Roatan Review - Media Luna Resort

[Yoda-X]

The package we got from TBR (diving with subway watersports) with all inclusive and 3 boat dives per day for 6 days was right around $1k each with taxes, etc.

 

[Doc]

Math is perplexing, at least when applied to the calendar, arrival and departure times, no fly rules, that folderall.

You really can't get to a resort fast enough upon arrival Saturday to catch the day's last boat dive departure. So, if you do 3x a day, starting Sunday morning, you can dive that schedule thru the first boat dive on Friday before no-fly kicks in. So, the offer of 3x6 isn't 18, it comes out to a realty of 16 included dives in a week...if you do all 3 dives on each and every day. That imperceptible difference of 2 dives is worth about $40 each, locally.

I would estimate that they are including approx $640 value in diving. You gotta break it out somehow. That would leave $260 allotted for land, which is a pretty thin margin, but the numbers get blurred for a couple of reasons. In that it's an outsider providing dive services, and they need the business, maybe the resort's net cost per dive is negotiated down closer to $28 actual, meaning an outlay of $448, which makes the resort's piece closer to $550 for the week. They're only paying the operator for the actual number of butts in the boat, and since very few will actually do the full 16, they can keep that few dollars (at maybe that $28 each), too.

Compare to CCV, rack rate at $1250? So for $250 additional, I get another 11 dives, figured at $40 that's a $440 value. It adds no value unless the guest uses them, many do not. CCV has diving as a fixed cost line item as it's in-house and constant.

Take the options that work best for you, your desires to log dive numbers, all of that has to be considered. Unfortunately, any number of divers, many who visit West End or believe that they want to cook for themselves- they might get 6 or 8 dives in a week. When're I read trip reports, I really want to hear about the ease of dive access, I want to hear schedules, I want to hear "how many you managed to do". I'm at ScubaBoard for the divin'.

Just encouraging shoppers to always do to the math. I had to use my fingers here, not kidding.

 

[CajunDiva]

Here is what Aqua Adventures offers:

Single Dive - $ 50 (per person)
2-4 Dives - $ 40 (each per person)
5 Dives package - $ 200 (per person)
10 Dives package - $ 350 (per person)
15 Dives package - $ 450 (per person)
Night Dive guided by boat-$ 50 (per Dive) plus $7 for flashlight rental
Night Dive guided from the shore-$ 40 (per Dive) plus $7 for flashlight rental
Shark Dive - $ 115 (per Dive)
Nitrox Dive - $10.00 per tank or $150.00 unlimited per week
Scuba Diving Equipment rental-$ 20.00 per day or $15.00 per dive

The price per dive comes down with more quantity.

 

[Yoda-X]

CCV is on my list to look at next. We booked TBR on the recommendation of a well respected dive instructor and friend. Once I started researching the island and dive establishments I saw their site. Very cool setup!

I will do my best to collect the pertinent info and give a detailed report. If wifi is good enough I might do it nightly ��

 

[Doc]

Here is what Aqua Adventures offers:

How do they bill for shore dives that you mention from MLR thru Aqua Adventures?

 

[CajunDiva]

See Below:

Aqua Adventures offers three boat dives per day. Our package also included unlimited shore diving.

---------- Post added August 2nd, 2015 at 10:04 PM ----------

BTW- most of the females I dive with have way better SAC rates than I.

OK, so my average SAC rate is about .315 What's yours???

 

[drrich2]

Doc., you're thinking like I do; I tend to divide total trip cost/# dives to get a # for comparative value, then consider other value-added concerns like type of wildlife, lush reefs, etc…Reading over this thread, looking at how her destination compares to CocoView for someone considering a Roatan trip, my thoughts…

1.) Traveling alone, I'd pick CocoView. I don't care anything about getting a massage, water aerobics or pool volleyball.

2.) The 'valet diving' mention is interesting. My 2 high dive count 1 week trips were a 28 dive trip to Bonaire, & a 26 dive trip aboard the Sun Dancer 2 out of Belize. I enjoyed the independence of diving Bonaire, but the indulgent great service by the Sun Dancer 2 staff made it so easy, it's at best an apples to oranges comparison. I haven't been to Roatan; I would guess a dive-a-holic outfit like CocoView would entail people setting up their own gear, not a valet op.?

Some people don't want valet service, so prospective clients may react either way to this.

