last minute travel

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diverrick

Contributor
Messages
890
Reaction score
5
Location
nor cal, Vacaville
# of dives
200 - 499
My wife and I suddenly found ourselves with a week or so off, so we quickly (2 days prior) booked a flight down to Cocoview for a week of diving. We had to fly through El Salvador due to flights being full through Houston. although when we arrived at SFO in the required "three hour" time frame, Our flight was a TACA flight but the first leg to LAX was a United partnership flight. We attempted electronically checked our checked baggage as usual, but nobody came to take our bags.. We asked for asistance after waiting for about 10 mins, and we were moved to another kiosk off to the side, where a Supervisor manually checked our bags for us. Then we got into the line for security, but we found ourselves pulled out of the security line at the place where they check your tickets, and passports, separated, an sequestered in another separate line that wasn't moving at all, and separate from each other. we were asked to not talk to each other during this time. We were the taken different directions and ran through a airblowing machine, which I guess smells you??? I figure I smelled like beer, my wife like perfume LOL.
Then we were moved (were escorted) on to a TOTAL wiping down of everything, tested and thouroughly searched for explosives and who knows what else. This included us and our baggage. They seemed very interested in my wifes underwire bra.... I told her she should not wear a bra next time,, as a joke. TSA didn;t like us talking to each other, that was clear.. They removed ALL of our stuff. All the while we were asked to remain seated and be quiet. We were about to miss our flight as a result of all this delay. This thing all took a long time!! on top of the long security line we had waited in and the baggage snafu we had at check in. When we asked if this extra security was a result of our short booking to flight timeline, they told us no, but it seemed everyone else who also had this treatment had either very short booking times, or were of foreign descent (if you know what I mean) from what we saw, and from what others in line told us. When we arrived at CCV, our checked baggage was not there.. I figure this was more of this insane activity they prompted on us. Is this a commom practice for short booking a flight to lead to such rigorous inspections??? And TSA folks denied any of this.... but our tickets were marked somehow, so when we got to the security check point, we were pulled out of line specifically. and stood there for a half hour in a separate line that was not moving at all, with no explanation, "just please stand there sir" was all the would say. No explanations at all. They claimed it was "all normal stuff" I worked for a major airline, and flew ALOT, and never had I heard or exeprienced such treatment in the past. Heck, I was allowed to fly up front with the pilots, that was my security clearance back then. Now they treat me like a terrrorist threat for booking a trip late?????
 
They seemed very interested in my wifes underwire bra.... I told her she should not wear a bra next time,, as a joke.
:useless:
When we arrived at CCV, our checked baggage was not there.

That is the norm, baggage arrives at CCV a half hour later. It did show up right after you, or was it held up by the TSA inspections in the USA? That has happened in the past as well. Thank your lucky stars that you weren't carrying anything as suspicious as a pony tank. I think they must also stop people for other similar useless stuff, but lucky that you didn't have that!

I worked for a major airline, and flew ALOT, and never had I heard or exeprienced such treatment in the past. Heck, I was allowed to fly up front with the pilots, that was my security clearance back then. Now they treat me like a terrrorist threat for booking a trip late?????

I've carried firearms while with leaders of countries. Around the sixties we just got on the planes, armed. By the seventies, we just advised the pilot accordingly. Now I am a citizen-subject living in Illinois. I can't think about guns, it's illegal. Times change, we still make laws to feel better, but the effects are much more wide reaching these days.

Say.... what kind of name is Diverrick, anyway?

Step over here in this yellow square, sir. :eyebrow:

We have flown 1st Class to CCV on a number of occasions. TACA really still takes good care of you up front. As nice as it was, once you get to CCV, you reflect upon the day's travels and think, "that really sucked". In comparison to your now standing barefoot at CoCoView, you're right~ everything else sucks. It's a comparative issue more than anything.

Other than that, how was the diving? Heard it was pretty rainy and windy~ kinda of odd for this time of year.

Did your wife's other underwear show up? I for one, want to know.
 
