Need Roatan advice

[offseasondiving]

Hi, i posted a thead in carribean forum but also am posting the same one here. I am heading to roatan this fall with my brother and we are not sure where to stay. is the west end really built up, with late night music blaring (i.e. koh samui)? we are going for a dive vacation (we dive a lot), but would like to be able to meet other young divers (30s-40s).

we are looking for a well run place, with cool character and clean rooms and on nice beach (porch & hammock would be a plus). quiet, laid back, but not too secluded, w/ good dive shop or option to find our own dive shop (don't want the standard tour dives). oh, we also are looking for good value $400-$500/week....

From recent west end village descriptions, it sounds like we might want to be a little bit away from village but also not way out on the end of West Bay.

Would appreciate any scoop on good places. thanks!

 

[mjnansen]

West End built up? Not exactly! There are really only 3-4 bars that offer anything that passes for night life- Sundowners which is a nice hangout early evenings (kind of quiet relaxed bar), and the Black Pearl, Twisted Toucan and the Monkey bar. The Monkey bar is the only one I really wouldn't want to room to close to- they can get pretty loud. My favorite rentals in West End are at Sea Grape- you can walk to everything on the West End, but can also spend a very peaceful quiet evening in your hammock watching the water. If you have any questions about the West End feel free to PM me.

 

[BoomerTC]

Fantasy Island or CoCo View are the 2 places most recommended. I stayed at Fantasy Island last year and loved it. 3 dives a day, good food and a relaxed atmosphere, I would definately stay there again.

 

[Zebra mussel]

West End built up? Not exactly! There are really only 3-4 bars that offer anything that passes for night life- Sundowners which is a nice hangout early evenings (kind of quiet relaxed bar), and the Black Pearl, Twisted Toucan and the Monkey bar. The Monkey bar is the only one I really wouldn't want to room to close to- they can get pretty loud. My favorite rentals in West End are at Sea Grape- you can walk to everything on the West End, but can also spend a very peaceful quiet evening in your hammock watching the water. If you have any questions about the West End feel free to PM me.

All inclusives such as Coco View ,Fantasy island etc generally have a upper middle aged,upper middle income white North American crowd at a price higher than you would like to spend. There is generally a younger more international crownd in West End.I absolutly agree with the above advice. There are lots of mid priced hotels to choose from and lots of dive operations you can talk to untill you find one you can feel comfortable with.Food is generally quite good with lots of options. Stay away from anything near the Monkey Bar or a new place that opened up right next door. Its dualing sound systems! Try to find a place on either end of the viallge. Its only a 10 minute stroll from one end to the other. Sea Grape is nice,Mermaid cabinas,Posada Arco Iris,Kiefitos ( a little further down the beach ) all will be fairly quiet but will give you good access to bars,diving,restuarants etc. Prices have recently gone up for diving. It now cost $20.00 for a one tank dive. Most operaters have 3 trips per day and return to shore between dives. Coconut tree divers offer 4 a day with a 2 tank morning dive. PM me if you need more advice. Enjoy!

 

[ScubaMarc]

In April I stayed here: http://www.puravidaresort.com/. It was right in the middle of the west end. Rooms are nice for 1 person, 2 will be crowed, $50 a night. They are also tied to a dive shop next store and they do have packages.

I agree with the above post about the bars. When I went most bars were empty most of the time. Some were crowed after 12.

FYI: the dive shop was particular in having and AOW card for any dive over 60. I heard a few guest having issues with the management about diving deep. Have a logbook or c-card and call first. My group had no issues, even though not all had AOW. But the staff was very nice and capable.

 

[nicvanzee]

Well here's my 2 cents worth. My family and I have greatly enjoyed Coconut Tree Divers in West End. PJ and Gay are wonderful people and we have always had a wonderful time. They have nice rooms. Nothing extravagant for about $35 a night. A/C, Hot water, fridge, porch with hammock, and it is very close to everything. I have also been very impressed with their dive opperation. Good divemasters, great captain, and 4 dives a day for about $20 a piece. I would highly reccomend giving them a try.

 

[Doc]

Take a serious look at Utila, as well!

 

[offseasondiving]

In April I stayed here: http://www.puravidaresort.com/. It was right in the middle of the west end. Rooms are nice for 1 person, 2 will be crowed, $50 a night. They are also tied to a dive shop next store and they do have packages.

I agree with the above post about the bars. When I went most bars were empty most of the time. Some were crowed after 12.

FYI: the dive shop was particular in having and AOW card for any dive over 60. I heard a few guest having issues with the management about diving deep. Have a logbook or c-card and call first. My group had no issues, even though not all had AOW. But the staff was very nice and capable.

Thanks for the info... we definately want to find a shop that will allow us to do deep dives. my brother is navy trained and i have an open water license. do you suggest any dive shops in particular that will be flexible in letting us do some more technical dives?

 

[ScubaMarc]

find a shop that will allow us to do deep dives.

All the shops on the west end seem more rec. than tech. On my week long holiday, I did have 3-4 dives past 100 and the deepest dive is 124. If you want to go deeper, you might want to ask roatanman if there is any tech shops on the island.

also check this link:http://www.advanceddivermagazine.com/FreePDFs/RoatanDeepWalls.pdf

 

[Doc]

All the shops on the west end seem more rec. than tech. On my week long holiday, I did have 3-4 dives past 100 and the deepest dive is 124. If you want to go deeper, you might want to ask roatanman if there is any tech shops on the island.

I have no idea what you will see in the Bay Islands beyond 50fsw, but if ya gotta go deep, you can do it cheap.

My recollection is that this happens at Bay Islands Beach Resort or Inn of the Last Resort. Dunno.

Tim O'Leary (a NAUI god) from American Divers at South Padre, TX does that hondo stuff all the time down in Roatan....

http://www.divesouthpadre.com/

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January 21 to 28
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The cool stuff is shallow... and microscopic!