3.) All that said, I headed to CocoView's website and I see you can get in-room spa treatment, and they're got some other activities available (a list of the non-diving stuff):

• Canopy Tour
• Island Tour
• Copan Tours (Mayan Indian Ruins) - located on the Mainland of Honduras
• Dolphin Encounters
• Butterfly Garden & Bird Park
• Eco Tour with Tim
• Dinner Party
• Golfing the Black Pearl Golf Course

I wonder how CocoView's onsite non-diving recreational activities stack up? Do they have 'activities staff' trying to keep people entertained?

Granted, I tend to view such things as either background scenery or a risk factor for fellow travelers to divert me from running up my dive count.

Richard.

 

[Doc]

OK, so my average SAC rate is about .315 What's yours???

Before or after lunch?

2.) The 'valet diving' mention is interesting....

This is a relatively new marketing buzz word. It came in right after the use of "boutique hotel", I know of this because my wife is immersed deeply in the bull$h*t marketing world of the hotel industry.

In SCUBA, it is no more or less definable than "cattle boat" which can mean something different to everybody, mostly changing with actual dive travel experience. Like valet, it is open to wide interpretation. I stumble at attempting to actually list actions that would constitute as "valet". I look at many trips and years of experience... could I just combine all the little nice things that I've seen and have been done to/for me? That simply doesn't work.

Valet? As in, after breakfast, naked Swedish Divemistreses (see my signature line below) gently wrap me in my 2mil and slip me gently into the warm ocean, only then do they delicately attach my SCUBA gear and seamlessly adorn me with my magic flippers? At the end of the dive, do they bring me another tank and reg set and change me out underwater? Do they gently then lift me into the boat, denude me of gear and polarfleece, showering me gently with warm (but not too hot) pure rain water?

See how goofy it can get? And, as I read "valet" in descriptors (websites or trip reports) I run between smiling and choking. Not much in between.

Valet usually maybe might possibly mean that they rig your tanks that they carry onboard. This is done for a copule of reasons, ones that kick in long before you set foot on that dive boat. Number One reason is that this is an industrial environment, and compared to them, you are a stumbling clumsy spaz. They don't want to have to admit that you broke your leg, nose or teeth by a slip and fall, certainly not while carrying your gear. Valet service, if you want to call it that, please do.

#2 reason (or visible example) for this "Valet Service" (if you define it as) of the DM's loading of gear- is that we divers come aboard scared and wanting to be near our friends. This has two alternative scenarios, depending upon the size of the boat. At CCV for example, with 55' long massive deck space boats, they set your gear in slots to not let you bunch up, wanting about 6-8' between each diver station. If left to their own designs, guests would all huddle together in a mass- I've seen it happen. Conversely, on smaller boats (which most other examples are), they set your gear up because it would devolve into a first rate cluster___ with 6 to 8 divers coming aboard and each taking up their 42 square feet... all at once.

I have my own definition of "valet" service, framed after many years of diving and with spinal issues that makes me want to not slip, fall, or carry the weight of SCUBA gear any further than I must. We all have our individual needs, many of us know not what they are. We are mildly surprised, and sometimes absolutely enchanted- Hey! That DM actually helped me up off the bench! How cool is that! I love valet service! In reality, he just wanted you to get off his boat so he could have a cigarette in peace. Whatever- the effect is golden.

...I would guess a dive-a-holic outfit like CocoView would entail people setting up their own gear, not a valet op.?

Some people don't want valet service, so prospective clients may react either way to this.

Every place is different. CCV DM's will carry your gear to the boats and rig it... up until the moment you tell them not to. They will do whatever you once tell them to do for the rest of the week. Carry my gear on, but leave it unrigged, or the classic, "Don't touch my stuff". I myself, let them do whatever they want, rig it, test it, but they also remember that I then depressurize my rig with the valve off, My wife likes hers left on. They remember. Is that valet? I've had this level of customized attention at a few other places worldwide. Funny how you grow to use those experiences as a meter for all others, but if you haven't had a certain level of service provided in the past... you can't know what you don't know. "Ooh, gee, the DM took my fins from me when I got on board" (Again, he didn't trust you to multi task- good, I like that.)