Our bags showed up the next day, so we had to get Patty to hook us up with some gear for the first day. I have no idea why the bags were late, but considering the way we got inspected, I think TSA held them over. Once before, I found most of my glow sticks I had packed had been energized, I guess they took a dozen or so and snapped them to be sure that was really what they were. Kinda defeats the purpose, if TSA plays with your night dive sticks beofre you get them. Diving was good, No rains to speak of. The winds were up, so we had the classic swells all week on that side of the island. It seemed like there was not too many pelagics this time. Even the DM mentioned the lack of stuff. Reefs look great though. water temps was 78 consistantly. Beer was cold.
I got to meet the other Doc,(the real doc) I thought that it was you, but we got that cleared up quickly. He did a small seminar for us all one night. Very informitive guy when it comes to the island, and CCV. we stayed at BH #7 The red boat was out for a major schedualed overhaul. AK boat was on the mooring at Mary's place, when we arrived. I guess the old system isn't working anymore. They took thier sweet time getting ready too! We finally did a drop off.
 
A few years ago, a team of us from my Fire Department were requested by FEMA to deploy to the Gulf Region immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Travel was arranged through the Federal Government's Travel Office 36 hours prior to departure. We received the TSA "grand tour" at our local airport, despite the fact we were traveling in uniform AND were met and followed by local TV news cameras covering the story of how our City was assisting in hurricane response.

As we received our special treatment, chagrined officers explained to us that the thorough check was mandatory because our trip was booked so closely to our departure and thanked us for our patience and understanding. Somewhat different from Diverrick's experience, I guess, because you could tell our guys felt like crap ripping apart our bags packed for a 30 day deployment to less -than-resort conditions. I remember commenting on the irony of one Federal Agency so closely scrutinizing folks working for another one. Ah, Bureaucracy. (Even MORE ironic when you consider that TSA and FEMA BOTH full under the Department of Homeland Security umbrella)

The timing of your arrangements may well have resulted in your inconvenience. Usually a close examination of your boarding pass will reveal a code that signals to the screeners you've been selected to receive special treatment.
 
In post #3 you stated "The winds were up, so we had the classic swells all week on that side of the island."........Out of curiosity, why do you continue diving the south side?...(that's why I bought on the north side)...TIA......& good luck next time, hopefully they won't start doing cavity searches in addition....lol......
 
In post #3 you stated "The winds were up, so we had the classic swells all week on that side of the island."........Out of curiosity, why do you continue diving the south side?...

Rick might just have found the best possible diving resort experience on the planet, he'll have to answer that. Maybe he just likes the pie.

For me- I have been diving all over the Bay Islands and have spent a lot of time there during many times of the year. I've walked into almost every type of room being offered, been diving off of most dive boats or at least had a careful look-see. I know who is long term and who is transitory. My diving in many areas has been done while being slowly towed behind a boat with an aquaplane, but I have mapped a lot of underwater architecture and geography that way.

The South side is continuously bathed in mild breezes that do keep the ocean in 1 foot seas almost constantly. The greatest benefit to this is that it keeps the sand fleas knocked down and off of that dry sandy spit of land that CCV sits upon. The North side does not enjoy that luxury. Instead, it lies in the shadow of the breeze (as well as the Sun), allowing for quite an expanse for the little buggers. In short, the Northern half of the island, separated from the South by a tall backbone ridge, is in the lee side of breezes, has standing water, lots of moist rotting vegetable matter.

The North side bears the brunt of any storm that comes the way of the Bay Islands. During the months of December~March, it is quite common for "Northers" to come smashing down and pummel the North and West sides. Remember that ridgeline hump that I mentioned earlier? If you drive to the North side or West End dureing one of these frequent winter storms, as you crest the top of the road and begin the descent to the North side, quite often you will taste salt in the air a full 3 miles away from the sea. It gets kind of moist up that way.

This ridgeline is along where the rivers begin: http://www.lunabeachresort.com/maps/clickmap/images/ClickMap.png (This, by the way- is a classic rendition of Roatan with many original place names).

The underwater terrain tells the tale. The North & West sides reefs start well offshore and quite deep. They bottom out pretty quickly in a 90fsw deep plateau. It's all pretty stark. With the creation of the Marine Reserve, the area is being quickly repopulated with adult larger fish of the common Caribbean species. In that the largest part of the trade of the area is catering to casual divers, either backpacker, one-a-day, cruise shippers, etc., this really pays off. If you want to see larger Groupers, Baracudas and Lobsters- this is a great pay off. Many people go to these areas just because of the excellent variety of after-dive activities, meaning bars and restaurants.

