Need advice for Roatan trip, Spring 2019

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It's been several years since I was there, and it has changed hands at least once since so I can't speak to the current operation, but I did really enjoy CoCo View when I was there. They have a routine I found unique, and I would think they still use it.

The morning boat goes west to dive a site. If you want to do a second dive, they will drop you on the west wall on the way back, and you can follow it in to shore. In the afternoon they head east, and the second drop-off dive is on a different wall. Either way, on the 2nd dives from each trip you return through their "front yard" and work your way up to shore. You can also dive that same area on shore dives and night dives. I got to know that section really well that week!
 
There are two main areas to stay, West End and West Bay.

West End is more of a beach town that has a mix of hotels, restaurants, dive shops, gift shops, and houses. There are ex-pats, tourists, and locals that all hang out at the same places. The town is pretty much a main road that follows along the beach (it used to be a sand road). The best beach in West End is Half Moon Bay. It is not as nice as West Bay beach but is still beautiful white sand with clear Caribbean blue water. It is also much quieter and less touristy. Pretty much everything that is beach front is commercial property (restaurants, dive shops, gift shops, and bars). There are about 30 restaurants ranging from cheap street food to Thai to Italian to Argentinean plus cute little palapa bars that have live music. Most of the hotels, property rentals, and houses are set back from the beach .

West Bay is the best beach on the island and routinely ranked as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. But because of this, it is more of a resort area. It has larger hotels and resorts though there are a few independent restaurants. The food tends to be overpriced and typical US offerings like burgers, wings, chicken tenders, pasta, plus some local things like coconut shrimp and whole friend fish. Three of the resorts are all inclusive so you can't really go into them but the others have some kind of entertainment every night that you can go to. And on cruise ship days which is Tues - Friday, most of them head to that beach to sit on beach chairs and turn into lobsters. But even with the people, it is still beautiful. I recommend going on non cruise ship days or in the afternoons once the cruise ships have left. It is also much more expensive for everything (accommodation, diving, drinks, food, etc) and can be difficult to get to and from in the evening.

I much prefer West End. For accommodation, Las Orquideas is great. My top recommendation would be www.caribbeancolorsrentals.com. They are a vacation rental company with a huge variety of places in West End and West Bay. For diving, Jackson's Dive Center in West End is my favorite. Rino, the owner, is an islander so has been diving here his whole life. He finds some of the craziest nudibranchs. I do not understand how he find them.
 
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