ohiodiver
Registered
Here is a trip report from our visit to Luna Beach Resort in Roatan last week. It was our first trip to Roatan, and as Luna is a fairly new resort I hope it is helpful for those considering their options of where to stay.
The Flight
We were very happy to learn of Continental's new direct flight, as I've read the horror stories about Taca. We flew into Houston on Friday night and spent the night there, due to the use of frequent flier miles on Delta. Saturday's flight out went off without a hitch, although it was pretty bumpy going down. When we arrived in Roatan, we spent the next 30-45 minutes waiting in the customs line. There was one person checking everyone in, and I'm guessing the plane held around 150 people or so. Several resorts gathered their guests in one place and took them away - not Luna Beach Resort. While waiting in line, it became apparent what the delay was, as the one person was also processing the large stacks of passports for the folks leaving with the hotel drivers.
Anyway, the dive bag for the couple we went with did not show up! After haggling with the Continental guy for a while, we left the airport in a taxi - about an hour and a half after landing. (Their bag finally showed up on Wednesday - the tag had fallen off, and Continental "didn't know where to send it"). Thankfully, the Luna folks had a taxi driver going to the airport every day to follow up, and it finally made the flight on Wednesday. Our friends had their regs and computers, but had to rent fins and BCs. The flight home went off without a hitch - customs in Houston was very crowded, but they handled it very efficiently.
The Resort
We purchased the dive package with Luna, which included three meals per day. Upon arriving, we were given a meal card that was punched after each meal (drinks, tips not included). The restaurant was so-so, and the menu got rather old after a few days (no buffet except for Saturday night, which included only 4 pans of food...lasagna which tasted very odd, some type of beef, an onion/pepper mix and rice). We did not have dinner once there, opting instead to go to West End, more on that later. The service was very, very slow..typically taking 30-45 minutes to get the food after waiting to order. Overall the food quality was acceptable.
We rented a three bedroom luxury suite - which was beautiful. The house overlooked a hill, with the water visible past the main resort. The bedrooms were air conditioned, but the living room and kitchen area (complete with washer/dryer) were not. As a result, we spent very little time in there, as it was hot. The deck was very large, complete with a hammock and benches and a nice view. The resort also has smaller rooms for couples/singles closer to the water. The larger houses are at the top of the hill, which got pretty tiring (lots of steps) at the end of the day.
The main advantages that Luna offers is that they have a pretty nice pool, they are within walking distance of the West End, and the bugs were really a non-issue with the use of Deep Woods Off (25% DEET, I think). We came home with literally no bug bites - however, when we visited Fantasy Island during our island tour on Friday, the bugs were immediately noticable!
Overall, we were pretty pleased with the resort. Chuck, the owner, was constantly visable and willing to help in any way. The biggest drawback was the slow service. We spent over an hour a day waiting on food for breakfast and lunch - sometimes lunch had barely settled before the afternoon dive. At the end of the week, we found a couple of errors on the bill (charged for a week of diving which had already been paid for in the package deal, and a few guests decided to charge their tequila to our room!). However, they corrected this immediately when we pointed out the errors - absolutely check the bill in detail before you leave!
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaa?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaf?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aag?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aab?full=1
The Diving
Well, to sum it up I think that hardcore divers would not be happy with the dive op here. Keep in mind, we've only been diving for three years, and our first two trips were to Curacao and Bonaire. The dive shop is run by Mark, who was a great guy and very helpful. He has a new divemaster, Liz, who recently joined the staff. They run three dives per day - 9 & 11 AM, and 2 PM. What I liked - the boat was very roomy, we never had more than 10 or 11 people on the boat, sometimes less - but plenty of room for more; it was covered, so it was shady and not hot; dive sites were relatively close and the water was very calm on this end of the island; the dive shop had "lockers" to keep equipment in, although they were pretty cramped and the rinse tank was in a very tight area with little room for more than 2 people at a time. What I didn't like - all of the dives were done as a group, after 45 minutes we were told to begin our safety stops, regardless of the amount of air we had left; the divemaster had a tendancy to swim in a straight line at a very quick pace - which made stopping to look at things very difficult without losing the group (it happened once to me); when there were 8 or more divers it was difficult to find things if you weren't in the front of the pack, because by the time you got there fish, etc. were scared away. Both Mark and Liz were very fun to be around - great personality, but I don't think the diving would satisfy most experienced divers. As for the diving, I was suprised by the overall lack of life on the reefs, while very, very impressed by the health and variance of the coral life. We saw lots of turtles & lobsters, squid on one dive, an octopus on the night dive, and fairly large grouper - but other than that, not much else. I would say the coral structure exceeded what we saw on Bonaire and Curacao, but the fish life was not comparable.
