Roatan: Subway Watersports?

[Doc]

Yeah, DM's can make the difference between a good & great dive. Question is does Subway, or other Roatan dive ops give divers flexibility in dive planning?

I like the benefit of having an experienced DM, knowledgable with the site, point out features you mght miss otherwise. However, I prefer to have the freedom to finish my dive within set parameters. DM's should send "heavy breathing" divers back to the boat while allowing the rest of us to finish our dives - as long as we get back by the specified time.

It depends upon any number of factors (and I'm speaking of any day-dive op, not just one on Roatan or a particular one) :

1) The type of boat
2) Whether moored or drift
3) Current
4) Impending Conditions
5) Familiarity with the customer's abilities
6) Similarity of the customer's abilities
7) The customer's true ability

Talk over your concerns with the operator and ask to speak to the DM before chartering. This applies if you are nervous of the situation, as well as if you feel that your diving experience might be diminished by what may seem to be capricious rules. It's the first rule of diving- communicate, plan and ask questions... before you get wet!

If you don't like the operation after dive #1, try to examine why certain things occured. If you otherwise find the program okay, ask the operator to explain his take on what happened that you didn't like, and see if he can guarantee that it won't happen again.

We were once at one of the most highly regarded ops on Tobago. On the morning of Day 5, my S.O. looked at me, and with her only experience base being the Cadillac treatment and boats of CoCoView, she said, "This isn't right, is it?". I smiled as she had come into her own as a diver. "Formulate questions and provide possible plans and solutions, then go to the boss.", I told her. She did this, as the editor of PADI Sport Diver UK and I watched her.

The DM was not pleased with the result of being told by his boss to do what we had asked. Why not? He, by this time on day 5, knew that our diving skills were more than adequate for the dives that we were requesting, we had performed well on the small boats that they had offered. My SO absolutely finished her request with the words, "If the DM feels that the local conditions would be okay."

So, that day we went out and dove Washing Machine, African Express and Heart Attack. The DM just didn't want to be bothered with these twitchy dives. Then he tried to hose us with rates that were for a single tank x all of our many dives. We settled that mathematically and moved to a different dive op the next day, just so my SO could experience an operation of vastly lesser physical quality but superb DM's. (in preparation for a Pacific trip of very rugged conditions).

In Roatan, I have done most all of my dives with CoCoView. They have a morning and afternoon boat dive. They do a 'moored' dive first, then on the way back in they do a 'drop off' dive, allowing you to swim back along 1 of 2 walls, go to the 140' Prince Albert Wreck, the DC3, then swim back to the resort. They admonish that on the first moored dive, even if you have gills, have concern for those who are already back on board. Keep your dives to 1 hr or so. Take 2 hours on the drop-off if you would like. If you are going below 100 feet on any dive, that's fine, go ahead, but tell the DM first. If you don't, he will come and get your dumb @ss and that will be the end of your diving for 24 hrs. In short, they don't care what you're going to do, as long as they know you're going to do it. Great system.

Communicate your desires. Look for answers, understand the difference between your perceptions versus abilities, desires versus needs... compared to a DM's local wisdom (or laziness, or lack of ability). The "pro" in Diving can sometimes be an egomaniacal Nazi, they can sometimes be overcautious to the point of obnoxiousness, but most of them have seen it all. I usually give them a very long leash in managing my dives.

 

[Steve P]

Many good points. Certain situations (ie. drift dives), may dictate that the group dive and surface together. My question was whether specific Roatan dive ops, such as Subway or Native Sons, typically allow divers freedom in planning dives or if you're required to follow the leader back to the boat when one of the divers uses up his/her air. I understand this may change based on the particular dive or DM.

The flexibilty CCV gives divers sounds great & we would have booked a week with them if they had availabilty at the time we were traveling. Does CCV cater to "walk up" divers for boat and/or shore dives or do you have book an AI package?

 

[pigletfish]

In our experience, both SubWay and Native Sons allowed divers to come up at different times. Most of our dives had me, my husband, my brother-in-law, and maybe 1-2 other divers, with 2-3 DMs and the boat captain. (The DMs all seemed to want to go out, even with only 3-5 divers -- on some dives it was 3 divers and 3 DMs!). My fairly newbie brother-in-law always came up first (with a DM as his buddy) several minutes before my husband and I did, and on a few dives with Native Sons we had a very experienced diver who was allowed to dive without a buddy and who came up several minutes after we did. Hope this helps!

 

[Steve P]

Sounds pretty good to me. It seems that both Subway & Native Sons operate boats with smaller groups - great news as far as I'm concerned. 3 DMs to 3 divers?! In my rather limited experiences I've often been on boats with a dozen divers and one or 2 DMs. With that many divers there's always one that goes through air twice as fast as I do. Bottom time is precious when you live in Chicago & don't get to diver paradise very often.

 

[mjnansen]

Both of these are very good dive operations- Native Sons actually has 2 boats. We do most of our diving with Native Sons and have for years now. SUbway is also a nice operation, but it would be a challenge to dive with them if you are staying in West End without a car- the taxi ride would probably double the dive price! We just got back from Roatan this week and dove with Native Sons again- they know us and allow us a lot of flexibility in our dives, and are just a really good group of people to dive with!

