hopefulist
Contributor
We started our 4 week trip at Omega Lodge http://www.omegatours.hn/start.htm , enjoying the great food, sweet cabin over the creek, horseback riding up in the mountains, whitewater rafting, incredible hiking in Pico Bonito National Park, and kayaking through Cacao Lagoon to a lovely secluded beach.
Next stop was Utila. I did my Advanced Open Water Certification with Utila Dive Centre http://www.utiladivecentre.com/ after checking out a few others where I was either ignored or mildly put off by the attitude. I did a "tune-up" dive since it had been 3 years since my OW Cert in Belize; good call, well done. My first instructor for AOW at UDC was cavalier to the point of endangerment, recommending a night dive as my first open water dive in 3 years with new equipment, unfamiliar site, huge waves and surge. Stupidly, I followed his advance and it was a miserable experience. Took the next morning off and started the following day with a new instructor, Ian, all to myself - excellent! Dove Black Coral Wall, the Halliburton wreck, West End Point, Airport Caves, and Silver Gardens and loved all of them. Airport Caves was a fish identification dive and a highlight there was a lovely juvenile spotted drum. Also snorkeled near there with my husband; a little tough to find an easy passage through the reef but otherwise excellent. We stayed at Freddy's Place across the bridge, paying $16/night for one bedroom and use of the kitchen and bathroom in a 2 bedroom apartment (great choice for us) and I attended the Central American Spanish School (4 hours of 1-on-1 tutoring every afternoon); school itself was a bit rough around the edges but my teacher was excellent. We'll definitely go back to Utila.
On Roatán we stayed first at Mango Creek Resort http://www.mangocreeklodge.com/ (south coast, east side), which was incredibly beautiful - lovely cabañas over the water (or similarly appointed rooms at tree level in the lodge), handcrafted furniture, excellent food which we ate with the owners and managers as we were the only guests, beautiful grounds. Fishing for bonefish was fair to great (depending on the timing of the tides). The snorkeling was fabulous and the resort provided a boat and excellent guide named Randy any time we wanted to go; highlights were nurse sharks, rays, and squid with giant eyes that were curious about us. There's a new dive resort in the area, Playa Royal http://www.royalplayaroatan.com/ that should be up and running soon. I dove with Reef House Resort http://www.reefhouseresort.com/ out of Oak Ridge one morning. I thought the divemaster, Davíd, was excellent. We dove Church Wall and one he called Plato Típico, and though I was sorry not to get to explore sites further east (it was Sunday and the start of a dive week for the resort - new guests), I enjoyed the dives immensely. Highlights were a beautiful orangey-brown seahorse, juvenile spotted trunk fish the size of a pea, and a cleaning station.
We also spent over a week in the Sandy Bay area east of West End, in a little rental house called Casa Amor, Caribbean Seashore Rentals http://roatanet.com/caribbeanseashore/ ; it's changing hands but should still be available in the future. It was rustic and funky, had a nice wrap around deck with a lovely view and the snorkeling off the dock was so incredible I chose not to dive: French and Queen angels, lots of needlefish, barracuda, peacock flounders, lobsters, lots of juveniles (yellow tail damsels, tangs), big schools of jacks, sergeant majors, grunts, butterflies, and a large porcupine fish in the same spot every morning; I snorkeled at least 2-3 times/day and saw something new every time. We hiked in Carambola Reserve, did the dolphin encounter/snorkel at Anthony's Key Resort (both just a quick walk down the road from our rental), visited West End and snorkeled at West Bay.
Between Utila and Roatán I spent a week in a homestay studying with the Central American Spanish School http://www.ca-spanish.com/ in La Ceiba and had an excellent experience and teacher and a truly fabulous homestay, though it was hot and I'm not much of a city person.
Our weather was excellent - in all our trips to CA, Europe, Alaska, and around the US we've always had great weather. The breeze cut out one morning on Utila so we used repellent, otherwise almost no mozzies or sandflies anywhere.
Visibility was good but not great - 40-60 feet instead of the 100+ we had on Glover's Atoll, Belize, and, as predicted, not as much big stuff (sharks, turtles, etc.). I was really glad to have a little dive light and a magnifying glass (thanks, Roatánman); nothing motivates you to fine-tune your buoyancy more than a magnifying glass and lots to look at!
