper she saw on CocoView Wall, and Ruben said a Goliath had been hanging around a couple of months. Then at 27-feet in a cleft in Newman’s Wall, I was blessed with this…

Not something Roatan is known for, but a reminder you just never know what may turn up in the ocean. It was not skittish. Between that and the huge dog snapper that kept buzzing me on a night shore dive, gotta say…there’s some ‘big stuff’ around.

And little...

Dockside Dive Shop

A nice little dive shop; they’ve got lycra socks for $24 if you need a pair for all that diving. Owner Patty was helpful to me dealing with my gear issues. They don’t service Atomic regulator first stages, if that’s good to know.

 

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Food and Entertainment​

3 Meals per day are included in the package price, all buffet-style (staff serve due to the pandemic), and there’s water, coffee, tea and varied juices (e.g.: fruit punch, lemonade, more…not all at the same time), and various milk products (including skim) to drink. If you want sodas or alcohol…that’ll cost, but I don’t know how much. The one Diet Coke I had was via a free drink coupon they gave us. Some nights had live entertainment performers.

Food varied from good to quite good, and we had good variety over the week. Breakfast tended to include some mainstays – scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes and cinnamon toast, often bacon, and more (I think I saw omelets being made), and other items were added. We could approach the buffet line from either end, which kept waits decent. If you need to miss dinner for a night dive, give advance notice and they can save you a big plate of food.

Breakfast: 7 a.m.
Lunch: Noon.
Dinner: 6:30 p.m.

 

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Food's a big deal to me. Their cinnamon rolls rocked.

 

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Noseeums, Bites & Stings​

More than any Caribbean destination, I read accounts of the dreaded ‘noseeums’ (e.g.: sand fleas, sand flies) of the Bay Islands, where itching bites and sores materialize on hapless tourists’ bodies. Many are the warnings to use insect repellent pro-actively and often. Deet-based products work (but can damage plastics and are thought bad for the reef), as do some others. We were warned to use it after dives before going back to the room (the resort had a spray can in our locker area).

I brought an old pump sprayer of Deep Woods Off and used it on my exposed legs and feet. If I got bit, I didn’t notice. But a diver who also used repellent told me they bit her back up badly.

The guide line to/from the Prince Albert wreck to shore includes floating PVC buoys on little cords; I never had trouble touching the PVC or metal, but my wrist brushed a little cord and something stung me hard – felt like a bad wasp string (Captain Marcos put vinegar on it later).

Internet​

A key selling point of land resorts over live-aboards. Many live-aboards lack Internet access (some have very basic access), though at the pace of technological advancement that may change. For now, land resorts have the edge, and at CCV it’s included in your package and seems to have decent coverage in-room and on the grounds. With occasional interruptions in service, I found it fine for e-mail, casual web browsing and some YouTube videos. I’m skeptical how well it’d handle Netflix HD movies, but didn’t try.

COVID-19 & Testing​

COVID-19 testing (rapid antigen was fine) was necessary to enter Honduras (my insurance paid for that at a local clinic) and to re-enter the U.S. (performed onsite at the First Aid Clinic at CocoView Resort Thursday morning before our boat dives; I’d already paid the $85). Friday during lunch we dropped by for our result printouts.

On-grounds, masks were required in indoor businesses (including Dockside Dive Shop), and when up moving around or in line at the buffet in the Club House (but not sitting at your table). They were not required outdoors or on the boats, though social distancing was recommended. People were decent about compliance, and the restrictions weren’t overly onerous.

 

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Gift Shop & Souvenirs​

The small onsite gift shop has some nice things. For our 8-year old daughter, I got this $18 wooden sloth carving:

This $20 metal bodied turtle with a painted (porcelain?) shell:

And traded the checkout lady a $5 bill for equivalent Honduran money:

If you’ve got more to spend, consider offerings by Oscar Bernal, noted to be the only black coral designer licensed in Honduras, with 30-years experience. The coral used comes from the fishing banks. A sales table was present outside the Club House one morning; a figurine with a single dolphin cost $60 and one of those eagle rays cost $150. I’m retired, so no sell.

 

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Money Matters​

I’d read there’s a 19% sales tax, credit card transactions on Roatan incur a 4% Honduran bank service charge and some vendors (e.g.: tours) may not take credit cards. That knowledge alone wasn’t sufficient. I paid my final bill, with $125 unlimited nitrox and $12 each for marine park and chamber fees, subtotal $149.02 (2 cents?), actual charge $154.96. Fine. You have the option to put tips on your credit card…except your boat captain and guide, who are to be tipped separately/individually in cash. But what about dive shop and gift shop costs? Maybe others?

Being mindful this is a public forum, let me put it this way. I somehow came to have this strange idea that if someone paid a bill in cash, as could in theory come up at the dive shop or gift shop, the 19% sales tax would somehow not be evident, and the 4% credit card fee not mentioned (though I’m guessing it would still be there). You can chalk this up to some confused misunderstanding on my part…or make sure you take plenty of cash for expenses beyond tips.