 

[Doc]

Does CCV cater to "walk up" divers for boat and/or shore dives or do you have book an AI package?

I haven't seen a whole lot of them show up in the 52 total weeks that I have spent there over the last 20 years. Partly due, I am sure, to the minor hassle of having your cab driver request by radio a launch to make it out to their key.

EMail the resort or call over when you're on the Island. They'll set you up, I would imagine. They do occasional hard-core divers who find themselves stuck on cruise ship schedules, but 'regular' guests never see them.

Many who do show up, however, are there on a scouting expedition- just to see if the place lives up to all the rave reviews. If they take a critical look at the boats and dive op, and if they ask the manager for a room tour, they get a good picture.

Then there is the shore dive, "The Front Yard". That's the hook.

 

[mjnansen]

I've actually tried to do this before (wanted to see what all the fuss was about!) It takes a lot of coordinating! They will pick up cruise ship passengers with prior arraingements, but because the property is located on an island you need to make plans to have them meet you with a boat. Most of the other resorts will let you join them as walk-ins as long as they have room, but they are usually a little more than the smaller dive shops. If you want to get a feel for the different resorts before booking this can be a great way to scout them out.

 

[Steve P]

Both of these are very good dive operations- Native Sons actually has 2 boats. We do most of our diving with Native Sons and have for years now. SUbway is also a nice operation, but it would be a challenge to dive with them if you are staying in West End without a car- the taxi ride would probably double the dive price! We just got back from Roatan this week and dove with Native Sons again- they know us and allow us a lot of flexibility in our dives, and are just a really good group of people to dive with!

Thanks for the tips mj. We're staying at Seagrape on West end and need to keep costs down. Have read some good reports about Native Sons and they woud be convenient for us. I've also heard that Coconut Tree Divers have a nice boat, small groups and, in addition to morning dives, run two afternoon dives. Have you or anyone else dove with them?

 

[mjnansen]

I haven't dove with coconut tree, but see them often. It seems like they don't do as large a variety of dive sites as Native Sons, and in the event of a storm coming in Native Sons will move their boats and divers to the South side so we've been happy to stick with them. Seagrape is a great place to stay- really can't beat the price. Native Sons is really the closest dive op to Seagrape- just a short walk! The family who runs Seagrape is wonderful as well.
There are many good places to eat in West End, but the ones that are always talked about are the more expensive ones. Here is a list of some of the better inexpensive places to eat in West End:
The Rotisserie chicken shack- they do a great chicken meal, but this place is very popular and they often sell out of chicken early
Ricks- this is not Ricks American Cafe in Sandy Bay, this is a place in West End that is upstairs at West End Divers, nice for a salad or fajitas
The jerk shack- very good jerk chicken or pork meals
Fosters Waterfront grill- our favorite, we eat here often. A little more than the other places, but you won't go away hungry. My favorite is the peel and eat shrimp off the appetizer menu, a very big plate of shrimp (he knows how shrimp should be cooked, and believe me I'm picky about seafood) for about $10. For about $6 try a fish sandwich (my husbands favorite) it is always a huge piece of fish (I think usually snapper). He also does gumbo on special once in a while, and his pork chops are very good also
Le Bolangerie- the bakery is great for sandwiches at lunch and pastries for breakfast. Their bread is wonderful too.
There is a Baleada shack next to coconut tree divers that is really good also- I like the bean and egg ones the best, but the meat are good too. Most of your DMs will get Baleadas from her (I think you can get 2 for a dollar or so- might be 3 for $2, can't remember the exact price).
The closest grocery store to Seagrape is Woodys, but if you want to stock your fridge with beer you'll have to walk further into West End. I think the store next to Coconut tree is a little more expensive than some of the other little places, but you'll find that each little store has it's own unique selection so you'll have to take a look and see which one is best for you. If you have any other questions about West End feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to answer them!

 

[Zebra mussel]

Just got back a couple weeks ago from West End. Ive dove with Coconut Tree this trip and Native sons on previous trips. Both are very good. Coconut will do a 2 tank morning dive and 2 afternoon dives while Native Sons does the typical 3 dives with surface intervals on shore. Coconut basicly let us go off on our own and do our own thing after a couple dives once they were confident in our abilities. Native Sons did the same thing. Coconut has a larger,but slower boat similar to the ones that Coco View uses, without the center access point. They are covered,and stable. I liked the 2 tank dive as I see no need to come to shore between trips. Both operations will take you to the south side if weather is an issue on the North. Prices are identical.I guess if I was forced to choose...I would dive with Coconut Tree over Native sons. You really cant go wrong with either. We did do a day trip with Subway Watersports and was pleased with them even though the larger boat was in for repairs and we went in a skiff in some pretty rough seas. They are now located in Brick Bay. They charged us $15.00 per dive for a 2 tank dive. The cab fare was $15.00 each way from West End. There were 3 of us,so it added to the cost,but not significantly. You need to negotiate the fare before you go and make sure you get the same cabbie on the way back. I would recommend diving with them for a day trip just to see the south side if you are staying in West End. Coconut Tree divers actually called them and set it up for us and negotiated a cab fare. I call that GREATservice to go out of your way to send your clients to the competition! Enjoy.