RobPNW
Contributor
The last of my bug bite scars on my legs were gone about 3 months after my return home. I’m a tasty treat.
First trip to Roatan
- Thread starter Bonairejimmy
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Gdog
Contributor
Avon Skin so Soft works well for us....ymmv
Kharon
Contributor
Look at this before deciding on Roatan and especially Coco View. I spent two weeks there and it was a total waste of money. If you like Bonaire you are sure to be disappointed. And the Roatan airport is a nightmare. As far as Coco View - no marine life (fish), what there is is sparse and way immature, vis is poor, lots of plastic in the water, and the buffet - LOL think boy scout camp.
Last time we were at TBR, they were busy bringing in cruisers by busload and "upscaling" the place to compete for cruise dollars. The dive op is great but overall vibe (and prices) have been changing so that the last two trips we looked at Roatan and TBR in particular -- we stayed there twice before -- and choose Curacao or Bonaire instead.
Ritzcat
Registered
Just returned from a 7 day trip staying in West End. I highly recommend Reef Gliders, although you'll mostly dive shallow on the reef right outside of west end, that is unless you have enough divers interested in the seamounts or somewhere further away. Anyways, saw a few moray eels, green turtles, reef squid, queen angel fish, parrot fish, grouper, eagle rays. Lots of barrel sponges.
Reef Gliders has integrated weights, great boats on a private dock with a restaurant to enjoy during your SI. Everyone was extremely professional.
That being said, while the diving is cheap and clear, make sure to use ear drops. I'm in the process of treating a raging ear infection from the contaminated water. As a black water diver, I was really surprised by the trash on the island and how dirty everything was in West End.
Great snorkeling on the left side of Half Moon Bay (Out from Gingers by the rocks)
Places not to visit- Ipanema, Argentinian Grill, ISoar, Coxen Hole.
Bananarama in west bay was cool, crowded. The pupusa place in west end was the standout. TBH could have stayed at the Blue Marlin (reef gliders) all week and wouldn't have missed any food/drink/entertainment experiences.
Allow yourself at least 2 hours at the airport for your return. Chaotic customs/security. If staying in West End, allow yourself 40min+ to get to the airport, as we were leaving there was major construction happening on the 1 way road.
Reef Gliders has integrated weights, great boats on a private dock with a restaurant to enjoy during your SI. Everyone was extremely professional.
That being said, while the diving is cheap and clear, make sure to use ear drops. I'm in the process of treating a raging ear infection from the contaminated water. As a black water diver, I was really surprised by the trash on the island and how dirty everything was in West End.
Great snorkeling on the left side of Half Moon Bay (Out from Gingers by the rocks)
Places not to visit- Ipanema, Argentinian Grill, ISoar, Coxen Hole.
Bananarama in west bay was cool, crowded. The pupusa place in west end was the standout. TBH could have stayed at the Blue Marlin (reef gliders) all week and wouldn't have missed any food/drink/entertainment experiences.
Allow yourself at least 2 hours at the airport for your return. Chaotic customs/security. If staying in West End, allow yourself 40min+ to get to the airport, as we were leaving there was major construction happening on the 1 way road.
Ritzcat
Registered
Also, agree with PP. Choose another island. Full of hot trash, terrible and overpriced food. Diving was your typical Caribbean diving, nothing special. Would 1000% choose Bonaire over Roatan. Don't understand the expat obsession with this island. Nothing unique or charming aside from the cheap diving. Again- My ear infection from the poop water just cost me $800, so cheap diving or not, I'm still paying.
Oh and My son did his Junior OW & I did 4 dives for $800 with a generous tip- rental gear included.
Oh and My son did his Junior OW & I did 4 dives for $800 with a generous tip- rental gear included.
Dang, some negativity toward Roatan that is not really worth it.
I have been to Roatan over 25 times and to Bonaire about 5 and most of that is convenience and not feeling the difference in plane flight is worth it.
CoCo View and Anthony's Resort are both all-inclusive. You can leave the resort but I usually don't.
The shore diving in Roatan is not as diverse, but the boat diving is better if you want to see impressive walls and other features.
