Good morning from Roatan. I wake up most every morning at around 5am since that's when the sun starts to peek its head up and illuminate the ocean from behind our hotel. When you've been diving, walking, snorkeling, swimming, eating, enjoying a few drinks by the pool and swinging on the hammock on your patio, going to sleep around 9pm never seems awkward. Mind you, I've started writing this while we are here because I want to put across the vibe one feels while here. I will come back and edit this later as soon as I return and put the finishing touches on the report.
First off, before planning the trip down here, its hard to get a sense of the Roatan experience. You know it will be amazing, you just can't ask enough questions and one will just have to experience the journey once you get here. I will try the best I can to explain what its like here in as few a words as possible.
We chose to stay at a non-dive resort. We chose Cocolobo. They're address is http://www.cocolobo.net. The lodge is owned by Sally and a few business partners and run by her son Rory and his wife. Rory and partner weren't here so we dealt solely with Sally. From the moment we arrived we were greeted with a smile and intense warmth. Sally could not be a better hostess. The place here is amazing...utterly phenomenal. My girlfriend and I wanted intense relaxation at our pace. We didn't want to hear people drinking all night or rocking the beds inches from our heads. We wanted a home away from home and that's what Cocolobo is. We walked all around West End and I'm sure there are other incredible places but as far as distance and isolation from the din of downtown West End there is no better place than Cocolobo. Just the sea breeze down here on a nightly and daily basis is enough to deter most determined bugs. I'm sitting at the center island on a covered patio that remains open and airy all day and night and I had to spritz with Off before sitting to peck away at the computer. I hear geckos calling each other and as the sun is rising I can hear roosters calling to each other. The chicken is the national bird of this island it seems. They are everywhere and one trip to the Creole Rotisserie Grill will make you want to take a few of those birds out for yourself. He He.
Cocolobo sits about a 15 min walk from the downtown area. Just like any third world country, Honduras has trash all around but the people are friendly and warm and most everyone speaks English although Spanish is useful for haggling. At Cocolobo the reef is just off shore. I swam out there a few mornings and most every afternoon. It is incredible to have the sea right at your front door. There is a concrete sidewalk that takes you to the ocean since this is the iron shore and very jagged and sharp. The sidewalk is not directly in front of the hotel but an easy 2 min walk to the north. I timed the sets and got in and out with my girlfriend with ease. Most of the time we didn't come out the same way and just swam down the coast about 30 yards off coast to the reefs in Half Moon Bay. Every morning here at Cocolobo they serve breakfast, included with the room. Heidi, Sally's cook, speaks perfect Englishand cooks amazing meals. They change it up every morning so there is no repetition. The Honduran coffee is strong and gets you amped for the days diving. As I sit here my girlfriend and I are headed out at 8am this morning. Sally has arranged a car for us to rent so we can explore the island and drive to the shark dive at Las Palmas and the Prince Albert wreck (and DC-3) at Cocoview. She also arranged a day of sailing and snorkeling for $50 bucks a head with Dusty on Friday. We've been treated like royalty here.
I have carried our snorkel, fins, wetsuits and masks each day with a Camelback Rim Runner. It gives us water and just enough space to carry gear although I will bring a bigger backpack next time since we stuffed cameras, and money in all the free space. I personally liked the walking although in the heat of the day it can be a little testing if you are out of shape and whiney. I found the daily walks part of my conditioning and by the end of the week expect to be in much better shape than I arrived. If you want location and closeness to the West End you will pay in noise. Cocolobo is absolutely serene. While here there were only two other couples so we had this place to ourselves. Sally has a book shelf that's filled with books from travellers who have left them so they are free for you to use while you laze on the beach at West Bay on your down days. We visited West Bay Beach once. When you arrive by Water Taxi (use them constantly since they only cost 50 Lempiras, about $2.20 a person US) you will see that the beach is the US 5 star experience that typical American tourists adore all along Mexico. The beach is incredible but as I snorkeled out to sea from the shore I saw beer bottles and labels and cigarette butts in abundance versus snorkeling off the beach at Half Moon Bay where there is no trash whatsoever. Just my .02 cents...tourists who act like tourists piss me off and littering is not acceptable. I'm not saying that it was evident, its not, just when you are snorkeling close in could I see the spotty trash, evidence of disregard and a lack of communal respect. We id'd lots of resorts we saw on the Internet. If you have one in mind you want me to comment on based solely on what I saw from the beach I will be happy to.
