Roatan - Coco View Resort or Aggressor Liveaboard?

[jmcdaniel0]

We have spent a couple of weeks there last year. Actually, my avatar is my family on one of the docks. We had a blast. My kids are 5 and 12, so neither of them dive just yet, but they love to snorkel. There are plenty of places to do both and it is amazing. The staff is super friendly, and the accommodations are very nice. I am very pleased with the trip and we are wanting to go back again.

There also some neat things for kids to do on the island besides diving.


We went to the monkey sanctuary and my daughter loved it.

 

[drrich2]

We have spent a couple of weeks there last year. Actually, my avatar is my family on one of the docks. We had a blast. My kids are 5 and 12, so neither of them dive just yet, but they love to snorkel

Just to be sure, you had a 5 year old at CocoView Resort? I thought they didn’t allow kids under 10, based on looking at their website in the past, so this would be good to know. Thanks.

 

[jmcdaniel0]

Just to be sure, you had a 5 year old at CocoView Resort? I thought they didn’t allow kids under 10, based on looking at their website in the past, so this would be good to know. Thanks.

she was 6 at the time, but yea noone said a word to us about it. I didnt know they were not allowed. Is that a recent rule? It has been a few years since we have been there.

 

[drrich2]

From this webpage - Roatan Travel Tips & FAQ | CoCo View Resort

Hope I got that in right on my iPhone.Are Children Allowed At The Resort?
Children 10 and older are welcome at CoCo View Resort, but must be under parental supervision at all times. Children are not permitted at the bar, but are welcome in outdoor bar seating areas.

 

[Damselfish]

I saw that, and thought "children 10 and older are welcome" does not actually say "under 10 are not allowed" ...

 

[Nic Lin]

Coco View hands down. It is such a better experience than the Aggressor. In places like the Galapagos or Cocos, the Aggressor is amazing. In Roatan, it is pointless. You can reach all the good dives using a land based dive shop or hotel. If you want to do something a little more independent than an all inclusive, West End is a good place to stay.

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.

If you are looking for accommodation, check out www.caribbeancolorsrentals.com

 

[Doc]

If AKR extends the Buy One Get One into 2019 it's hard to beat the price for what you get.fwiw,

Only if you don’t do the math.

The AKR buy-one-get-one is absolutely a fact, however the “starting price” is grossly overinflated to manipulate the perception. You can indeed save a mere $125 over a week for two people. AKR is the closest thing to CCV, but AKR falls at least $62.50 per person short in my book, and I have first hand experience at both locations.That marketing come-on is a bit of flimflammery.

The math: Anthony Key's Buy One Get One Free 2019 Details - No Single Supplement

The SB trip went there because the trip leaders were offered the best comp free spots. That and CCV is/was always having future rooms booked- not allowing a complete takeover. Hmm.

In re children and CCV: This gets gummed up in a nomenclature problem. On CCV’s private cay is a separate thing called Playa Miguel Beachouses. You can take an entire grade school class and stay at Playa Miguel. Just keep them on a leash when visiting CCV proper.

A well behaved competent juvenile diver has always been a welcome thing at CCV dive ops. Where the line is drawn is obvious. CCV is a dive resort, not Chuck-E-Cheese. I don’t believe they’re apologetic, and that’s why I prefer CCV.

The OP? The Bay Islands LOB debate has been previously mashed to paste here on SB. Much as the math of the “AKR TwoFer Sale”, readers will understand what they chose to believe. Here the Live Aboard LOB comparison: Coco View Trip Report: July/August 2018

 

[DogDiver]

If your planning on co co View this spring I hope you made your reservations a year ago like I had to.

 

[Alan Browne]

We're planning on Roatan's Fantasy Island this March. It's to the S/W of CCV. L/L: 16.357383 -86.436526

Since my plan is 20+ dives in one week and my SO's plan is 4 - 6 dives in one week, we need a place that accommodates us both. She likes snorkeling in the reef protected bay as well and sees amazing things that way alone that we'd miss OW.

We visited West Bay to West End last time (took a car there, dropped off at West Bay, visited Henry Morgan (one of the group had been there before), then water taxi to West End). While West End offers all sorts of diversion v. FI, it's just too many people for us.

CCV is too "diving" oriented for my SO.

Fantasy Island resort is very quiet. It's a small island and the bridge to it is guarded. No "locals" on the beach sort of quiet. FI is a bit "long in the tooth" but the rooms are under constant renovations. Food is narrow in choice, but very good quality in ingredients and preparation. Never had a bad meal. Beer is beer. Had a nice balcony for sittin', readin' and drinkin' at night.

Dive selection is very good - though I would like to see other sites. One is Mary's Place which having dived it I can say it is an overrated experience. IAC divers ahead of me in one of the short "tunnels" kicked up so much silt that I had to fin on the memory of the last glance I got of daylight for about 7 - 10 metres. This was at about 90 - 100' down. My SO bailed on that dive (she got in the water and just didn't feel right, so she popped back onto the boat. (She had a great chat with the captain (John) including his days as a commercial diver).

 

[jrmdad]

We have actually decided to do both. We are booked on the May 25th Aggressor, and then we have the Mango Suite at CCV from June 1st thru 8th, so I'm looking forward to providing my feedback to this post after the trip. I have just ordered a ton of insect repellent to take with us for the CCV week. Any recommendations for things to do or eat on Roatan?