I know that my DM should lefty-loosey my valve before I flop in. Best DMs never let you see them do that. I always three-suck-test my rig, but I'm happy they check the valve. I have heard, over the years, 4 or 5 divers claim that "the DM turned my air the wrong way". They were the ones who were constantly fiddling with their gear, and the DM failed in that he made his pre-dive check 15 mins before splash. Is that a "valet" thing?

Or is it the fresh fruit passed around after diving? If you haven't seen much of that before, it can be pretty valet-riffic.

3.) All that said, I headed to CocoView's website and I see you can get in-room spa treatment, and they're got some other activities available (a list of the non-diving stuff)....I wonder how CocoView's onsite non-diving recreational activities stack up? Do they have 'activities staff' trying to keep people entertained?

I've never even looked. They used to have an "activities director" but she got so little interest in non-diving off site activities that she got bored after two years and went to San Francisco. Basically, they give you a quick mention and list of non-dive stuff, they'll book it if you ask at the office.

Media Luna Resort has (and needs) a distinct advantage in that regard. They cater to a predominately non-dive clientele. The basis for this stems from it being heavily marketed as a day-spa for cruise ship passengers. They understand the activities offered on-island that otherwise would be considered their competition for day-spa guests. They have good knowledge of options. As Drrich2examines the CCV website or off-site activities, finding only this: Honduras Island Activities | CoCo View Resort, one might also do that for Media Luna and only find Media Luna Resort & Spa, Roatán, Honduras

CCV diving on their website? It is on every web page. MLR diving on their website? I'll find it for you: Media Luna Resort & Spa, Roatán, Honduras This takes you off of their site and redirects to Aqua Adventures which will also take you fishing.

You can see by the websites alone, and this can be done for any destination, what their focus is. As much as I might like CCV, it simply is not for the non-snorkeler/diver. I am amused at the two "awful" reviews they garner on TwitAdvisor... people complaining that all CCV is good for is a dive resort. But, that is all they promised. MLR is several steps closer to survivability for these non-water babies, but web shoppers must understand what it is they are reading. Roatan is worse than most locations in terms of accenting the possibilities versus the probabilities. Yes- all this gobbeldy-gook stuff is available, but maybe you had should really have gone to West End if that's what you needed.

On Roatan in particular, based on my perspective of many different Caribbean islands visited, the non-dive activities are predominately drinking. There are some diversions like an uber-costly (so far) Golf Course; a handful of 'jungle canopy tours' (which used to be known as slide-for-life in the days we called rain forests by their original name, jungles) where you rocket down this rusty cable and a skinny Honduran kid gets between your hurtling body and that big tree; The Dolphin Pester and Shark Rodeo (actually available to every weeklong or daily visitor, it's offered by a vendor); The Iguana Farm (watch your step, it sticks to your shoes); the Botanical Gardens (about 6 minutes worth); Six Flags over Garifuna Village; shopping West End for crappy Guatemalan imports; and a list of other mechanical/fossil fuel dependent activities that come and go like the tide, including: maybe parasailing, maybe submarine ride (in a Honduran submarine, the mind reels), maybe dune buggy trail led rides, maybe whatever other goofy idea shows up. The biggest downer? The miniature golf place closed up. I wanted to buy it and install a bar, no, two bars at each end.

Ahh, there we revert back to true "island culture" a.k.a. "island vibe".... drinking.

Use Media Luna for what it is best able to fulfill. A nice, secluded destination resort, away from the faux Jimmy Buffet commercialism, on the South shore's unique diving. A diver can go and bring his marital-unit who likes to Sun themselves. If they need a carnival for entertainment, certainly CCV will not suffice, and if they don't enjoy MLR, I'd dump 'em and start over. Cut your losses- much cheaper than daily cab rides to West End.

...Granted, I tend to view such things as either background scenery or a risk factor for fellow travelers to divert me from running up my dive count.

This has happened to me in Tobago just because of the scenery and great jeep trails- we might have skipped three dives in total per week. As many times as I've dove the Red Sea, I never stopped to see the Pyramids.

 

[CajunDiva]

I will do my best to collect the pertinent info and give a detailed report. If wifi is good enough I might do it nightly 😜

Safe travels Yoda! Hope you and your bride have a wonderful week We'll be waiting to hear from you!

 

[Yoda-X]

We are sitting in the Houston airport waiting for the flight to RTB. Sssoooooooooo excited. I brought our professional video camera (not for underwater) and a go pro for the diving. Hopefully I will be able to make regular updates from TBR.