We had a wonderful, varied vacation and loved every place we stayed.
Happy trails!
Next stop was Utila. I did my Advanced Open Water Certification with Utila Dive Centre http://www.utiladivecentre.com/ after checking out a few others where I was either ignored or mildly put off by the attitude. I did a "tune-up" dive since it had been 3 years since my OW Cert in Belize; good call, well done. My first instructor for AOW at UDC was cavalier to the point of endangerment, recommending a night dive as my first open water dive in 3 years with new equipment, unfamiliar site, huge waves and surge. Stupidly, I followed his advance and it was a miserable experience. Took the next morning off and started the following day with a new instructor, Ian, all to myself - excellent! Dove Black Coral Wall, the Halliburton wreck, West End Point, Airport Caves, and Silver Gardens and loved all of them. Airport Caves was a fish identification dive and a highlight there was a lovely juvenile spotted drum. Also snorkeled near there with my husband; a little tough to find an easy passage through the reef but otherwise excellent. We stayed at Freddy's Place across the bridge, paying $16/night for one bedroom and use of the kitchen and bathroom in a 2 bedroom apartment (great choice for us) and I attended the Central American Spanish School (4 hours of 1-on-1 tutoring every afternoon); school itself was a bit rough around the edges but my teacher was excellent. We'll definitely go back to Utila.
On Roatán we stayed first at Mango Creek Resort http://www.mangocreeklodge.com/ (south coast, east side), which was incredibly beautiful - lovely cabañas over the water (or similarly appointed rooms at tree level in the lodge), handcrafted furniture, excellent food which we ate with the owners and managers as we were the only guests, beautiful grounds. Fishing for bonefish was fair to great (depending on the timing of the tides). The snorkeling was fabulous and the resort provided a boat and excellent guide named Randy any time we wanted to go; highlights were nurse sharks, rays, and squid with giant eyes that were curious about us. There's a new dive resort in the area, Playa Royal http://www.royalplayaroatan.com/ that should be up and running soon. I dove with Reef House Resort http://www.reefhouseresort.com/ out of Oak Ridge one morning. I thought the divemaster, Davíd, was excellent. We dove Church Wall and one he called Plato Típico, and though I was sorry not to get to explore sites further east (it was Sunday and the start of a dive week for the resort - new guests), I enjoyed the dives immensely. Highlights were a beautiful orangey-brown seahorse, juvenile spotted trunk fish the size of a pea, and a cleaning station.
We also spent over a week in the Sandy Bay area east of West End, in a little rental house called Casa Amor, Caribbean Seashore Rentals http://roatanet.com/caribbeanseashore/ ; it's changing hands but should still be available in the future. It was rustic and funky, had a nice wrap around deck with a lovely view and the snorkeling off the dock was so incredible I chose not to dive: French and Queen angels, lots of needlefish, barracuda, peacock flounders, lobsters, lots of juveniles (yellow tail damsels, tangs), big schools of jacks, sergeant majors, grunts, butterflies, and a large porcupine fish in the same spot every morning; I snorkeled at least 2-3 times/day and saw something new every time. We hiked in Carambola Reserve, did the dolphin encounter/snorkel at Anthony's Key Resort (both just a quick walk down the road from our rental), visited West End and snorkeled at West Bay.
Between Utila and Roatán I spent a week in a homestay studying with the Central American Spanish School http://www.ca-spanish.com/ in La Ceiba and had an excellent experience and teacher and a truly fabulous homestay, though it was hot and I'm not much of a city person.
Our weather was excellent - in all our trips to CA, Europe, Alaska, and around the US we've always had great weather. The breeze cut out one morning on Utila so we used repellent, otherwise almost no mozzies or sandflies anywhere.
Visibility was good but not great - 40-60 feet instead of the 100+ we had on Glover's Atoll, Belize, and, as predicted, not as much big stuff (sharks, turtles, etc.). I was really glad to have a little dive light and a magnifying glass (thanks, Roatánman); nothing motivates you to fine-tune your buoyancy more than a magnifying glass and lots to look at!
We had a wonderful, varied vacation and loved every place we stayed.
Happy trails!
