beth_castroll
Contributor
I miss the daily diving already. Steve did 11 dives in 6 days. I did 9 dives in 6 days, only missing out because I got a tad food poisoning. Curse that restaurant!
We did all dives with Coconut Tree Divers and for our first OW dives post certification these guys were amazing. Over the course of the week we could measure our improvement daily. I over came some personal challenges like the fear of breaking the surface. I was fine once down but descending was scary. By the end of the week I was one of the first ones back rolling off the boat and descending sans line.
I found each Dive Master/Instructor had something a little new to show us and we were eager to learn. Mind you we are certified and the only real obligation the shop had was to take us on an outing but I found that these guys took the time to say, work on our buoyancy control if we had air left, or discuss room for improvement for our next dive. They were totally Team Safety. Tim, Monty, Marc and Marco thanks for your time and effort.
Rented equipment fit well. Even if the boat was packed it was packed with groups. 3 and a DM off for a Photo Class. 4 and a DM off for a OW Class. 4 Fun Divers. I only once felt like there were too many in our group and maybe that's because we all kept too close together. Once or twice Steve and I were the only Fun Divers with a DM and that was amazing. The shop printed out a computer profile for both of us at the end of the week for our dive logs.
We dove Hole in the Wall. Fun mazing your way through holes in the reef but not a lot of fish. We dove Bikini Bottom and I got a few great shots of a barracuda. We saw a few turtles over the week. Barrel Coral home to fish, big Grouper, Sea Anemones, Lobsters, a beautiful color changing Octopus on a night dive all were among the highlights. Diving off the wall was my favorite. Really made me think about how small we all are in relation.
As for Roatan, I have mixed feelings. I was spoiled by Caye Caulker in Belize a year before and kept making comparisons. Not fair...think I'm over it.
We stayed at Posada las Orquideas. Took us 8 minutes to walk to town each day, which we did several times a day but I didn't mind. The motel was ok. LOUD toilets. Loud generator, but I wouldn't want to be without one. We only used the AC one day and therefore only had to pay for it one day. (2 Days of AC = 1 Dive) I could hear my neighbors through the walls and the decks were in a line so in the evening while relaxing post dive you could see and hear all your neighbors would have preferred a small cabana, but for 45.00 a day it wasn't bad, just not ideal.
We ate at several places. Most bad and more expensive then I thought they should be. Sundowners has a great happy hour. Cheaper in Limperia then USD. They have good burgers and fries. I liked Pinocchio's. The Rotisserie Chicken place was good and inexpensive...but awful service. I was disappointed in the lack of local food vendors with local pricing but had some good tamales one day and a empanada the next. Generally we were paying 10-15 a person for dinner minus drinks. We really enjoyed the Fubar but were pressed to stay up late enough to truly enjoy it. BYOBalloon
Now hooked I just need to start planning my next dive vacation and either become a millionaire so I can continue warm water diving or work up the nerve to give cold water diving in Monterrey, Ca at home another shot.
Send PM for pictures
We did all dives with Coconut Tree Divers and for our first OW dives post certification these guys were amazing. Over the course of the week we could measure our improvement daily. I over came some personal challenges like the fear of breaking the surface. I was fine once down but descending was scary. By the end of the week I was one of the first ones back rolling off the boat and descending sans line.
I found each Dive Master/Instructor had something a little new to show us and we were eager to learn. Mind you we are certified and the only real obligation the shop had was to take us on an outing but I found that these guys took the time to say, work on our buoyancy control if we had air left, or discuss room for improvement for our next dive. They were totally Team Safety. Tim, Monty, Marc and Marco thanks for your time and effort.
Rented equipment fit well. Even if the boat was packed it was packed with groups. 3 and a DM off for a Photo Class. 4 and a DM off for a OW Class. 4 Fun Divers. I only once felt like there were too many in our group and maybe that's because we all kept too close together. Once or twice Steve and I were the only Fun Divers with a DM and that was amazing. The shop printed out a computer profile for both of us at the end of the week for our dive logs.
We dove Hole in the Wall. Fun mazing your way through holes in the reef but not a lot of fish. We dove Bikini Bottom and I got a few great shots of a barracuda. We saw a few turtles over the week. Barrel Coral home to fish, big Grouper, Sea Anemones, Lobsters, a beautiful color changing Octopus on a night dive all were among the highlights. Diving off the wall was my favorite. Really made me think about how small we all are in relation.
As for Roatan, I have mixed feelings. I was spoiled by Caye Caulker in Belize a year before and kept making comparisons. Not fair...think I'm over it.
We stayed at Posada las Orquideas. Took us 8 minutes to walk to town each day, which we did several times a day but I didn't mind. The motel was ok. LOUD toilets. Loud generator, but I wouldn't want to be without one. We only used the AC one day and therefore only had to pay for it one day. (2 Days of AC = 1 Dive) I could hear my neighbors through the walls and the decks were in a line so in the evening while relaxing post dive you could see and hear all your neighbors would have preferred a small cabana, but for 45.00 a day it wasn't bad, just not ideal.
We ate at several places. Most bad and more expensive then I thought they should be. Sundowners has a great happy hour. Cheaper in Limperia then USD. They have good burgers and fries. I liked Pinocchio's. The Rotisserie Chicken place was good and inexpensive...but awful service. I was disappointed in the lack of local food vendors with local pricing but had some good tamales one day and a empanada the next. Generally we were paying 10-15 a person for dinner minus drinks. We really enjoyed the Fubar but were pressed to stay up late enough to truly enjoy it. BYOBalloon
Now hooked I just need to start planning my next dive vacation and either become a millionaire so I can continue warm water diving or work up the nerve to give cold water diving in Monterrey, Ca at home another shot.
Send PM for pictures
