Quick Poll - Your Favorite Place To Stay in Roatan

[ncchuck]

I voted for Reef House but I've stayed at Paya Bay, Anthony's and the defunct Bay Island Beach Resort. I've also been on the various liveaboards in the area 5 times. I'd choose the liveaboard every time if cost weren't an issue. The Aggressor offers better food than most places, easier access to 5 dives and certainly much more variety of dive sites.

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

My vote is for somewhere between -40' to -60' mean sea level!

 

[Byte Me]

Have only been to Roatan once so I voted where we stayed. CoCo View. While it may be nice to try another place some time to compare I fear the odds of being let down and spending the entire time comparing to CCV - it's just not worth the "risk".

 

[CajunDiva]

Have only been to Roatan once so I voted where we stayed. CoCo View. While it may be nice to try another place some time to compare I fear the odds of being let down and spending the entire time comparing to CCV - it's just not worth the "risk".

Yes, CoCoView is fantastic, but you are limiting yourself if you don't even consider trying to see what the rest of the island is like. Roatan is a fabulous place and the diving on the two different sides of the island is dramatically different. We've all got a favorite, but like Royal Caribbean says..."GET OUT THERE"!

 

[Doc]

... and the diving on the two different sides of the island is dramatically different.

Diving on one side of the island... I can see that in a lot of places in the Caribbean.

The other side? It is absolutely unique in the Mar Caribe.

All but impossible to do both in one trip/week.

 

[CajunDiva]

All but impossible to do both in one trip/week.

All I can say is you're absolutely correct...unless you are willing to try more than one resort on Roatan! In October we spent one week at Fantasy Island diving the fabulous south side of Roatan, then followed that up with a week at Anthony's Key diving the more dramatic north side.

It was great to take in the difference all in one dive trip...I would recommend the experience to anyone

 

[Doc]

...unless you are willing to try more than one resort on Roatan!

Yep- you and I have yacked about this endlessly offline.

To other casual readers, the South side of Roatan is only (so far) seved by week-long style full AI Resorts. Among that group is Barefoot Key (BFK), Fantasy Island (FIBR), CoCoView (CCV) and Reef House Resort (RHR).

The NorthWest and West End are frequented by many more individual travelers who may have gotten their first taste of Roatan from a cruise ship or possibly in their younger years as a "backpacker". This area also has AI Resorts (AKR among the others on the list) as well as the majority of options... the non-AI, walk-in day dive operations and nearby guest houses.

Paya Bay (PB), the one I mentioned, is the odd one out, it is on the Northern shore, but way far East, beyond Turquoise Bay Resort, as well.

Some diver guests from the Northwest/West options come to the South side and have dived Mary's Place or possibly the Prince Albert Wreck. If they return home thinking "they have seen the South side", they are terribly mistaken. The same thing applies for the South side diver.... if he goes on a "day trip" to take a furtive look at the West End, he has only seen the tip of the show.

And no, the Shark Dive or Dolphin Dive does not mean you have been diving on their respective sides, not really.

This can be done by splitting up your trip. With two weeks to spend, you would earn your "badge" and be able to speak decisively about the differences in the diving between the two distinct zones. A few posters who have done this get lost in the reportage and veer off into explaining the differences between terrestrial lifestyles... that is already easy to see from posts made by even those who haven't dived both sides. Yes- the lodging and lifestyle is quite different, but what you want to see are the differences underwater- which are just as varied.

Deep, dark, bigger fish, dramatic stark textures... or shallow, Sunlit, colorfully lush and micro-critters.

 

[Bay Island Diver]

Coconut Tree offers exactly the same package options as Luna Beach, may want to add them

 

[dschmidt]

I've been to CoCoView 7 times over the past four years. Other than the dolphin dive at AKR and a day trip to the West End (three dives) it's been nothing but CoCoView when we're in Roatan. We've been to Bonaire, British VI, USVI, Maui during whale season, the Dry Tortugas, all over and around Florida, midwest quarries and lakes, and Bonne Terre Mine -- but nothing calls us back as strongly as CoCoView!

 

[kuma1720]

Infinity Bay/Bananarama are some that were missing here. Both are really highly regarded, although not AI locations. Actually it seems that Infinity Bay may be starting up, but not sure.