Roatan & Utila

[JaJ]

I'm so glad I found this site! What a great resource.
We are planning a trip to Roatan & Utila mid June. There are 5 of us: four advanced divers and one beginner. I was thinking about 3 dive days in Roatan and 4 dive days in Utila.
We like dive shops that have small boats (not into cattle boats). I've read recommendations for Tank'd and We Dive on Utila. Does anyone have recommendations on places to stay in Utila?
Also, where should I search for dive shops and accommodations on Roatan? Seems like a lot I pull up are for big operations. I don't mind a dive/resort experience, but I prefer small boats.
Thanks for the help!

 

[wlecyt40]

As for Roatan, CoCo View Resort (cocoviewresort.com) is a good place. It is a day camp for divers because you could conceivably dive 24/7. The boat aren't necessarily cattle boats but they do have other divers on board. There is plenty of shore diving as well. They have a wreck in the "Front Yard," the channel in front of the resort. they also have walls on either side of the channel, one going to towards the east and one going more or less southwest.

My wife and I have been there in January, February and April. So far, we have found April to be a good time to go. I have watched the web cams and have also found that pretty much ay time of the year is a good time to dive. Right now, they are going into the rainy season but that doesn't stop any one from diving. The dive guides won't push you beyond your comfort level. They want you to enjoy your dive experience. Trust me, you will.

 

[grantwiscour]

We dive with Octopus Dive School on Roatan. Nuria has been in business for many years and runs a solid and safe operation focusing on small groups.

 

[Allen-1]

@JaJ

This is actually the forum within the ScubaBoard forum for discussing technical issues regarding the site itself.

Take a look at Central America you'll find information there about Roatan and Utila.

Rgds.

 

[KatieMac]

You could go to CocoView. It gets the best reviews. And it's great if you want to stay at the resort all the time.

But if you don't want to be confined to a resort, consider West End.

It's a nice village - about a mile long total so you can stay anywhere and dive anywhere. There are lots of restaurants for any budget and a range of places to stay too. There are some stay and dive places as well - again catering to different budgets. I often send young people without a ton of money to Splash Inn and their dive resort for their package.

As for dive shops, I have my own preferences, but I couldn't point to any bad dive shop in West End. It's just the vibe that's different. With 5 of you diving, the smaller shops will likely be able to easily accommodate your group on your own.

As for the "cattle boat" reference, I don't see that in West End. Yes, you might see a big boat with lots of people on it, but generally there are different smaller groups of 5-6 dropping in at different dive sites.

 

[JaJ]

As for Roatan, CoCo View Resort (cocoviewresort.com) is a good place. It is a day camp for divers because you could conceivably dive 24/7. The boat aren't necessarily cattle boats but they do have other divers on board. There is plenty of shore diving as well. They have a wreck in the "Front Yard," the channel in front of the resort. they also have walls on either side of the channel, one going to towards the east and one going more or less southwest.

My wife and I have been there in January, February and April. So far, we have found April to be a good time to go. I have watched the web cams and have also found that pretty much ay time of the year is a good time to dive. Right now, they are going into the rainy season but that doesn't stop any one from diving. The dive guides won't push you beyond your comfort level. They want you to enjoy your dive experience. Trust me, you will.

Thank you This is very helpful

 

[therookie]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

Fully agree with the comments above about CocoView and the whole West End experience.

If you are looking for something a little more "resort-y" than most of West End but not as "all-inclusive-y" as something like CocoView, there is a small-boat dive shop in West Bay that we like to dive with when we visit Roatan - the Naboo Resort & Dive Center. It is an adult-only resort (adult defined I believe as 18yrs old and up) so that may not work for your group, but anyone can dive with them. Boats are max 12 divers plus DMs and captain, max of six divers per DM. From our trips in the past, the dive shop has always been a very professional, capable crew. The resort is fairly new and has always been well-maintained. And their pool has a jacuzzi which admittedly does not get very hot but is nonetheless relaxing.

West Bay Divers is perhaps another dive shop possibility for you. Larger boats, but a max of 5 divers per DM. They partner with several different resorts in West Bay (prices vary) to accomodate different budgets. We have never dived with them but there was a good review of this shop here on Scubaboard a few months ago:

Roatan in September

We’ve been to Roatan so many times since the ‘80’s. This was the 1st time in September! The weather was PERFECT, the water so warm that even a skin wasn’t needed but I worn one for protection from scrapes…. We dove with West Bay Divers for the 1st time and they were awesome! Very nice boats, 6...

scubaboard.com

Whatever you decide, please let us know how your trip goes with a trip report here on Scubaboard!

 

[Gdog]

Check out West End as well, several dive ops running small boats. All do a good job. On Utila, we really liked Tank'd. Roatan, we use Roatan Divers.