Roatan

[GratefulDiver]

So Sion and I just booked a trip with our dive club to Roatan for April of 2004. We'll be staying at the Inn of Last Resort. Can anyone share anything about the diving, viz, water temps, etc.

Thanks!

Bob

 

[ggunn]

GratefulDiver once bubbled...
So Sion and I just booked a trip with our dive club to Roatan for April of 2004. We'll be staying at the Inn of Last Resort. Can anyone share anything about the diving, viz, water temps, etc.

Thanks!

Bob

Bobby Wier? Is that you? ;^)

I need a miracle every day...

 

[Drewpy]

I was in Roatan in March and stayed at CCV. We had a blast!Ended up doing about 21 dives in the week!I beleive ILR is near West End..?If so, you will probably be diveing some different sites.
My favorites were Marys Place and Calvins Crack, but they are all good!!Vis in march was about 50-80ft,water was right at 80!
We also booked a shark dive with an outfit called Waihuka which was awesome-about 12-15 carribean reef sharks some must have been 400+lbs...beautiful creatures but never saw any on the other dives?
Roatan is a very culturaly diverse island with influences from hispanic,creole,indian and european origins.
You will have a blast!

BTW- Bob I noticed your Bday 1/5/63...?!!!that is mine as well same year even....sucked turning forty this year huh?

P.S. I have a book by Lonely Planet about Roatan that you are welcome to borrow, I could drop it in the mail-Pm me if interested?

 

[dividiva]

I am getting married in Roatan in August of 2004 and am thinking of going to Anthonys Key. Has anyone been there and what do you think? Thanks

 

[Doc]

Why ruin a perfectly good trip to a nice resort by mixing it up with a marriage?

Joking (?) aside, are you quite sure if you want to go through the insanity of being married in Honduras?

That said, this website has a great search capability for archived threads. Yes, one or two of us have been to AKR. Each of the resorts on Roatan have their positive and negative points. They also have their fans and detractors.

Use the search tool, then pose any unanswered questions here.

 

[dividiva]

I guess that was a little vague..... I have some guests coming to my wedding that are not divers and probably will not even snorkel so I am looking for a resort that will be entertaining to people that are not about the ocean and its adventures. Will Anthonys Key be a good spot to entertain them as I do not want to be running around and stressed about anyone? We are all between the ages of 28 and 35 and are pretty easy to please. Is there a nice beach for my girlfriends to lie on? Is there a pool? What is the dinning facilities like? Buffet or menu? Are there set times for dinning so if one sleeps in can you still eat? I was told there is a canopy tour there is that so? The selling feature for a lot of my friends is the Dolphin experience, but I know that we can still do that if we stay somewhere else. The whole thing with being at the resort that has an attraction detours me though as I picture boat loads of people coming in and packing the whole resort so that there is no seclusion or privacy. I am not looking for disney world. Is it recommended to get a room with the ac as I am recommending it to my friends? Who wants to be uncomfortable while they sleep.
What is the water like at this time of year? I know typically on Cayman Brac August is relativley calm most of the time at this time of year with the occasional bumpy day where as december is rough most of the time. I also know that seaitch season is ending on Cayman Brac around this time, but what about Roatan? I have a severe allergy and need to take special precautions if the season is not over by that time. When is the season there? Are there any sightings of whale sharks around this time as that would be a dream come true. I have read that most sightings happen in Utila, but I am keeping my hopes up.
I am also a scuba instructor and plan to finish couple of my friends open water dives while we are there. What are the shore diving entry points like? Are they off of sandy beaches or is it iron shore entry? Are the shore spots at the resort easy to get too and shallow with lots of sandy areas so that my newbies can master their skills woth out damaging anything? I am sure that the dive shop can help us pick a good location when we get there I would just like to know that there are good access points before we get there. What is the rental gear like? I have seen some pretty bad stuff out there and don't want to end up with any of that stuff on my friends.
I think that is all of my questions for now. I am sure that more will come. Thanks to any that help with the info.