Roatan has never had big fish, but like all parts of the Caribbean there is bleached coral and decreased fish life. Although, I did see a whale shark on the trip in July (second one I have seen diving Roatan). Small stuff is present and quite interesting if you want to take close up photos. (The last time I was in Bonaire we had to wash our equipment in bleach due to coral death).
Diving on the west and north sides has a good amount of turtles and rays, including spotted eagle rays and stingrays .
Diving on the south side has Calvin's crack and Mary's Place and they seem to be famous dives.
Lots of fish on some spots (Managerie on south side) and a good chance of seeing seahorses.
For me it is a quick 2.5 hour flight from Houston.
Not perfect but it can be quite good. I have not been overwhelmed by the price (better than Caymans).
If you wanted a unique vacation you can take a short ride to Guanaja where the diving is similar but the reef is generally in better shape. Good luck and don't not go to the Bay Islands based on negative reviews.
I have been to Roatan over 25 times and to Bonaire about 5 and most of that is convenience and not feeling the difference in plane flight is worth it.
CoCo View and Anthony's Resort are both all-inclusive. You can leave the resort but I usually don't.
The shore diving in Roatan is not as diverse, but the boat diving is better if you want to see impressive walls and other features.
Roatan has never had big fish, but like all parts of the Caribbean there is bleached coral and decreased fish life. Although, I did see a whale shark on the trip in July (second one I have seen diving Roatan). Small stuff is present and quite interesting if you want to take close up photos. (The last time I was in Bonaire we had to wash our equipment in bleach due to coral death).
Diving on the west and north sides has a good amount of turtles and rays, including spotted eagle rays and stingrays .
Diving on the south side has Calvin's crack and Mary's Place and they seem to be famous dives.
Lots of fish on some spots (Managerie on south side) and a good chance of seeing seahorses.
For me it is a quick 2.5 hour flight from Houston.
Not perfect but it can be quite good. I have not been overwhelmed by the price (better than Caymans).
If you wanted a unique vacation you can take a short ride to Guanaja where the diving is similar but the reef is generally in better shape. Good luck and don't not go to the Bay Islands based on negative reviews.
Gdog
Contributor
Wow. I guess to each his own. I like Bonaire, but damn the food sucks. The food in Roatan way way better. In fact, the food is the reason I have not been to Bonaire in a while. The airport is way less chaotic than say Cozumel. Bonaire airport isnt very busy at all. To me, Roatan is better food by far, diving is pretty much the same. But hey.... if everyone liked exactly the same thing, we would all be tripping over each other. Happy diving!
RTB started some new procedures for departures the beginning of August. It is absoultey WAY WAY more chaotic that CZM has ever been. Its a total cluster actually. They are taking photos and fingerprinting (all fingers) for every single person departing. This is being done in the small room that the normal security checkpoint is in. It took us almost 2 hours to get through this new security procedure.
We really enjoy Roatan, no big complaints, but won't be back until its confirmed this new departure procedure is stopped.
RussL
Registered
Pretty much the only places I dive in the Caribbean are Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan and Bonaire. Been to all of them multiple times and recently got back from a week at CoCoView on Roatan. I thought the diving was excellent at CCV (my 2nd time there) other than the poor visibility in the channel this go around. The big negatives of Roatan for me are the noseeums and the airport immigration process, otherwise everything else was great. And even the noseeums weren't really an issue because we came prepared with Avon Skin So Soft.
Personally, I like the rustic vibe of CoCoView, they run a great operation and we saw plenty of sea life on this past trip (turtles, eagle rays, schools of squid, and lots of nudis, sea horses, crabs and lobster. Also, saw a bearded toad fish and a scorpion fish. Mary's Place and Calvin's crack are still fun swim-thrus. The haters can hate, but like many, I think CoCoView is a great value and provides excellent diving. YMMV
Personally, I like the rustic vibe of CoCoView, they run a great operation and we saw plenty of sea life on this past trip (turtles, eagle rays, schools of squid, and lots of nudis, sea horses, crabs and lobster. Also, saw a bearded toad fish and a scorpion fish. Mary's Place and Calvin's crack are still fun swim-thrus. The haters can hate, but like many, I think CoCoView is a great value and provides excellent diving. YMMV
Similar threads
- Question
