Just returned from Roatan!

[chazpraz]

I just returned from Roatan and was lucky enough to be there between hurricanes. Our group stayed at the Coco View. When I go back, I doubt I'll stay at the coco view again. The reason for hedging is that the dive operation is absolutely the tops. It is the best and easiest system I've seen. They have boat dives daily at 8:30 AM and 2:00 PM. If you want to go, you put a tag on your equipment locker and when the time comes, you just grab your FMS and get on the boat (ten steps or so).

After a boat dive to one of many, many locations 6 to 25 minutes from the dock, they do a drop-off dive on one of the two really nice reefs in "the front yard". You dive the reef, stop at the large wreck or airplane and then slip in to shore and walk another 30 steps or so to stow your gear. CCV offers unlimited shore diving so it was easy to gear up and take a night dive (they have a neat system for this also). One of the persons in our group had over 25 hours of immersion time in six days! They require a check out dive (remove and replace mask/buddy breath) which I'd like to see other resorts take up and a great orientation that also should become standard.

The divemaster (Jessie) and boat captain (moses) were absolutely awesome. Help, help, help and explain - all the time. They really made the trip for me.

The dive shop operation was also great. They (Mark) held a free bouyancy seminar on Monday night and really was a hit. It helped everyone get more out of the dive experience by reducing exertion and extending the dive.

Now, a few quick things about why I probably won't go back. The resort was nice - good rooms, nice staff and nothing bad to say. The only problem was I didn't feel like I was anywhere outside of South Texas (except for diving!). I didn't get the feel of Honduras. This makes me feel a bit cheated, though not intentionally. For a week I spent all but a few very chaperoned hours with (other) fat or old or both spoiled americans and a very nice staff that was very cordial.

We visited the west end for a couple hours one afternoon and I'm pretty sure that's the place to go. There were lots of dive operations, shopowners with their kids playing out front, etc. There were lots of options for eating and shopping and meeting interesting people. That seems more to my liking and the diving, though not as perfect as CCV, sounded pretty top notch. I doubt they have the unlimited shore diving but diving the same reef over and over can get a bit redundant (like eating too much chocolate).

Anyone care to comment on the West End idea?

Chuck

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

What's wrong with South Texas? Seriously . . . after 5 Great Lakes area winters I had a new appreciation for where I grew up. And the water clarity off South Texas never comes close to approaching the Caribbean around Roatan when not in a hurricane - too much fresh water runoff in Texas. I think there are fewer Canadian ex-pats in South Texas than Roatan too.

We stayed at Reef House Resort in April 2005 and thoroughly enjoyed it - but we prefer the 'get-away-from-it-all' venues, so West End was the opposite for what we were looking for. We caught the resort between booked weeks and had the boat captain and dive masters to ourselves all week as the only divers that week, and the resort to ourselves five nights of that week. The shore diving was as superb as the boat diving there, and never other divers on any boat dive site we dove while we were under.

 

[cowdog77]

We're headed to House Reef too so I appreciated your info on the resort.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Well Chuck I was there the same week (last week) I was one of the "old spoiled Americans" that was there. I have been going to Roatan since 1977 and have been to CoCoView several times....I find it nothing like any part of Texas...it feels like home to me in a sense that everything stays the same and the people there are family. If you want the "feel of Honduras" go and stay on the mainland I think you will find it very different from Roatan...West End has only been built up recently since cruise ships have started stopping there...the "shopping" is mostly goods from Guatamala. That "feel" may be what you are looking for but it is not representive of Honduras or the whole island of Roatan it is only a small part.

Doc take it from here.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
I just got back from CCV a couple of weeks back...got to enjoy Wilma there and missed 2 day of diving due to her.
I had kind of the same impression of CCV myself, I may go back but I was not overly impressed. I agree with you, the dive operation itself was first rate, good boats, captains, DMs and the overall setup was as nice as I have seen anywhere. The resort itself was fine as well; nice staff and the rooms were fine. The actual resort and the dive operation were absolutely the highlights of the trip.
The down side for me was the food and the dives themselves. The food was Ok but the best way I can describe it is industrial or maybe school cafeteria. There was plenty of it and you did not have to go away hungry but the variety was limited and the overall quality was fair. The one notable exception was a couple of broiled/baked fish entrees, they were very good.
Overall, I did not find the diving that impressive. The walls, hard coral and soft corals were very nice, but where was the fish? Maybe they had better since then we did and left due to the storm but the lack of fish was something I had not expected. There were fish but the only fish I saw in abundance were Creole wrasse and sergeant majors. I am use to seeing schools of goat fish and grunts under most every overhang. In contrast, on Rotan I would see just a few on each dive and never a group of more than 2 or 3. I did not see a single school of blue tang all week. By the end of the week I stopped taking the camera and started actively looking for fish. The lack of anemones was something else I have not expected. I actively look for them because one of my favorite macro subjects are the small shrimp that live on them. I would see 2 or 3 on a dive but not one every few yards like other places I dive. I spent 2 dives looking for flamingo tongues; I have yet to find one. Visibility was another disappointment; we had maybe 30 to 40 ft on our best days. I would blame it on Wilma but the vis was about the same before and after the hurricane. This was my first trip so I don't know if this was unusual or not. The vis at Front Porch, the reef/grass beds in front of CCV was horrible at best. It was never more than 3ft all week, again I would have blamed this on the hurricane but it was just as bad the first couple of days before the hurricane as it was after it. A real pity too because I have a feeling there is a bunch of life in the grass but with vis only a couple of feet, it was difficult to look around. If you did, you took a very good chance of losing the guide chain back to the beach. The final problem I had with the diving was practice of the drop-off dive. The 2 dives were good dives but they do get old after a week, esp if you are also diving them as shore dives. Making them an optional 3rd dive would be nice.