T
P.S. I tried the search tool and end up with a page error. So any info you have would be great. Thanks

 

[Doc]

Best beach (and only) is at Paya Bay or Fantasy Island. FI also has a pool but their dive op doesn't measure up to Anthony's Key or CoCoView. CCV is isolated by being on its own seperate island- you can rent secluded beach houses there, and AKR is nearer to thw West End where you can party at a different bar each night. CCV has the only shore dive and the dive op is world standard along with the boats. AKR has a dolphin pen and slightly fancier dining that you have to cliumb 68 steps to enjoy. yes AKR can be quite busy, not only with day tourists, but because the main path thru it is the only road to a secluded village- so everybody comes marching thru.

FIBR has the fanciest dining, such as it is, but quality and service is unpredictable, The dive op is trying real hard, but pinched for $. I believe they also have tennis and some terrestrial sports of that ilk.

Paya Bay has a nice beach and a great view- nothing more.

On West End there are several operations that you could get an ala carte package and have a little for everybody (but not a lot for everybody).

Roatan doesn't look like it will fit many of your expectations, sad (?) to say, there isn't much to do besides SCUBA and drink beer.

There is a rain forest canopy tour slide-for-life thingie, and iguana farm and natural gardens and water taxi tours. If you tried real hard you could get all that plus the horse riding in by two days.

Lting on the beach? Well, only at the two places I mentioned, FIBR you can kind of get away with topless, and anywhere you'll be needing bug spray, the no-see-ums.

August can be rainy. I was there for two weeks and it rained for one day- go figure. Allergy season? I would imagine it runs all year long depending on what you're alergic to. If you're talking sealice- take benadryl or if you're really reactive, epiject. On the South side (FIBR & CCV) we didn't need a/c, the fanms were fine, at least at CCV. I'm sure on the North side it got pretty moist.

If you want the best shore dive environment, perfectly suited to OW dives for certification, I can only recommend CCV. Their front yard is literaly a swimming pool amid the ocean. Their rental gear at DockSide Dive Center is always in great shape and will be just going through it's 18 month replacement cycle by Christmas this year. Always nice staff at dive shop. No other resort has a real shore dive that comes close.

Getting married and doing students open water dives. Is your name Martha Stewart?

I absolutely guarantee you'll see whale sharks. So that ought to be okay, right? Just tip the DM. (I've seen 'em on shore dives from CoCoView, but you never know!)

RoatanMan

 

[LibbyinDC]

I went there while on a cruise. It was the dive site for the cruise passengers on Norwegian.

My mother and I did a resort course scuba diving adventure and we both loved it. (This is what actually sealed the deal and made me want to get certified.)

The resort is not exactly beachy like you would think when you think of the Caribbean. There are plenty of places to lay out and it seemed like they had lots of activities available (such as horseback riding, etc.)

If you are really interested in compiling a list of non-scuba related activities in Roatan, I would suggest that you check out the thread on cruisecritic.com. they have some very valuable information on non-scuba activities.

There is supposed to be a great day spa on the island. Also, a note about the beaches,.... a lot of our fellow cruise passengers complained abuot sand fleas and no-see-ums.

Good luck!
Libby

 

[mjnansen]

You might want to check www.roatanet.com for ideas on what to do on Roatan- there is also a great Yahoo news group you can look at. I've heard the canopy tour is a lot of fun. If I were getting married on Roatan I would probably do it at Paya Bay- it's beautiful and private, but there is really nothing else there yet. You might want to check out the Mayan Princess on the West End of the island- it's a lot closer to all the activities and are supposed to do a good job with weddings. Congratulations!

 

[BrettM]

Bob,

I stayed at the Inn of Last Resort a couple years ago and it was a very nice place. The owners and staff were great and went the extra mile to make their guests feel at home. The food was good and there was plenty of resident wildlife (monkeys, parrots, doges) to interact with. Very relaxed and tropical setting.

I did visit Anthony's Key while in Roatan and it has a far larger and more structured dive operation. ILR tended to stick to fairly conservative dive profiles at first and most of our group (light breathers) had plenty of air left as the signal was given to surface. After discussions with the owners we were allowed to dive our computer profiles and breath our tanks to 500 psi provided that we did not get too gonzo with either depth or deco limits. Nitrox was available if desired.

They mix a drink there called a "Monkey La La" that is great for unwinding after dives.

I highly suggest you take advantage of the night dives they were the highlight of our trip.

On our trip there were plenty of sand fleas anywhere we went so I'd suggest you pack some bug repellent. Some people in our group tended to get hit by these far more than others for some reason.

Enjoy