Tipping is one area I found a bit confusing. I’m retired and need be conservative with cash. From CocoView Resort’s website: tipping is optional, the general tip pool covers everybody except the boat captain and guide and generally run 10-15% of the hotel package price. In my case, the single occupant rate for the ocean view room was $1664 plus tax. Should one tip a % of the pre-tax or post-tax total? Are the $85 COVID-19 rapid antigen test or $125 unlimited nitrox fees part of the total?

I couldn’t find guidelines for how much to tip the boat captain and guide, but the CocoView Resort book in my room said based on customer feedback, a general rule is $10 a day to each (captain and guide) per person per day of diving. So, if you don’t do early orientation Saturday, you do a half-day Sunday (due to morning orientation dive) and Friday (taking time off to dry gear, pack, let the nitrogen out of your system, etc…), and full days Monday – Thursday, a 5-full dive day equivalent. $100 in tips?

But how old is that recommendation? My impression of Scuba Board ‘culture’ is for the U.S. and Caribbean region, $5 per tank if it’s self-service (e.g.: put gear on your own tank, switch tanks, etc…) to $10 per tank for ‘valet’ service (e.g.: staff put your gear on the boat, put the tanks on, etc…). The captain and guide put my tanks, BP/W and reg. (and often fins) on the boat, changed out tanks, etc… If you do the drop-off dives, this could add up to $40/day extra ($200 in tips). Yikes! But are repetitive site drop-off dives where you have to walk out the shore route the same value as distant sites?

One could split the difference at $150 for 5-days.

I don’t like discussing tipping because it’s personal and contentious, but staff pay rates assume they’ll make a lot of their money in tips, so in this region it’s an important part of budget considerations. I’m not telling anybody what to do.

 

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Departure Arrangements

Specifics depend on your departure time. I was to have my checked bags at a covered stand between 2 buildings by 8 a.m. and be at the dock ready for boat transport to the mainland at 9 a.m. A shuttle took us to the airport, where we collected our bags and checked in. I’ve read ‘less than stellar’ accounts of Roatan’s airport, but it went smoothly for me.

A Trip Budget

Round-trip Airfare on United Airlines out of Nashville Airport: $649.09.
Flight change charge because I wanted more time between connections on return to clear Customs: $38.20.
Round-trip baggage fees for 2 checked bags: $172.
Nashville Airport Parking: $96.
Unlimited Nitrox, chamber fees, marine park fee, 4% credit card fee: nearly $155.
CocoView Resort Ocean View Room with Single Supplement, $85 COVID-19 rapid antigen test (required for re-entry to the U.S.): $2,065.16.

Add whatever tips you come up with. Just to get a number to make a total, let’s say $350.

Better factor in airport (or other) food going and coming to budget a trip. Maybe $50?

Let’s round the numbers since this isn’t precise. $650 + $38 + 172 + 96 + 155 + 2065 + 350 + 50 = $3,576. Do a little shuttle driver of baggage person tipping, consider gas to and from the airport…I think we’ve got an easy $3,600.

Never mind some personal gear-related costs; I paid for a new low-pressure inflator hose and the rental on a 1st stage for the week ($76 total). I don’t drink alcohol and didn’t buy sodas or extra cost options like lionfish spearing, shark or dolphin dives. My insurance paid for the COVID-19 rapid antigen testing required pre-trip to enter Honduras.

Let’s stack that against some other solo trips I’ve made over the years (note: those didn’t entail COVID-testing, and inflation may’ve raised prices over the years). These are cost figures I keep on hand; I didn’t go through them again to make sure every expense was included. CocoView Resort was competitive in overall value (especially when I factor in service – I set up and changed my own tanks shore diving Bonaire!).

Some Of My Prior Trip Cost Summaries (including airfare):
8-Day Oct. 2019 Bonaire Trip: $3,000 + food & a few miscellaneous costs, figure $3,500 total to be on the safe side. 30 Dives.
8-Day Sept. 2018 Cozumel Trip: $3,250 with food. 26 Dives.
7-Day April 2018 Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Trip: $3,350 (would’ve been ~$4,255 without 34% off Aggressor Fleet sale). 27 Dives.
6-Day Aug. 2016 Truth Aquatics Vision Trip: Base cost of trip $1,531 + parking, taxis, baggage, airline, airport food… My airfare was $600+. I would guess this trip cost around $2,500, maybe up to $2,700. 24 Dives.

Caution comparing dive counts: strong winds and rough seas prevented some night shore dives at CocoView, but I was pretty worn down from the stresses of travel, sleep deprivation getting there, 4 dives/day and being a chubby, out-of-shape 52-year old guy. Some people get 25+ dives on a CocoView trip at no extra cost (except maybe the early orientation dive fee on Saturday).