There are little refrigerators in the room that will hold leftovers from dinner the night before and Sally has a microwave out on the deck that you can use anytime and ample plates and silverware to use should you want to picnic out on the deck. We had a lovely dinner two nights ago of chicken and rice and beans while we listened to the surf gently crashing on the iron shore all with her incredible hospitality. My girlfriend and I are social creatures so we talked almost everynight over $2 cocktails that Sally fixed for us. Just the three of us chatting about this paradise and her life as a BBC journalist in Peru for 20 years. She was educated at Oxford so you can imagine her classiness. It was always refreshing to see her and experience her elegance with everything she does, let alone the conversations we had about life. I will value them always.
Ok the diving. Like I said we used Reef Gliders. They are a great little shop run by Alex and Barry. The DMs we used were Daniel, Sam and Lars the cranky German. We had an awesome time and always felt safe and in control with them. Their shop is little and vented and has a porch out back to prepare for the dives and chat and drink a soda or cup of coffee before and after the dives. Each dive we went on was within a 5 minute boat ride, usually shorter. It was incredible. They got the gear ready for us each dive and quickly got our weights right the first dive. Everyone was professional and full of cheer. I don't know what the deal is with divers and smoking but it seems to be a constant of all the dive shops. I just don't get it but I digress. Our dives were to most all the sites on the West End of the island and one to the south and one to the north. I have to say that West End Wall was one of my favorites since its a combo wall dive and drift dive into a good 2 mph current across the plains of Texas. Its an awesome dive and brings you from 60 to 30 feet over a period of an hour. It was an excellent long dive and we saw turtles, barracuda, grouper and every fish you could imagine on that dive incredible. We dove El Aguila yesterday. Incredible 100' dive down to a wreck that is cut in three pieces. We saw two huge green morays and schools of black and spotted grouper that were 4-5' in length...huge. They routinely rubbed against me and let me touch them and up on the fo'c'sle we viewed a bit of a cleaning station where the fish got their wash on by cleaning shrimp and little fish that removed build ups on the big ones. It was just awesome to see. As our first deep dive it was great, no narc effects and we swam through one structual piece to experience an underwater obstacle. Lars took us and he was really great. He smokes non stop and I noticed he still had 1600lbs when we were at our 3 minute stop while I had just about 1000. I guess over time I will get more efficient but its still frustrating.
I will get back in a few days with this report. I need to investigate some sites for the drive and dive today.
First off, before planning the trip down here, its hard to get a sense of the Roatan experience. You know it will be amazing, you just can't ask enough questions and one will just have to experience the journey once you get here. I will try the best I can to explain what its like here in as few a words as possible.
We chose to stay at a non-dive resort. We chose Cocolobo. They're address is http://www.cocolobo.net. The lodge is owned by Sally and a few business partners and run by her son Rory and his wife. Rory and partner weren't here so we dealt solely with Sally. From the moment we arrived we were greeted with a smile and intense warmth. Sally could not be a better hostess. The place here is amazing...utterly phenomenal. My girlfriend and I wanted intense relaxation at our pace. We didn't want to hear people drinking all night or rocking the beds inches from our heads. We wanted a home away from home and that's what Cocolobo is. We walked all around West End and I'm sure there are other incredible places but as far as distance and isolation from the din of downtown West End there is no better place than Cocolobo. Just the sea breeze down here on a nightly and daily basis is enough to deter most determined bugs. I'm sitting at the center island on a covered patio that remains open and airy all day and night and I had to spritz with Off before sitting to peck away at the computer. I hear geckos calling each other and as the sun is rising I can hear roosters calling to each other. The chicken is the national bird of this island it seems. They are everywhere and one trip to the Creole Rotisserie Grill will make you want to take a few of those birds out for yourself. He He.
Cocolobo sits about a 15 min walk from the downtown area. Just like any third world country, Honduras has trash all around but the people are friendly and warm and most everyone speaks English although Spanish is useful for haggling. At Cocolobo the reef is just off shore. I swam out there a few mornings and most every afternoon. It is incredible to have the sea right at your front door. There is a concrete sidewalk that takes you to the ocean since this is the iron shore and very jagged and sharp. The sidewalk is not directly in front of the hotel but an easy 2 min walk to the north. I timed the sets and got in and out with my girlfriend with ease. Most of the time we didn't come out the same way and just swam down the coast about 30 yards off coast to the reefs in Half Moon Bay. Every morning here at Cocolobo they serve breakfast, included with the room. Heidi, Sally's cook, speaks perfect Englishand cooks amazing meals. They change it up every morning so there is no repetition. The Honduran coffee is strong and gets you amped for the days diving. As I sit here my girlfriend and I are headed out at 8am this morning. Sally has arranged a car for us to rent so we can explore the island and drive to the shark dive at Las Palmas and the Prince Albert wreck (and DC-3) at Cocoview. She also arranged a day of sailing and snorkeling for $50 bucks a head with Dusty on Friday. We've been treated like royalty here.
