How is Reef House Resort?

[BDSC]

Recently my favorite place to stay in Roatan, Bay Island Beach Resort, closed it's doors. So I started looking for a new place to stay and came across this place:

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The reviews are very good but I was would like to hear from any SB members who may have been there and their impressions. One thing I read from their website is that they dive areas that most of the larger resorts don't visit so those areas are more pristine. Is there anyone out there that can confirm this having dove with them and also dove with lets say CocoView or Anthony's Key?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[bkpix]

My wife and I were at Reef House in August and it was some of the best diving we have encountered.

The place is very rustic but comfortable, small with only a dozen or so rooms. The food was ok, a bit heavy on the carbs but good. The meals are served "famile style." so what they are serving is what there is. The resort manager/owner Mike is a good guy who will do whatever he can to make your stay enjoyable. If you have any foods you do not eat let him know and he will see to it that you get what you will eat.

The diving is what it is all about there. They do indeed go to sites that nobody else goes to, pristine is exactly the right word for most of them. Davit, the DM, is great at spotting small critters, and loves to show you the splendors of his "home." The house reef there is a great dive if the conditions permit. Some of the corals come to within a foot or so of the surface so if there is wave action you might not be able to get out. If you can, it is a great wall.

Here are a couple of photos from our trip last August, you can view more on my photo page here on SB.

 

[ncchuck]

I've been to Reef House 6 times including this time last year. I've also been to other places on Roatan including Anthonys and BIBR. I also worked at Paya Bay for several months. I can tell you with no hesitation that you'll enjoy Reef House. As said by others the live in owner, Mike, is a great guy. The beer is cheap and self serve. The food is good and plentiful. The resort is very old and not at all fancy but it's clean. The resort is actually on a small key with about 30 or 40 village homes. The boats are kept in the back of the resort overlooking a great little community with almost no cars but lots of water taxis. It's fun the watch the morning and evening commute of kids and workers riding in all sorts of boats back and forth across the bay. You can hire a water taxi right from your dock and tour the mangroves.

The diving is very good especially for Roatan these days. Many of the other resorts are clustered together in various on the Island and thus get huge numbers of divers hitting the same dive sites. There is only one other resort further East than Reef House and it's very small. You'll only see dive boats from other operations when you go west and even then not very many. If you get a chance ask them to take you to Morat Wall. It's one of the finest dive sites you'll find in the Bay Islands. The dive guide and boat driver have been at Reef House forever and know the area better than any guide I've ever encountered. An all around great dive experience and in my opinion, the best diving on Roatan.

 

[Doc]

Nice place. A lot of pix here: Reef House Resort Roatan pictures by Doc_Adelman - Photobucket

It is an idyllic glimpse of what Roatan used to be. Go soon, change is inevitable!

 

[BDSC]

Thanks so far folks! I think you are pretty much confirming what I have been reading. I actually like not fancy in a dive resort. As long as it's clean and comfortable I'm good to go. Sounds like the food is good and plenty of it. We are thinking of going in the September time frame. From what I have read the weather seems to be pretty good at that time of the year.

Love to hear from anyone else who's been!

 

[BrewingDiver]

Booked there 4/17 to 4/24. I can try to provide some more info. Getting pretty excited now!

 

[BDSC]

Booked there 4/17 to 4/24. I can try to provide some more info. Getting pretty excited now!

Excellent! Look forward to hearing about your trip. Hope you have a great time!

 

[hopefulist]

I did a couple of dives with Reef House when we were staying near Port Royal at Mango Creek. The divemaster - Davíd, I think? - was really outstanding.

 

[greatlakesdude]

A very helpful post. Reef House sounds like our kind of place. We are thinking about the middle of Sept Are there any drawbacks to that time of year?

We have teenagers. If we do some mainland stuff like a jungle excursion should we fly out of Belize?

 

[Doc]

The teenagers must be dedicated divers and happy with quiet pursuits in terms of apres-dive amusement level and stimulation~ otherwise what adults might find to be heaven, could put teens over the edge at RHR.

Not sure what you meant by "fly out of" Belize. There are no direct flights from BZE>RTB unless you hopscotch through San Pedro, Tegus or Salvador.