Scuba Monster
Contributor
We visited Isla Marisol this March 14-22nd, 2009. I would definitely return - here's why.
Accommodations - cabanas are nice with a porch, hammock, double beds, private bath and shower. The shower has a heater attached to the spout that sometimes produces hot water. Solar energy and a generator produce the island's power, so the power and hot water depend on electricity usage at that time. AC units are in the cabanas, but we never used ours. If you want AC, you might not be able to use it, depending on who is using power at that time. It is a bit rustic, but I didn't mind. We stayed in cabana #4 and our friends stayed in cabana #3 ... in my opinion, the location of these cabanas have the best views. Views were breathtaking from our porch on sunny days. If you didn't get one of the lower numbered cabanas, you might be looking at the back of ours. Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 were on the beach.
Food - yummy. All meals were home cooked served on an individual plate that came hot from the kitchen. All guests dined at the same table. Breakfast was usually an egg protien such as an omelet, fruit and some kind of fresh bread, homemade biscut or pastry. Lunch dishes I enjoyed were pizza, tostadas, conch stew, and chicken curry pasta. Some tasty dinners were lobster tail with butter and BBQ chicken served hot off the smoker. A fresh baked sweet treat follwed lunch and dinner.
Diving - very good. We saw the usual suspects along with green and spotted morays, eagle rays, turtles, grouper, one reef shark, a couple of large nurse sharks, and dolphins. A favorite dive site was Grouper Gulch - the most grouper on one site that I have seen! Groupers were everywhere - little grouper, big grouper, huge grouper, Nassau, tiger, black, and yellowfin grouper. You name the grouper and it was probably there.
Dive OP - quite good. Kitty was the DM and her husband Chad was the DM/Instructor. We mostly dived with Kitty. She was very sociable and always interested in helping find things. She found a slipper lobster, which I had not seen yet. I found one on my own later on in the trip - how exciting! Diving is valet - they change the tanks between dives and rinse your gear at the end of the day. Dive sites were 2-5 minute boat rides on average, so your surface intervals are on the island. For the SI, you can go back to the cabana, find a spot on the beach, get away from bugs in the screened in restaurant, or sit at the bar's patio over the water. We often sat at the bar and played scrabble for our SI.
During the day, the bar is open for non alcoholic drinks for divers. Before dinner we would have a drink, visit with the guests, and chat up the bartender. Other staff would join us as well. Also, there were large yachts or sailing vessels that anchored in the Atoll throughout the week. The boat owners would come ashore in the evening, which made for good conversation. One Guatemalan that came ashore, was supposedly the Guatemalan Ambassador to Uruguay.
At least once during the week, IM will take you to Long Caye for a two tank dive and a surface interval at the Caye, which was quite nice. The boat ride to Long Caye is only 15 minutes. The boat ride to Isla Marisol from Dangriga is about an 1 1/2 hour and can be rough - a windbreaker/rain coat comes in handy. Once you are on the island the boat rides are close.
Whale sharks? We didn't see any and could have paid for another dive vacation if we kept trying to see them! We were there after the full moon at the season beginning, so we gambled. $175pp + park fees, a hour long rough boat ride, two tank dives in the deep blue with little to see, and no whale shark sightings - it wasn't exciting! I probably would feel differently if we saw one. The additional $175 charge per person + park fees to Gladden's Spit was a bit of a surprise. Park fees understandable, but $175 per person ... not so much.
In comparision to places we have been in the Caribbean, I would give the resort 4 stars out of 5 stars, based on what I like in a dive resort - remote location, friendly staff, convienent and good diving, good food, decent accommodations, pretty beaches, etc. If you like to relax on the beach or a hammock, like good diving, remote places and enjoy chatting in the evening at with guests and local staff, watching the sunset. It's great! The no-see-ums are fierce, but I have yet to find a Caribbean island without bugs.
