Roatan cruise dive- short report

[Foo]

Okay... people, I've figured something out. You've known this all along, and have let me find out the hard way... diving is ADDICTIVE and I am now hooked and will never be able to stop! Roatan... we will definately be going there to stay and dive as soon as we can save the $ to do so. It was just magical, surreal and unbelievable. These were two wonderful dive memories for me. We went with Coconut Tree divers and they had a big group from our cruise ship (some people that we made friends with on the cruise went with us). The dive site wasn't far from the shore where their dive shop was, we even went back to their shop area for our surface interval. It was my first boat dive, I was so happy making that giant stride, and when we descended, I couldn't believe how awesome it was down there. We made an easy 40 min. dive to around 40-50', saw lots of beautiful fish and coral reef. I had a blast. Then on our second dive, we got to do a wall dive, WOW. I was so disappointed when we had to go up to do our safety stop. I could have stayed there forever. My bouyancy was good, I felt good, no major problems, and I didn't panic when I flooded my own mask (tried to adjust it on my nose and pulled it away from my face a bit too much), just calmly cleared it and kept moving. The dives weren't in a strong current, we just "floated" and checked everything out. I did learn that not all the divers in a group will "mind" the divemaster, and that they are much more annoying and/or dangerous than the underworld. You all would have been proud of me! More later,
Foo

 

[Dee]

You'll have to join us on our annual Roatan trip next year! Mark your calendar for the week of the first full moon in April 2005.

 

[Foo]

Dee, where do you stay on your trip? We talked with Coconut Tree about staying in one of their apartments or hotel rooms. It's on the West Beach. Anthony's Key Resort referred me to them when I inquired about diving with them. Turned out AKR was the ship's shore excursion contract and we prefer not to pay the cruise ship shore excursion fees. We book our own tours and save about 40% off the ship's costs. Am I crazy for feeling restless about wanting to go back there and have that feeling again? It's like I can't get it off my mind, I keep reliving the dives there. Is this normal??? I gotta find me a thick wetsuit so I can go to the CSSP leap year dive and become an official Swamper. Scanning ebay in a few... Hope I can see the pics there-for some reason my puter doesnt want to show me photos, maps or pics today. Any helpful puter nerds out there? Please??
Foo

 

[Dee]

We stay on the south side of the island at CoCo View Resort. AKR and Coconut are on the north side.
No, you're not crazy! That's why we go back year after year. The south side is my favorite. Right in front of CCV, in the 'front yard', is a shipwreck and 2 verticle walls that we do as shore dives. There is nothing like you and your buddy being the only two people in sight on a wall as daylight hits the reef! Or at anytime of the day or night. Or if you want a true night dive, we go in at 11pm-midnight. The night creatures are out. You see more than just that transition at dusk that most operators call a night dive.

Don't get me started on Roatan and CCV!

 

[Foo]

Well, I would like to get you started on Roatan. Anything you want to tell me about it, I will listen to. Roatan was the first place that I saw blue water and snorkeled there in May 2000. We were in awe after snorkeling there, we even got to see a small shark on that trip. It was at Tabyana beach, have you been there? I wonder if they people dive there. This was my first trip back there, this time as a diver, and we went diving on the day of our 25th anniversary. Kind of a perfect day, you know? Then the next day, we went to Belize City. We made a mistake by not diving there, but it was so expensive. It would have cost us a minimum of $300 for the day to dive there. So, we decided to skip Belize and go diving the following day, at the 4th port stop, Cancun. We just went sight-seeing and shopping in Belize, and that was a very nice day too- after sleeping in. We never dreamed that we would wake up on the next day to the announcement that we would NOT be going to Cancun, due to rough seas. The tender boats couldn't safely get us to Cancun from the harbor. Soooo, we missed out on diving any more. But, even with that disappointment, we had the best vacation ever. We met several divers on the trip, even some from Texas. One guy really wants us to do the Science program at San Marcos and go diving with him in Aquarena Springs. That place sounds really great. I did go there once on the glass bottomed boats about 20 yrs ago. I still remember how clear that water was, and would like to go back there to dive. Okay, I'll stop now- I could go on and on...
Foo

 

[joebrown]

Hi Dee,

Stumbled on this thread while searching the board for Roatan and Anthony's Key. My wife and I are planning a trip to Roatan this summer, and while Anthony's Key looks good from all the press and was highly recommended by our LDS, CoCoView also sounds pretty nifty, particularly the 24 hour shore diving. You're obviously a fan of CCV and the South shore, but if you also have experience of AKR and the North shore, would you (or anyone else reading this who's been to both) mind pointing out some of the key differences and why you prefer one over the other.

Thanks in advance,
Joe

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Joe I have been to both. AKR is nice and has a lot of activities other than diving no shore diving so to speak. It has more families kids and the lot. I prefer CoCo View. Diving 24-7 not many other activities other than diving,eating sleeping. It is a very laid back resort but has several new attractions like a fitness center, internet cafe :admin: for those who just can't seem to totally go on vacation. They have cabanas over the water very nice breeze and view. They also hav AC rooms for weenies like me who like to go to sleep in a frozen tundra. :frosty: Shore diving is wonderful as Dee stated above. Cannot forget the boat diving, gear lockers laid out very nice your locker is your locker all week as is the boat you are diving on. The owners Bill and Evelyn Evans live onsite and will treat you like family. Check out their website as well as their msg board. www.cocoview.com

 

[PolsVoice]

Roatan... we will definately be going there to stay and dive as soon as we can save the $ to do so.

This might not be a very proper thing to ask, but about how much did the excursion cost?

- PolsVoice.

 

[Foo]

Our diving with Coconut Tree Divers was $60 each for 2-tank dives, with weights and tanks. But we were just there for one day. Of course we also tipped. She told us we could stay there for 5 nights for $370, 2 dives a day with one night dive. As far as unlimited shore dives, I think that was included but I wouldn't swear that I remember for sure. I don't know for sure, but I think the most expensive part of going to Roatan is the flight- maybe someone else can offer some info about that.
Foo

 

[Cudabait]

Foo,

Congratulations on your 25th!!! My wife and I have been hanging out together a little longer. You're absolutely right. You've got the fever!!

I concur with what has been said above about CCV vis others. More bang for your bucks unless you are looking for a very busy "ambiance".

There are also many other options in the carribean, and you were right again, the airfare is a real big kicker. My wife and I do both the all inclusive and more often, the impromptu trips that we put together ourselves. As such we travel relatively frequently. We are pretty flexible with our time so we (my wife) is constantly searching for inexpensive airfares to different places. When we find one we just jump on it and go diving. IE, we're leaving Sunday for Isla Mujeres via Cancun and returning on Thursday. Isla is a first for us so we are looking forward to the "adventure".

We have never done the cruise deal because we just like to go and dive, dive, dive!!

regards,