Deep Ocean,
I just returned on March 19 from 2 weeks at Las Rocas. I think you will like this place. The grounds are nice with tropical landscaping. The cabins, although not luxurious, are comfortable and very clean. I think the only bug I saw inside the whole time was one ant. The showers always had hot water with good pressure. There were quiet, efficient in-wall air conditioners that you could control with a remote. Each cabin comes with a mini-fridge that is stocked with beer, soft drinks, drinking water, and snacks. The maid keeps track of what you use each day and replaces it, and then you are charged at the end of your stay. The prices for anything in the fridge are quite reasonable compared to the outrageous prices you pay in hotel mini-bars in the U.S. I think it was $1.50 per beer and $1.00 per soda. We found the fridge to be very handy.
The restaurant was fairly good, but since we ended up eating most of our meals there, it got rather monotonous. Breakfast, which comes automatically with the room (I think you could also opt for a full meal package) was quite good. Its served everyday at 8 am before the dive boats leave and consists of coffee, juice, various rolls, fresh fruit cups, and a single hot dish. It was very efficient, probably because there was no menu and everyone ate whatever hot dish was prepared that day. Dinner had its up and downs. You could choose from a menu that changed every 2 or 3 days and usually consisted of seafood or some Italian dishes (the owners of Las Rocas are Italian). Dinner was often extremely slow and some of the waiters were indifferent. Some of the dishes were good, others mediocre. There wasnt much local island or Honduran feeling to what was served. I had no intestinal problems at all in Roatan, which speaks well as to the hygiene of Las Rocas restaurant, as I ate most of my meals there. The bar also had its ups and downs. A couple of times they ran out of Honduran beer and the only thing available was canned Budweiser. That was inexcusable in my book! The signature drink of the island is called a monkey-la-la, made with Kahlua, vodka, Baileys, condensed milk, and ice in a blender. Great drink. Unfortunately, the bar ran out of Baileys a couple of days after we arrived and didnt get any more for about 8-9 days. Happy hour is 3 to 5 every afternoon and is a good deal as you get 2 drinks for 1 (i.e., half price for every drink or beer).
We ate at Bite-on-the-Beach, which is immediately next to Las Rocas, a few times. This place had some rave reviews on the internet, but I found it to be only mediocre. Im sure you will end up eating here because it is so close and at least is something different.
Since we were snorkelers, not divers, I cannot provide as many first hand observations about the dive shop as perhaps youd like. We did go on 2 all-day boat tours/snorkeling trips with the dive shop, so I had some experiences with them. The shop is owned by a French woman who speaks perfect English and was quite nice. Strangely, though, she only showed up in the morning to arrange all the dives, and then left. She never went on any of the dives herself. The head divemaster was an American from Florida named John who seemed nice. I kind of got the impression that he might be moving on, so maybe he wont be there when you arrive. Another divemaster was a British woman who seemed to specialize in beginning diver instruction. Two different people who were getting certified mentioned to me what a great instructor she was. We got to know the Captain of the dive boats, Cassidy, a little on our trips. He is an island native originally from Guanaja whose native tongue is English and who was very friendly. Bottom line, my impression is that most of the customers of the diver operation were having a good time and I heard no complaints.
I see in your message that you say you are planning to rent a car for your whole stay. I strongly recommend against this. I dont think you will use it that much. The side road into Las Rocas, is passable with a regular car, barely its pretty rough and you have to be careful and creep along or you will bottom out. Driving anywhere at night on Roatan is very dangerous as all the roads are very curvy, unlit, and have unexpected potholes that you wont see in the dark. I dont think there are many other spots that you could drive to and dive. If you want to dive at Anthonys Key or Spooky Channel (Bay Islands Beach Resort), you could easily take a cheap water taxi from Las Rocas to West End, and then an auto taxi the 2-3 miles to either of these resorts. CoCoView is supposed to have some good nearshore diving, but you cant drive to the resort. They have a water taxi for their guests only. (CoCoView is a long way away from West End/West Bay Beach). We ended up hiring a taxi driver (Victor Bodden) for an all day tour over the entire island. He is listed on the internet and I highly recommend him. We were originally planning to rent a car for a couple of days, but after the taxi tour, decided not to. If you really want to rent a car, rent it for a few days, not your entire stay.
I really liked Roatan and without hesitation would return. The island was beautifully green and jungly. It was pretty windy and sunny while we were there, so the sand flies werent bad. The day trips we took through the dive shop to Cayos Cochinos and Utila were both great and allowed us to see something completely different than Roatan. Although I liked Las Rocas, if I did it again, I would probably stay somewhere in West End where I would have access to more restaurants and more local flavor.
Hope this helps,
Dave