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aac?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aal?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaq?full=1
The Island
We rented a 4 door truck for Friday (the day before we left). I would HIGHLY encourage you to consider doing this to explore the island - this was one of the most enjoyable days we had on this trip. The cost (from Caribbean Rental) was $60.00 delivered to the resort, and we returned it at the airport on Saturday, which saved us 20.00 on the taxi back...net cost 40.00.
Horseback riding was AWESOME - for 25.00 per person, lasted about 2 hours, and the views were great! This particular one is located right next door to Luna Beach. We also did the canopy tour, 35.00 per person, and lots of fun - lasts about an hour or so. We visited Fantasy Island and Anthony's Key - FI was absolutely beautiful, if you don't mind being pretty much isolated from anything else...water was much rougher on that side of the island if you tend to get sea-sick, something to consider. I HIGHLY recommend visiting "The View" restaurant for lunch...great food and an unbelievable view:
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaj?full=1
This restaurant is about 2 miles or so past FI. Finally, just driving the island is an experience I wouldn't want to miss.
As for food in the West End, the best we found was Dian's Garden of Eat'n. The best food we had all week, by far. Stingray's had a nice environment (over the water) but the service was very, very slow and food was not great. The pizza/Italian joing was also pretty good - but I can't remember the name - it's in the West End though near Sting Ray's.
Overall, it was a good trip. Since I'm partial to the freedom that shore diving provides, I would prefer Bonaire or Curacao to Roatan - the climate was more comfortable there as well, and the underwater life seemed to be more prolific. I think Luna Beach would be ideal for those of you who aren't looking for a dedicated dive trip, or who have a spouse that doesn't dive.
Oh, i forgot to mention - Luna has their own spring on site, and they deliver a five gallon jug of water to your room whenever you need it. This was very convenient for refilling bottles of water for the boat, etc. We all drank the water all week, no problems at all.
The Flight
We were very happy to learn of Continental's new direct flight, as I've read the horror stories about Taca. We flew into Houston on Friday night and spent the night there, due to the use of frequent flier miles on Delta. Saturday's flight out went off without a hitch, although it was pretty bumpy going down. When we arrived in Roatan, we spent the next 30-45 minutes waiting in the customs line. There was one person checking everyone in, and I'm guessing the plane held around 150 people or so. Several resorts gathered their guests in one place and took them away - not Luna Beach Resort. While waiting in line, it became apparent what the delay was, as the one person was also processing the large stacks of passports for the folks leaving with the hotel drivers.
Anyway, the dive bag for the couple we went with did not show up! After haggling with the Continental guy for a while, we left the airport in a taxi - about an hour and a half after landing. (Their bag finally showed up on Wednesday - the tag had fallen off, and Continental "didn't know where to send it"). Thankfully, the Luna folks had a taxi driver going to the airport every day to follow up, and it finally made the flight on Wednesday. Our friends had their regs and computers, but had to rent fins and BCs. The flight home went off without a hitch - customs in Houston was very crowded, but they handled it very efficiently.
The Resort
We purchased the dive package with Luna, which included three meals per day. Upon arriving, we were given a meal card that was punched after each meal (drinks, tips not included). The restaurant was so-so, and the menu got rather old after a few days (no buffet except for Saturday night, which included only 4 pans of food...lasagna which tasted very odd, some type of beef, an onion/pepper mix and rice). We did not have dinner once there, opting instead to go to West End, more on that later. The service was very, very slow..typically taking 30-45 minutes to get the food after waiting to order. Overall the food quality was acceptable.
We rented a three bedroom luxury suite - which was beautiful. The house overlooked a hill, with the water visible past the main resort. The bedrooms were air conditioned, but the living room and kitchen area (complete with washer/dryer) were not. As a result, we spent very little time in there, as it was hot. The deck was very large, complete with a hammock and benches and a nice view. The resort also has smaller rooms for couples/singles closer to the water. The larger houses are at the top of the hill, which got pretty tiring (lots of steps) at the end of the day.