Diving - 4 stars
Dive OP - 4 1/2 stars
Accomodations - 3 stars
Food - 4 stars or a little more
Remote Location & Beach - 5 stars
Friendlyness of staff - 4 1/2 stars
Accommodations - cabanas are nice with a porch, hammock, double beds, private bath and shower. The shower has a heater attached to the spout that sometimes produces hot water. Solar energy and a generator produce the island's power, so the power and hot water depend on electricity usage at that time. AC units are in the cabanas, but we never used ours. If you want AC, you might not be able to use it, depending on who is using power at that time. It is a bit rustic, but I didn't mind. We stayed in cabana #4 and our friends stayed in cabana #3 ... in my opinion, the location of these cabanas have the best views. Views were breathtaking from our porch on sunny days. If you didn't get one of the lower numbered cabanas, you might be looking at the back of ours. Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 were on the beach.
Food - yummy. All meals were home cooked served on an individual plate that came hot from the kitchen. All guests dined at the same table. Breakfast was usually an egg protien such as an omelet, fruit and some kind of fresh bread, homemade biscut or pastry. Lunch dishes I enjoyed were pizza, tostadas, conch stew, and chicken curry pasta. Some tasty dinners were lobster tail with butter and BBQ chicken served hot off the smoker. A fresh baked sweet treat follwed lunch and dinner.
Diving - very good. We saw the usual suspects along with green and spotted morays, eagle rays, turtles, grouper, one reef shark, a couple of large nurse sharks, and dolphins. A favorite dive site was Grouper Gulch - the most grouper on one site that I have seen! Groupers were everywhere - little grouper, big grouper, huge grouper, Nassau, tiger, black, and yellowfin grouper. You name the grouper and it was probably there.
Dive OP - quite good. Kitty was the DM and her husband Chad was the DM/Instructor. We mostly dived with Kitty. She was very sociable and always interested in helping find things. She found a slipper lobster, which I had not seen yet. I found one on my own later on in the trip - how exciting! Diving is valet - they change the tanks between dives and rinse your gear at the end of the day. Dive sites were 2-5 minute boat rides on average, so your surface intervals are on the island. For the SI, you can go back to the cabana, find a spot on the beach, get away from bugs in the screened in restaurant, or sit at the bar's patio over the water. We often sat at the bar and played scrabble for our SI.
During the day, the bar is open for non alcoholic drinks for divers. Before dinner we would have a drink, visit with the guests, and chat up the bartender. Other staff would join us as well. Also, there were large yachts or sailing vessels that anchored in the Atoll throughout the week. The boat owners would come ashore in the evening, which made for good conversation. One Guatemalan that came ashore, was supposedly the Guatemalan Ambassador to Uruguay.
At least once during the week, IM will take you to Long Caye for a two tank dive and a surface interval at the Caye, which was quite nice. The boat ride to Long Caye is only 15 minutes. The boat ride to Isla Marisol from Dangriga is about an 1 1/2 hour and can be rough - a windbreaker/rain coat comes in handy. Once you are on the island the boat rides are close.
Whale sharks? We didn't see any and could have paid for another dive vacation if we kept trying to see them! We were there after the full moon at the season beginning, so we gambled. $175pp + park fees, a hour long rough boat ride, two tank dives in the deep blue with little to see, and no whale shark sightings - it wasn't exciting! I probably would feel differently if we saw one. The additional $175 charge per person + park fees to Gladden's Spit was a bit of a surprise. Park fees understandable, but $175 per person ... not so much.
In comparision to places we have been in the Caribbean, I would give the resort 4 stars out of 5 stars, based on what I like in a dive resort - remote location, friendly staff, convienent and good diving, good food, decent accommodations, pretty beaches, etc. If you like to relax on the beach or a hammock, like good diving, remote places and enjoy chatting in the evening at with guests and local staff, watching the sunset. It's great! The no-see-ums are fierce, but I have yet to find a Caribbean island without bugs.
Diving - 4 stars
Dive OP - 4 1/2 stars
Accomodations - 3 stars
Food - 4 stars or a little more
Remote Location & Beach - 5 stars
Friendlyness of staff - 4 1/2 stars