The South side is largely (so far) devoid of such nightlife and diversions, with the exception of one remarkable local restaurant- The View. The other two long term places, Geo's and Romeo's fall into a similar category as described in the paragraph above. Familiar, predictable and unchallenging. Locals go to the Yacht Club.

The South side offers Roatan's only real Shore Dive, also making it an ideal night dive location due to the fact that a chain runs from the shore to an intact 140 foot freighter sitting in 35~65fsw. Wrecks on the North side begin in 95fsw. That is not an accidental placement. Those 100 foot deep wrecks take a beating even that deep. The very shallow wrecks on the South side have so far withstood 20+ years of weather. Being that close to the surface, they are florid with corals and critters. Again- an excellent, shallow night dive. If you understand the briefing, you can never get lost.

The South side u/w terrain is unique in the Mar Caribe. Note that the island is long and narrow (17x6 miles) and is situated along a SW>NE axis. The South side has been protected for millions of years by the ridgeline.

The Southern reefs start very close to shore. They top out in 5~25fsw and drop to a sandy floor at 90'. They shelf out for 30' of sand, then begin another straight Coral walled descent to 3000'. It is bathed in Sunlight all day long. It is florid with the largest concentration of known soft and hard Corals remaining in the Caribbean.

Within these corals lie the nursery and incubator for all of the critters of the Caribbean. If you crack open any of three the Paul Humann Caribbean ID Books (Fish, Coral, Creature), you can start checking off the stuff you find along the South side of Roatan.

Unfortunately, if a diver sees anything of the South side, it is a quick trot through Mary's Place. Most experienced with South side Roatan diving put Mary's Place somewhere near the bottom of the top ten. There are several interesting sedentary residential critters living in Mary's Place, but without dedicated local assistance- we will just never begin to see them.

If you continue East past Mary's Place, you come to French Key, Mr. Bud, Valley of the Kings, Doc's Dive, Gold Chain, Missing Link, Two Tall Two Small and all the way down coast towards Oak Ridge's Calvin's Crack and Hole in the Wall.

These are the locations that you find the hundreds of critters I mentioned. Here are some common images, added weekly: Dockside Dive Center Log Be sure to hit "see previous weeks" button on the upper right. Do the math. You do not see these images from any other zone on Roatan, even where 500x the number of divers go. Think about it.

The downside to this is, again, you need to follow a qualified DM who knows where the cool stuff lurks. If he isn't showing you Neck Crabs, Pipe Fish, Sea Horses, Garden Eels on every dive, find another DM. Any nitwit DM can find a Lobster or Green Moray, it's the cool macro stuff that is the key. The worst of the DM's are quite easily identified by their constant feeding of fish, trying to attract a crowd like that on every dive. They can't locate anything else, this is a given, it is easy, less travelled divers love the bunches of frenzied fishies. In short- if they feed fish, they're idiots. Move on.

A lot of divers can't see that small stuff. Yet undeveloped buoyancy or observational skills. It takes time and coaching. Some divers haven't yet seen enough big Groupers, Parrotfish or Barracudas~ That's why repeat visits to Shark Dives and Dolphin Encounters are so popular. Herself (my wife) had already seen a fleeting glimpse of a Shark as well as a Dolphin "in the wild". She did a canned Shark Dive, flopped in, saw the harks circling at depth and thought, "OK, now what?" All in all, it's better to catch them when you are unawares and in a natural setting. Staged dives are for the impatient. But they do yield fun pictures you can show around the office~ Sharks trump Sea Horses back at the 9 to 5. ;)

As to real estate on Roatan, North Side versus South Side... The North side is way ahead in the sales game. Why? Because that's where the bulk of development is. Why is that? Because the land is way more affordable. Look at where the local moneyed class has lived for 500 years. The South side: Coxen Hole, French Harbor, First Bight, Port Royal. It has the only harborages and the only protection from the storms. Land on the South side is 4 to 5x more expensive than the North, if you can pry some loose from the Italian and Spanish gazillionaires who have bought up huge tracts.

Each resort, and thus each "side" has its fans and proponents. Some have fallen in love with a special resort that has become a home away from home, some like a specific style of diving. The governing rule applies, however: You can't know what you don't know.

Possibly Rick likes where he goes because of the Key Lime Pie and the Monkey LaLa's.
 

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