Paya Bay, Roatan

[DoPaiK]

Hello there!,

Looking for experience I post this questions here, first I sent a PM to RoatanMan but, I prefer to open the questions to everybody, ooking for help.
I will flight to Roatan in 1 week. I hope you can help me, I'm really worry about some things:

- I booked in Paya Bay Resort, it looks lovely, but I think that the diving area and the dive facility looks too poor. The operating diving center assure calm and wonderful coral areas, pristine waters, etc..., but does not manage any west point dives where the Marine Park is, nor night either shore dives and they charge a high extra cost for south dive excursions. Any comment?

- Me and my wife are advanced divers, no too much experimented, but yet visited good places: red sea, manado in indonesia, cozumel... Do you think that we could regret to have chosen Eastearn Area for a diving holiday week?.

- We have a chance to book 4 days at PAYA at 4 days at LUNA BEACH:
* where the diving sounds much better. Do you think it is a good idea spend time travelling?,
*are these place too far each other?,
*how much could cost a taxi driver to airport to PAYA, and PAYA to LUNA for 2 people?

Excuse me because they are a lot of questions!
Thanks in advance

 

[Doc]

From the OP's PM to me....

Re: Hello there!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoPaiK
Saludos!,

I wrote you at your myspace blog.

You looks the most expertise man about Roatan issues, so I write you from spain and I want to ask you a couple of things about roatan because I will flight to there in 1 week. I hope you can help me, I'm really worry about some things.

So- you're going in one week, and instead of researching in advance, you are writing for what.... to be prepared for how bad it might be? Not to worry, you may well enjoy your vacation! Just consider doing searches and asking in advance next time!

I booked in Paya Bay Resort, it looks lovely,

It is indeed the single most beautiful resort location on the island. No doubt.

but I think that the diving area

The North and East can be quite good. Unfortunately, the truly unique reasons to dive Roatan are to dive the shallow reef structures of the South side.

and the dive facility looks too poor.

They have no diving facility. They bring in various "dive operators" to service their infrequent dive clientelle.

They assure calm

I don't know how anyone could claim what the sea conditions will be, but....

and wonderful coral areas, but does not manage west point dives,

The West is quite a ways away, maybe 15 miles by boat. It is also typical Caribbean diving. Again- the magic is on the South side.


and charge a high extra cost for south dive excursions. Any comment?

The South side is a short boat ride away from Paya Bay through a channel cut thru the island, but unfortunately the better diving is about 5-7 miles+ East of the channel's exit onto the South side of Roatan.

Me and my wife are advanced divers, no too much experimented, but yet visited good places: red sea, manado in indonesia, cozumel... Do you think that East Area could be disappoiting us?

It would have not been my recommendation as a dive destination. The resort might be worth the stay, altho the view itself is about the only "for sure" thing provided. Reports of service have been spotty. It is extremely isolated and would necessitate a 45 minute cab ride to the Airport... first you would pass a grocery after abot 30 minutes in French Harbor.

We have a chance to book 4 days at PAYA at 4 days at LUNA BEACH, where the diving sounds much better. Do you think it is a good idea?

Couldn't hurt. Not a stellar selection, either, but you'll find it more acclimated to having visitors. Paya Bay is... como se dice... "very quiet".

How much could cost a taxi driver to airport to PAYA, and PAYA to LUNA for 2 people?
Is it a long way?

It depends upon whether you are a visitor or a local, here again is where a different resort would have provided that information or even picked you up. It is about 21 miles on the road, should take about 45 minutes.

Excuse me because they are a lot of questions!
Thanks in advance
Arturo


Do not be distraught over your selection. I don't think they would at all be fitted to the desires of the typical North American diver who wants to be wet and diving all day and night. I have been diving with many divers from other countries, from Asia to Europe, and from my experience, you may well find the pace of these places to your liking.

The unfortunate part is that the more interesting diving lies in a stretch from Oak Ridge to French Harbour, all along the S side. The other diving is not bad, it's just very typical of common Caribbean diving. People will disagree on this, largely dependant upon what areas they have service and access to. You can easily day charter with Subway Watersports, but they are beased out of the other end of the island than is Paya Bay.

I do not recommend driving on Roatan.

At Luna Beach, Wolfgang and DM Fermi will show you a much better presentation of diving than Paya Bay.

 

[DoPaiK]

OK, I will not regret about the resort choice.
Tell me:

- do you prefer western or eastern diving ( I know you prefer ALWAYS South East, but if no choice?)
- will you pay $200 for travelling from east to South to have a 2 dives trip?
- which kind of life we can find at Eastern?

Thanks for all your comments, are very instructives!
Arturo

 

[Doc]

OK, I will not regret about the resort choice. Good!
Tell me:

- do you prefer western or eastern diving ( I know you prefer ALWAYS South East, but if no choice?)

West end for sure versus the reefs off of Paya Bay. The East End, about 3 miles from Paya Bay is interesting, but very spotty. In the flats you can find Nurse Sharks and Rays, at the shelf between the tip of "Roatan" and the next islet East (Barbaretta), depending on weather, you will likely find some larger pelagics in the currents. In that PayaBay utilizes very small dive ops to service their guests, I'm not so sure that they would be set up to take you to what is really known as the "East End".