I have carried our snorkel, fins, wetsuits and masks each day with a Camelback Rim Runner. It gives us water and just enough space to carry gear although I will bring a bigger backpack next time since we stuffed cameras, and money in all the free space. I personally liked the walking although in the heat of the day it can be a little testing if you are out of shape and whiney. I found the daily walks part of my conditioning and by the end of the week expect to be in much better shape than I arrived. If you want location and closeness to the West End you will pay in noise. Cocolobo is absolutely serene. While here there were only two other couples so we had this place to ourselves. Sally has a book shelf that's filled with books from travellers who have left them so they are free for you to use while you laze on the beach at West Bay on your down days. We visited West Bay Beach once. When you arrive by Water Taxi (use them constantly since they only cost 50 Lempiras, about $2.20 a person US) you will see that the beach is the US 5 star experience that typical American tourists adore all along Mexico. The beach is incredible but as I snorkeled out to sea from the shore I saw beer bottles and labels and cigarette butts in abundance versus snorkeling off the beach at Half Moon Bay where there is no trash whatsoever. Just my .02 cents...tourists who act like tourists piss me off and littering is not acceptable. I'm not saying that it was evident, its not, just when you are snorkeling close in could I see the spotty trash, evidence of disregard and a lack of communal respect. We id'd lots of resorts we saw on the Internet. If you have one in mind you want me to comment on based solely on what I saw from the beach I will be happy to.
There are little refrigerators in the room that will hold leftovers from dinner the night before and Sally has a microwave out on the deck that you can use anytime and ample plates and silverware to use should you want to picnic out on the deck. We had a lovely dinner two nights ago of chicken and rice and beans while we listened to the surf gently crashing on the iron shore all with her incredible hospitality. My girlfriend and I are social creatures so we talked almost everynight over $2 cocktails that Sally fixed for us. Just the three of us chatting about this paradise and her life as a BBC journalist in Peru for 20 years. She was educated at Oxford so you can imagine her classiness. It was always refreshing to see her and experience her elegance with everything she does, let alone the conversations we had about life. I will value them always.
Ok the diving. Like I said we used Reef Gliders. They are a great little shop run by Alex and Barry. The DMs we used were Daniel, Sam and Lars the cranky German. We had an awesome time and always felt safe and in control with them. Their shop is little and vented and has a porch out back to prepare for the dives and chat and drink a soda or cup of coffee before and after the dives. Each dive we went on was within a 5 minute boat ride, usually shorter. It was incredible. They got the gear ready for us each dive and quickly got our weights right the first dive. Everyone was professional and full of cheer. I don't know what the deal is with divers and smoking but it seems to be a constant of all the dive shops. I just don't get it but I digress. Our dives were to most all the sites on the West End of the island and one to the south and one to the north. I have to say that West End Wall was one of my favorites since its a combo wall dive and drift dive into a good 2 mph current across the plains of Texas. Its an awesome dive and brings you from 60 to 30 feet over a period of an hour. It was an excellent long dive and we saw turtles, barracuda, grouper and every fish you could imagine on that dive incredible. We dove El Aguila yesterday. Incredible 100' dive down to a wreck that is cut in three pieces. We saw two huge green morays and schools of black and spotted grouper that were 4-5' in length...huge. They routinely rubbed against me and let me touch them and up on the fo'c'sle we viewed a bit of a cleaning station where the fish got their wash on by cleaning shrimp and little fish that removed build ups on the big ones. It was just awesome to see. As our first deep dive it was great, no narc effects and we swam through one structual piece to experience an underwater obstacle. Lars took us and he was really great. He smokes non stop and I noticed he still had 1600lbs when we were at our 3 minute stop while I had just about 1000. I guess over time I will get more efficient but its still frustrating.
I will get back in a few days with this report. I need to investigate some sites for the drive and dive today.
