Roatan trip report

[diverrick]

My wife an I just returned from our third trip this year to RTB. This time we stayed one week at CCV and the second week at Reef House Resort. CCV was as usual CCV. we were "forced" to take a beach house instead of a cabin due to the crowds the week we were there. We stayed in BH8 I highly recommend it for privacy, and it was the same price as a cabin at CCV.
Food was standard fare as usual, I have always found it to be on par with other resorts like FI and BIBR. Diving was as usual. EXCELLENT!! dove our asXXX off. I found my first sea horse, MAN, DID THAT TAKE YEARS TO DO!!

I think the CCV boats are the best designed for diving, and I have seen a few dive boats. We got lucky and everyone was on Nitrox for the whole week on our boat, so we didn't have all the SI time one would usually get with air. The boats were all pretty full so it effected out dive quality a bit. We signed up for the photo class from Tim thier resident photo expert, and I can't say enough about how much our photos improved as a result of his lessons. It is a must if you want to REALLY know how to use your dive camera. I didn't even know what "white balance" was!!!
Second week got off to a rough start as we got dropped off by the land taxi at the regular dock, instead of the far nicer dock the resort uses. The couple who was with us were pretty upset it appeared, as some parts of Oak ridge are not what I would call "tourist ready" if you get my drift.
After we got settled in at RHR we got to look around. Larry, the owner has done an outstanding job of pulling the resort out of the hole it had became, but it is still a work in progress. Seas were rough all that week, but we still had great diving, especially down East by Port Royal I didn't know it but there seems to be some really old shipwrecks down there. next time I will arrainge for a drop off at the wreck sites. They had some transmission troubles on the main dive boat but we got that fixed pretty quick. The food at RHR was the high light of the trip. I can't even tell you how good it was, compared to other resort we have stayed at on RTB. All in all I would reccommend RHR to those who are looking for quite, secluded, resort, divng with a few other like minded divers. The Resort has lots of room for improvement, but the new owners have only been ther for 6 months so som understanding is in order there. They have big plans for the place so I expect it to improve over time. One secret I'll tell you... SHISSSSSh... (whispering here) Store down the island has beer at almost half the price, so get a room with a fridge, and walk down to the store. Same beer, just half the price 1.11 US per beer. compared to 2.00 at the resort. I would also pass on any dives to light house wall, as it is too close to Oakridge bay outlet IMHO to be safe to swim in. This trip we went through Houston direct to RTB from SMF California. Much shorter trip than going to El Salvador from the West Coast.

 

[citydiver]

Wow so glad to hear you had a great time. My husband and I are going down there in September to CCV, any tips? Anything we should avoid or make sure to see for that matter? What is the story with the food, not great? We are suppose to be staying in the bungalows over the water, how did you get bumped? Thanks for any info it's our first time down there so any info would be a great help....

Christina

 

[H2Andy]

nice report!

my wife and i just got back from our first time at CCV, and we loved it.
really a unique place, and magical in a way.

Christina: you will love it. be prepared for non-AC bar and dining room. your rooms
have AC. the staff is super friendly. the food is very good (we had steak, lobster,
shrimp, good variety, good taste).

beer at the bar is $1.50 us ($0.75 during happy hour)... need I say more

as to being "bumped," they told us ahead of time, before we booked, that we
would be bumped on our last night from one of the cabins to one of the beach houses (due to incoming reservations). the beach houses are nicer, so it doesn't make any difference.

 

[ddawson]

Rick

How good was the house reef dive at RHR in comparison with the house reef dive at CCV?

Darren

 

[diverrick]

To be completely honest, we never did the shore dive, as the entrance is off the end of the pier. With the swells the way they were, we never had a chance to go in. I talked to another couple who had attempted to snorkle out there, but they had never seen CCV wall, so no comparisions are there, sorry. I can say that it is certainly closer to the resort, than CCV wall is.

 

[Doc]

To be completely honest, we never did the shore dive, as the entrance is off the end of the pier. With the swells the way they were, we never had a chance to go in. I talked to another couple who had attempted to snorkle out there, but they had never seen CCV wall, so no comparisions are there, sorry. I can say that it is certainly closer to the resort, than CCV wall is.

I was awaiting your response. I have done both.

For me, CCV is the hands down winner for a number of reasons. One is the siltation. RHR is in an area that has fairly heavy mud/dirt run off- and it's a long hump to the "break" in the wall. CCV is cursed with only the sand that FIBR dredges up.

At CCV there are (right nearby) two protected walls, at RHR you are at the mercy of the sea. At CCV, an anchor chain runs from your room to the intact, upright 140' tanker wreck. She lies 300' from your room, from 35 to 65fsw, topping out in 25fsw.

This means, day or night, you will never have a logical concern of being lost. You can spend your entire night dive poking around the wreck, and when it's time to come home, follow the yellow brick road back to your CCV room.

CCV and RHR (http://www.reefhouseresort.com/the_diving.html) are two different fruits of diving in the Bay Islands. One of the two resorts proudly posted a note from a guest: "Grabbed the tail of a six foot shark!" They are very different. At the other resort, you would have been strung up, gutted, and left to die in the sun for lesser trangressions against nature.

RHR is at the pont right now that CCV was in 1986, largely due to its remote location and years-in-the-business chronology. For a taste of the rustic Roatan, this would sure be a window to that era. They are not a "turn key" package, that is- you'll have to do your own air travel arrangements, etc.

More details on CCV are at http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/ccv?forum=25276 where you can find the CoCoNuts who are in love with the place.

 

[HowardE]

My wife and I were at CCV in August, and I must agree with the previous reviews. We also did the unlimited nitrox, and basically paid less than $4 per tank of Nitrox. They give you 31-32% O2 on the fill, which limits your depth to about 110' - but we didn't go deeper than 95' all week. Most of the stuff is between 40-60'. Also RoatanMan's point about the proximity of the Prince Albert Wreck, CoCo View Wall, and Newman's Wall make CCV a great shore dive site... You just walk in, and about 3 minutes later, you're at a wreck, there's also a DC-3 down there. We did 4 night dives in 5 days too. Someone in our group did 3 night dives nightly (after napping he would do a midnight dive when everyone else was asleep -- Hardcore HazmatMick)

Also... I would say the food was excellent as well as the dive staff, the boats are made for diving. We're already planning our 2nd trip to CCV resort!