I am glad I went and will most likely return some day but not if it’s my only dive trip of the year.

 

[Doc]

Some interesting perspectives.

Here are some different ones: http://www.docksidedivecenter.com/WeeklyLog.html

Great diving, wouldn't go back...? "was not overly impressed. I agree with you, the dive operation itself was first rate, good boats, captains, DMs and the overall setup was as nice as I have seen anywhere. The resort itself was fine as well; nice staff and the rooms were fine. The actual resort and the dive operation were absolutely the highlights of the trip."
:06:

Rainy and stormy, but the viz was iffy... for the whole week? " I would blame it on Wilma but the vis was about the same before and after the hurricane. This was my first trip so I don't " :06:

As for wanting to see Island Culture, you got a pretty good answer as to the West End. already. There is no island culture. Anyone who tells you or thinks otherwise is delusional. If you want to get away from US/TX, best wishes.

Go to CCV for cubic, bulk pack diving. Go elsewhere for caribbean island flavor.

The diving around the Bay Islands, it must be noted, is NOT known for schools of pretty fishies. The slow diver with perfect buoyancy is rewarded by the micro and macro. The happiest divers carry magnifying glasses on every dive. The Paul Humann book is opened after every dive in a search for "what the heck was that?".

Those of us who have learned to savor the Bay Islands experience absolutely revel in the "same old" drop-off dive, twice a day. It is, beyond a question, absolutely different every dive, every minute. I never miss them!

If you come to the Bay Islands looking for glimpses of any disceranable island culture or looking for the same obvious critters that you have seen before... you're going to be disappointed. If you come to dive and, especially at CCV- to Night Dive, you will have a whole new world opened up for you.

To each, their own. I do not take dive trips for the "total experience". I go to dive. Everything else "feeds" that goal. If, in search of this total experience people want to drink every night- try Coz/Cancun, Nassau, Freeport. If you want to shop, try Cayman.

If you want equal diving to the Bay Islands (and CCV especially) there are a few places you can go (Tobago, Grenada, Swan, Los Roques)- but none of them offer the dive infrastructure... the custom boats, the shore dive access, the staff, the gear rooms and more... that CCV offers.

I go to dive.

 

[sidwise]

Greetings, Herman:

Welcome home. Sorry you didn't find CCV the awesome experience I sold it to be. Don't know if it was the week you were there or what.

I remain a CCV fan, will return next year. Have never seen 100 foot viz there -- or on the north side of Roatan, the time I stayed with AKR. Usually don't see large pelagics there, either. But swim slow, hover long, and just hang out -- especially in the Front Yard at CocoView -- and I see more small stuff than I know what to do with. There are a few places to see more stuff (e.g., the Town Pier at Bonaire), but none I know where the diving's as easy and accessible as CCV. Actually, I've done several drop off dives in which I spent 45 - 60 minutes of bottom time on the wall outside the reef, then spent over an hour in the shallow Front Yard communing with squid, watching spotted eagle rays glide through the shallows, watching the tiny critters in the turtlegrass and under the coral heads. Awesome, truly awesome!

Each to his own poison, of course. I've had the good fortune to have dove around much of the Caribbean -- land based and liveaboards -- and so far, CCV is still my favorite. Haven't met Doc (aka RoatanMan) there ... yet ... but I'm sure our CCV trips will coincide some day.

Best,
- Sid

 

[Tomdive]

"There is no Island culture?" I disagree 100%. The Islands culture is defined by its people,how they live their everyday lives,their political views,religous customs,food etc. Every place has its own culture. Perhaps its not as dramatic or colorful as some off the beaten path peoples,but it is their culture. Go to a local church service,drink in the bars your boat mechanic drinks in,converse with a family having a picnic on the beach,go to a soccer game,check out a local school. You will soon find out these people have a very different culture that that of Texas or Chicago. To dimiss people as dillusional for recognizing these differences is a very narrow minded statement.Maybe if some of us would get off the bar stool at our all inclusive resort, and make an effert to get out and meet more of the local people,other than those that get paid to be nice to us in the service industry, we would find that are are major differences in our 2 cultures. To totaly dismiss Roatan as having no culture is a major insult to its people and those who take the time to appreciate it.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

You sound very familiar with Roatan, Tomdive. Where would you recommend staying for the most local flavor?

 

[Zebra mussel]

I absolutely agree with the above posting. Roatan is rich in culture if one takes the time to seek it out. Spend a little time away from West End and the dive resorts and you will soon find a culture worth exploring. Perhaps Roatan Man has spent too much time on this island and is jaded by his familiarity with the people and fails to recognize the uniqueness that is all around him. Ive been going to Roatan for years and tend to overlook some of the same things. As one becomes comfortable with a place,the cultural uniquness beomes less and less apparent. First time tourists seem to apprciate the culture more than those of us who have been coming here for many years.To make a blanket statement that Roatan has no culture is not completely accurate in my humble opinion. Explore a little bit and you will find a warm and friendly people with their own unique way of life!