Dive lodge advice

[billmcentee]

My wife and I are thinking about going back to Roatan this spring and do another dive vacation. The last two times we were there we stayed at the Inn of Last Resort and loved it. Unfortunately the Inn of Last Resort no longer seems to be open. Can someone recommend another dive resort that is similar? We much prefer quiet out of the way places that are away from the cruise ships. All we want is a good dive shop which takes you to some nice dive locations. Having a shore reef is a plus, but not a requirement as long as the boat dives are good. Our lodging requirements are simple. Hot water once a day and clean sheets works for us. We aren’t looking for night time entertainment or exotic food. Two years ago, we stayed at Utila and loved the lodge and the dive shop. The reefs were in great shape, unfortunately, there was very little fish life left on the reefs due to over fishing. I’ve looked at the places mentioned on Trip advisor and the Reef House Resort and Coco View Resort look promising until you read the negative reviews which don’t paint a flattering picture.

Seeing as we have stayed only at the Inn of Last Resort, we don’t know where to stay for the best diving on the island. It seemed that dive boats at the Inn of Last Resort pretty much took us all around the island to dive. We are both experienced divers and have been to most of the islands in the Caribbean, so we like looking for the smaller and harder to find critters. I’m a little spoiled in that my first time diving in Roatan, I swam with whale sharks. I’m not expecting that again, but we would like to find dive sites that aren’t overfished and swamped by cruise ship divers.

I like to snorkel from the shore after diving because my wife gets burnt out doing too many dives and she likes to veg out with a drink, watch a movie on her computer while pretending to keep an eye on me snorkeling. The Inn had its own lagoon which was perfect for this and I’ve been looking at both Coco and Reef House. It seems that Coco has a better shore reef and reading the Reef House reviews, the shore there is not very nice and rather dirty. I may be wrong on this, so please correct me if this is not the case. It appears that the Reef House has a little better accommodation and I don’t have a problem with serving myself drinks from the honor bar. We do it at Pirates Point in Little Cayman and it is not an issue. It seems from the reviews that Coco is geared only for people who want to dive 5 or more dives a day. We’ve been there and done that. I’m quite content doing 2 to 3 dives a day, a little snorkeling and then chilling out with a beer and a book for the rest of the day.
Has anyone been to both Coco and the Reef House? If yes, let me know what they prefer. The Tranquil Seas Eco Lodge also seems nice. So that may be an option as well.
I’m just a little confused on where to stay. We loved the Inn of Last Resort and are sadden to find that is no longer there. We were very disappointed with the lack of fish in Utila from our last Honduras trip, so I’m a little weary of making the wrong choice on which location to stay at in Roatan.
Any help you can give on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Bill

 

[Mike]

Have you thought about Fantasy Island? Based on what I read from your other review/dive history thread it sure seems like they would be right up your alley.

 

[billmcentee]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the quick reply. I looked at Fantasy Island, but when we use to go by it on the boat from the Inn of Last resort, it just looked a little too touristy for us. Any place that advertises 'dolphin' experiences and shark dives where you sit on the bottom while they chum the water to get sharks to come, strikes me as wrong. We rather just do some basic diving and find stuff on our own without being force feed it. I could be wrong, but it just seems like Fantasy Island is the Disney resort of Roatan.

I really would like to do this place in Honduras, but from what little research I could find out on it is that the locals have fished out all the fish on the reefs:

VILLA at DUNBAR ROCK: Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras.

The place does look pretty cool though. Where else can you stay on a hotel sitting on a rock in the middle of a bay!

Bill

 

[laurenceh]

perhaps you should consider utila, deep blue resort or utopia dive village? there are also some lovely out of the way rentals such as the cabana at big rock, the pineapple house or sandy cay.

 

[Doc]

I think your research might be from some sources that offer opinions rather different than mine. I have never found much value in Trip Advisor, at least in terms of realistic advice from serious SCUBA divers.

One example- where you apparently read a Trip Advisor review of RHR where somebody went off on a rant in regards to being "forced to make their own drinks at the honor bar", yes- even you thought there was something askew with that "criticism".

FI may indeed plug the Dolphin Pester and the Shark Rodeo, but neither are their products, but most Roatan websites will bring up those two pay-for-play events that are provided by other vendors. I could give you about fifteen reasons that FI would not be a good fit for you, but just take my word on that if you will.

If you like IOLR, then you will likely enjoy Reef House (RHR).

If you believe that the reefs of Roatan are over-fished, RHR could be quite an eye-opener for you (as would CCV)... if you follow one of the excellent DMs very closely as they pointed out the many, many creatures that hide in plain sight on the shallow Sunlit walls of the South side reefs.

Villa at Dunbar would be a great experience for your tastes, but understand that getting there (and back) will be half the battle (or time).

 

[BDSC]

Well I have been to both and I enjoyed both but if I were going back I'd stay at the RHR again in a heartbeat! It's my kind of place.

Rooms: As far as the rooms go I'd say both were fine and will certainly meet your needs but I would give a slight nod to the rooms at CocoView if you're talking about the "over the water" rooms. But both had plenty of hot water and clean sheets. Now I'm not so sure they change the sheets each day at either resort but I don't do that at home.

Food: Hands down the food was better at RHR. Food was OK at CCV and neither place has fancy food but the meals at RHR were very tasty and they had plenty of food.