The main advantages that Luna offers is that they have a pretty nice pool, they are within walking distance of the West End, and the bugs were really a non-issue with the use of Deep Woods Off (25% DEET, I think). We came home with literally no bug bites - however, when we visited Fantasy Island during our island tour on Friday, the bugs were immediately noticable!
Overall, we were pretty pleased with the resort. Chuck, the owner, was constantly visable and willing to help in any way. The biggest drawback was the slow service. We spent over an hour a day waiting on food for breakfast and lunch - sometimes lunch had barely settled before the afternoon dive. At the end of the week, we found a couple of errors on the bill (charged for a week of diving which had already been paid for in the package deal, and a few guests decided to charge their tequila to our room!). However, they corrected this immediately when we pointed out the errors - absolutely check the bill in detail before you leave!
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaa?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaf?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aag?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aab?full=1
The Diving
Well, to sum it up I think that hardcore divers would not be happy with the dive op here. Keep in mind, we've only been diving for three years, and our first two trips were to Curacao and Bonaire. The dive shop is run by Mark, who was a great guy and very helpful. He has a new divemaster, Liz, who recently joined the staff. They run three dives per day - 9 & 11 AM, and 2 PM. What I liked - the boat was very roomy, we never had more than 10 or 11 people on the boat, sometimes less - but plenty of room for more; it was covered, so it was shady and not hot; dive sites were relatively close and the water was very calm on this end of the island; the dive shop had "lockers" to keep equipment in, although they were pretty cramped and the rinse tank was in a very tight area with little room for more than 2 people at a time. What I didn't like - all of the dives were done as a group, after 45 minutes we were told to begin our safety stops, regardless of the amount of air we had left; the divemaster had a tendancy to swim in a straight line at a very quick pace - which made stopping to look at things very difficult without losing the group (it happened once to me); when there were 8 or more divers it was difficult to find things if you weren't in the front of the pack, because by the time you got there fish, etc. were scared away. Both Mark and Liz were very fun to be around - great personality, but I don't think the diving would satisfy most experienced divers. As for the diving, I was suprised by the overall lack of life on the reefs, while very, very impressed by the health and variance of the coral life. We saw lots of turtles & lobsters, squid on one dive, an octopus on the night dive, and fairly large grouper - but other than that, not much else. I would say the coral structure exceeded what we saw on Bonaire and Curacao, but the fish life was not comparable.
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aac?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aal?full=1
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaq?full=1
The Island
We rented a 4 door truck for Friday (the day before we left). I would HIGHLY encourage you to consider doing this to explore the island - this was one of the most enjoyable days we had on this trip. The cost (from Caribbean Rental) was $60.00 delivered to the resort, and we returned it at the airport on Saturday, which saved us 20.00 on the taxi back...net cost 40.00.
Horseback riding was AWESOME - for 25.00 per person, lasted about 2 hours, and the views were great! This particular one is located right next door to Luna Beach. We also did the canopy tour, 35.00 per person, and lots of fun - lasts about an hour or so. We visited Fantasy Island and Anthony's Key - FI was absolutely beautiful, if you don't mind being pretty much isolated from anything else...water was much rougher on that side of the island if you tend to get sea-sick, something to consider. I HIGHLY recommend visiting "The View" restaurant for lunch...great food and an unbelievable view:
http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/album426/aaj?full=1
This restaurant is about 2 miles or so past FI. Finally, just driving the island is an experience I wouldn't want to miss.
As for food in the West End, the best we found was Dian's Garden of Eat'n. The best food we had all week, by far. Stingray's had a nice environment (over the water) but the service was very, very slow and food was not great. The pizza/Italian joing was also pretty good - but I can't remember the name - it's in the West End though near Sting Ray's.
Overall, it was a good trip. Since I'm partial to the freedom that shore diving provides, I would prefer Bonaire or Curacao to Roatan - the climate was more comfortable there as well, and the underwater life seemed to be more prolific. I think Luna Beach would be ideal for those of you who aren't looking for a dedicated dive trip, or who have a spouse that doesn't dive.
Oh, i forgot to mention - Luna has their own spring on site, and they deliver a five gallon jug of water to your room whenever you need it. This was very convenient for refilling bottles of water for the boat, etc. We all drank the water all week, no problems at all.
