My wife (non-diver), and I spent a week at Mayan Princess last month. Because I dive and she doesn't, our requirements are perhaps different than others here. I want somewhere I can do at least 3 tanks a day; she wants a beach, decent food and cocktails. I'm happy to say that the Mayan Princess worked out well for us.
The trip was organized by New England Dive Center, (out of Wallingford, CT). The last time we were in CT, we drove by their shop, stopped in, I bought a wetsuit and opted into their mailing list. The trip looked interesting, I inquired - and booked it.
The shop was represented by Jill Kobrin, she brought her two sons and handled all of her responsibilities admirably, as well as being courteous and congenial. This was the first trip I'd taken with a shop, and the first time my wife has gone on a diving trip with me other than a family based one. Many of the people who were there from the shop knew each other from previous trips, but we weren't made to feel like outsiders. The day after we returned, we booked a trip to Bonaire with the same group.
The resort is well run, has decent accommodations, is clean and reasonably modern. No issues with the room, restaurants, facilities or staff. There are two pools, (neither of which we used), excellent access to a beautiful beach, a couple of restaurants and a buffet. Food varied from good to excellent. Our package through the shop was an "all-inclusive" one - food & liquor. Good value for money paid.
Diving there was a little different than I've done before, there's no pier or dock. The dive boats are moored offshore and you wade out to them. It's easy to do, the surface is sand, not rocks, so it's not slippery. Kind of funny watching the re-stocking of tanks. Wheelbarrows with full tanks are brought onto the beach, and the tanks are carried out to the boat. The empties are tossed off the stern of the boat, collected and loaded into the wheelbarrows to take back up to the shop. It's labor intensive, but efficient. There's a communal gear locker, the staff will bring your BC & reg down with the tanks; you bring anything else.
Diving there is just as I expect in Roatan. Lots of wall diving, reefs, pretty fish between 30 and 70 feet, with a few deeper dives. Saw the usual wildlife, lots of groupers, grunts, and a bunch of fish I can't identify (sorry - didn't take the fish ID course, still too busy just looking at the pretty colors).
I took a camera for the first time, so that I could try to bring back video to show my wife what I saw. Managed to get video of barracuda, a couple rays, (one above me, one skimming the sand), a sea turtle, a moray eel - and way too many divers on the two days that we went to the South End due to weather.
The trip was organized by New England Dive Center, (out of Wallingford, CT). The last time we were in CT, we drove by their shop, stopped in, I bought a wetsuit and opted into their mailing list. The trip looked interesting, I inquired - and booked it.
The shop was represented by Jill Kobrin, she brought her two sons and handled all of her responsibilities admirably, as well as being courteous and congenial. This was the first trip I'd taken with a shop, and the first time my wife has gone on a diving trip with me other than a family based one. Many of the people who were there from the shop knew each other from previous trips, but we weren't made to feel like outsiders. The day after we returned, we booked a trip to Bonaire with the same group.
The resort is well run, has decent accommodations, is clean and reasonably modern. No issues with the room, restaurants, facilities or staff. There are two pools, (neither of which we used), excellent access to a beautiful beach, a couple of restaurants and a buffet. Food varied from good to excellent. Our package through the shop was an "all-inclusive" one - food & liquor. Good value for money paid.
Diving there was a little different than I've done before, there's no pier or dock. The dive boats are moored offshore and you wade out to them. It's easy to do, the surface is sand, not rocks, so it's not slippery. Kind of funny watching the re-stocking of tanks. Wheelbarrows with full tanks are brought onto the beach, and the tanks are carried out to the boat. The empties are tossed off the stern of the boat, collected and loaded into the wheelbarrows to take back up to the shop. It's labor intensive, but efficient. There's a communal gear locker, the staff will bring your BC & reg down with the tanks; you bring anything else.
Diving there is just as I expect in Roatan. Lots of wall diving, reefs, pretty fish between 30 and 70 feet, with a few deeper dives. Saw the usual wildlife, lots of groupers, grunts, and a bunch of fish I can't identify (sorry - didn't take the fish ID course, still too busy just looking at the pretty colors).
I took a camera for the first time, so that I could try to bring back video to show my wife what I saw. Managed to get video of barracuda, a couple rays, (one above me, one skimming the sand), a sea turtle, a moray eel - and way too many divers on the two days that we went to the South End due to weather.