Diving: Again RHR wins in my opinion. They dive in an area that for the most part no one else does. I think there is only one dive site that overlaps where they take you and where CCV may take you. Davit, the DM at RHR is amazing at finding seahorses. He found four on one dive alone and quite a few during the week. The reefs in that area are also more healthy looking than the reefs where CCV goes. Also, CCV takes you to two different dive sites a day with two drop-offs in front of the resort. RHR takes you to three different dive sites a day. As far as shore diving, I think the shore dive at CCV is a little easier getting in and out but the house reef itself is a better dive at RHR. Not sure why someone said it was dirty along the shore at RHR because we saw none of that.

I will also add that Mike, the owner, will really go out of his way to make sure you have a great time and his staff is right on top of things should something go wrong in your room or break. You couldn't ask for a better owner and manager.

The bottom line is you won't go wrong with either place but if you want better diving and better food, stay at RHR.

 

[gbf]

I haven't been to CCV, but spent 2 weeks at RHR last year.

RHR is not the Ritz-Carlton. It is a very laid back place for divers. The diving is good (David is the seahorse whisperer). The food is good and plentiful. Mike and Crew bend over backwards to make sure you are well taken care of. I think Leonardo could fix a nuclear sub with baling wire and duct tape.

The shore dive is excellent, if the wind is not blowing in and the siren call of (self service) beer-on-the-deck doesn't overwhelm. During our 2 weeks the shore dive was blown out during the first week, and I made it 3 times the second. Getting gear from the storage shed to the end of the dock is somewhat of a pita, though Mike and co. will help you. Also, you have to plan ahead.

As far as the self-service aspect of RHR: You need to be relatively self-maintaining. They'll feed you, clean your room, take you diving and that is about it. If you want or need something else ask Mike. He can arrange a masseuse, off-property outings (zip lines, west end trips, shark dive, and the like), dive instruction, rental gear, grocery store runs, etc. If there is a particular libation you want that is not in the bar, ask Mike. He'll get the fixings and you do the mixing. I get up early, and bitched at Mike about not having coffee before he got up a 0600. He gave me a key to the dining room. All I had to do was hit the button on the coffee maker and I had coffee - problem solved.

Basically, if eating/sitting on the deck/diving/sleeping doesn't suit you then probably RHR is not for you. On the other hand, I left the property exactly once in two weeks (I did that shark dive - feeling guilty about not spending at least a little money on the island) and that suited me perfectly.

I liked RHR, and I'd recommend it.

 

[BDSC]

I’ve looked at the places mentioned on Trip advisor and the Reef House Resort and Coco View Resort look promising until you read the negative reviews which don’t paint a flattering picture.Bill

Just to add, when I made the decision to go to RHR last year it was based on two things. First it was highly recommended by the folks who owned Bay Island Beach Resort. They closed down and we loved that place and Ted said RHR was the same type of experience. The second thing was the reviews on TripAdvisor. Now I don't always believe everything I read but looking at the current reviews you'll see that 127 reviews rate the place as very good to excellent with the vast majority of those being excellent. 4 say it's average, 4 say it's poor, and it appears 1 said it was terrible. So if approx. 93% of the reviews are very good to excellent with only about 4% saying it's poor to terrible, there is an excellent chance you're going to find yourself in that 93% group after your stay.

 

[RTBDiver]

Hi Mike,
Any place that advertises 'dolphin' experiences and shark dives where you sit on the bottom while they chum the water to get sharks to come, strikes me as wrong.

Any of the larger places and many of the smaller ones offer these trips, it does not mean you have to take them, It is like those on Utila, Many offer Whale shark chasing trips but they are all optional

We rather just do some basic diving and find stuff on our own without being force feed it. I could be wrong, but it just seems like Fantasy Island is the Disney resort of Roatan.

Yes, you could be, especially if you feel options offered are required, I have never done a divein the Bay Islands where divemasters even said I must follow them, maybe if your a student but other than that it has always been a reccomendation

]I really would like to do this place in Honduras, but from what little research I could find out on it is that the locals have fished out all the fish on the reefs:

I would love to see the results of your "research" and not just the opinions of people that expect whalesharks, giant grouper and sharks on every dive... Face it, MOST locals fish from a Cayucco, A dugout canoe and their fishing apparatus is fishing line wrapped around a plastic soda bottle, Please fill us in on this " Research"

 

[herbdb]

I would reconsider Fantasy Island. We stayed there last year and would do so again. It is a terrific location, but really not that fancy. The rooms were large, clean with good air conditioning. They regularly spray the island and we never need insect repellent. The food was good and plentiful. Internet in the lobby/bar area was fast enough for Skype. The beach area was well groomed.

The dive shop and diving were excellent. They had a couple of new dive boats, short rides to the reefs. They run three single tank boat dives a day. Two before lunch and one after. If you take an extra tank on the last dive, they will drop you on the house reef. The house reef is the same as CCV, they are across the channel.

The shore diving is excellent with two walls and the Prince Albert wreck. Lines are strung from the Prince Albert to the Gazebo. They supply transportation from the dive shop to the Gazebo by launch. After a night dive, you can leave tanks at the gazebo and they will pick them up.

There was a lot of angry stuff going around last year because of a dispute with a booking agent. That seems to be over. We really enjoyed our stay there.