I think you might be talking about the zone just offshore of Paya Bay, which- due to the peculiar diagonal SW to NE angle that Roatan lies across the map... it's hard to conceptualize that this is the North Shore, East End. Essentially, you'll find much the same diving here as anywhere along the North Shore. You have to motor out through the expansive barrier reef structure.

If it was my call, I would spend my day poking around these coral heads that form what amounts to submerged attolls, they attract Rays and there's a lot of micro life on them. Unfortunately, visiting divers are not assured that they have been diving unless the are motored out past them, dropped in deeper water and see some larger creatures... the Groupers and other identifiable fish.

- will you pay $200 for travelling from east to South to have a 2 dives trip?

One trip to the South side for $200. So tell me, what does this Divemaster look like when she's naked ?

You gotta be kidding me. No. As I have said previously, from the point you re-enter the ocean on the South side from the canal, true South side diving is quite a ways West of there.

Much cheaper to jump in an arranged cab and head to Subway Watersports for a day of diving- if you want to see the South side- but remember to ask them what their plan is for that day.

Go and enjoy the quiet ambiance of this fabulous location. Truly, Paya Bay is the single most picturesque resort property on Roatan, it overlooks the imposing "Alligator Nose". Visit "Diamond Rock". Paya Bay has the nicest beach. Take the local NE diving for what it is. Spend the $200 on... nothing. Again- use the "search" feature here on "Paya Bay"

When you get to the second half of the week, you'll see some interesting stuff on the West End~ don't worry. When I look at your list of previous dives- that's why I encourage you to try the South side from Oak Ridge to French Harbour. Even if you do only dive the West end, get in close to the reef structure and look beyond what the DM commonly points out. You will likely be pleased with the on premises Luna Beach dive staff, versus rotating vendors. Stability and accountability breeds a better product.

There's microscopic magic in there!

 

[ncchuck]

Thank you Roatan man for helping this person out and we thank you for some of your comments. However some of your statements are inaccurate and it’s obvious you’ve never been the Paya Bay and you don’t seem to know the island as well as you might think.

Paya Bay has a continuing and long time relationship with a single dive operator - Dive Roatan. The former manager was in place for 3 years which is a very long at any resort. I am the instructor/manager and we have a full time PADI certified Divemaster and additional Instructor.

What one person consider a great dive may not be so great for another. I think the diving is very good on the north east side and many other places on the island. No single company can possibly visit all sites as they are too far apart. Dive Roatan does offer diving on the south side and it’s good diving. However it is more than an hour boat ride and we need to cover out costs when customers request that trip. Most dive operators don’t offer such long distance trips but we are proud to say that we do and the cost is reasonable.

I have personally been diving at Anthony’s Keys, Bay Island Beach Resort, and Reef House. The diving is good at all of these places. I’ve also done 3 live aboard trips in the Bay Islands and that diving is good also. The diving on the north east side is very good and highly varied which cannot be said for some locations. We have walls, canyons, cracks, overhangs, and several swim throughs from the inner reef to the outer reef.

The trip to West End from Paya Bay is a little more than 21 miles but some of it is on dirt roads. The trip takes at least 75 to 90 minutes depending on how much you want to abuse your vehicle. It is impossible to do in 45 minutes.

The next island from Roatan is not Barbaretta. It is Helene and it’s about 4 or 5 miles. There is a natural and beautiful mangrove channel separating Roatan and Helene that we use for getting the south side. As suggested, we then head west to the dive sites.

We offer trips to Barbaretta and to Morat wall which some consider the best diving in this part of the world. Again, we expect to recover our cost for these trips. Roatan Man has never filled the gas tanks for a large and comfortable boat for a long distance trip or he'd realize the costs involved. We charge per boat not per person as do some resorts that make special trips.

We are always willing to offer guest suggestions on diving at other locations in Roatan. I have even taken guests to some of these dive centers in our company vehicle charging only for gas. Most guests however find our diving to be very good with no reason to go anywhere else.

The overall experience at Paya Bay and Dive Roatan is outstanding and an excellent value. We take a maximum of 12 passengers on our 38 foot covered boat. We have oxygen on board as well as a radio and cell phone. Since no other boats visit our dive sites we have a maximum of 12 divers a week. Some sites on the island have 60 or more divers each day. The choice is up to each person as to the type of experience they desire.

 

[HowieDean]

I'm sure you have seen the pics on their web site - It is in a truely spectacular setting....... I can promise you that the dive sites they take you to will be spectacular - we have guests that pay us $200 each for a 2 tank dive on the far East end - you have to realize the gas is about $6.50 gallon and Desiel runs around $2.50 to $3.00 -

If you end up stay at Paya have them take you to the Dolphin caves in front of Punta Gorta - it's not that far from their place so they shouldn't charge you much - I can assure you that it will be the most fantastic dive you have ever done - there is nothing on the island that can come close at all..................

Paya is "Very" isolated being located past the main paved roads - so I wouldn't be planning on making many "if any" trips to other parts of the island.....

Because of their location all of their dive sites are near pristean - AKR is about the only other op that takes people that far up the East end of the island and they only take one boat a week.....

 

[DoPaiK]

Hello,

Thanks for your info!, we will stay at Paya Bay and after that I will state our experience in this forum for other people.