Thoughts on Coco View Resort, Roatan

[Kharon]

I cannot blame the resort for how poorly the RTB airport is run. It's very small for the number of people they are trying to move through and they seem to love their bureaucracy. Not Coco View's fault.

Nope - not saying it is. I agree - can't blame the resort. But it is something to take into consideration. It's part of the trip no matter whose fault. And it is agony.

 

[Doc]

Nope - not saying it is. I agree - can't blame the resort. But it is something to take into consideration. It's part of the trip no matter whose fault. And it is agony.

In that line if thought…
How ‘bout them gouging air fare prices?
Pure price fixing.., but - try and prove it.

 

[Damselfish]

Food is quality and plentiful. It's not a 4-star gourmet canteen; more of an upscale summer camp buffet. There's lots of options.

I wonder if it has actually gotten better or we have a different perception. It's one of several reasons we don't go back. I would call it downscale summer camp buffet with limited options, and not very good. (Especially for vegetarians.)

 

[junkyard_dawg]

I know you have already made plans for Bonaire but just wanted to add for others.

I went to Roatan and CCV for the first time in October. I've been to Bonaire almost every year since 2012.

I love Bonaire obviously and I'm returning in August '24. I also have another trip booked to CCV in '25, so I must have enjoyed my time there (the other 3 guys are returning as well) Food wasn't an issue for us, they had fried food most nights but also a grilled or broiled option every night I was there. I don't do fried food so that was a plus for me.

As @drrich2 mentioned, apple to oranges. I saw more seahorses in Roatan than I've ever spotted in Bonaire, the overall reef geometry is just different and sponges are huge compared to Bonaire. Bleaching was an issue but the cooler temps now will help some of the coral that wasn't completely dead.

I will still continue to make an annual pilgrimage to Bonaire but I enjoyed Roatan CCV enough that I will return.

Sad truth is Bonaire has drastically changed since I started going there. I wish I'd have seen it in the 90s.

 

[Knockneed Man]

So much talk of fried bad food at Coco View and so little talk of Anthony’s Key. Why did you limit your inquiry to Coco? Anthony’s Key has excellent food for every meal.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I wonder if it has actually gotten better or we have a different perception. It's one of several reasons we don't go back. I would call it downscale summer camp buffet with limited options, and not very good. (Especially for vegetarians.)

I'm an omnivore, not nearly a vegetarian, and I've never been to summer camp, but your camp had steak burritos with homemade flour tortillas? Surf and turf on the weekly "farewell" night? I was impressed with the variety--meat, fish, chicken, pasta, a salad bar, etc. The preparations were generally simple, but the food itself was decent quality and generally not too abused by overcooking or awful sauces (to my recollection). Sure, the fish was likely frozen tilapia and not an unlucky mahi mahi that cruised by Roatan, but I believe the CCV cook staff did the best they could with the ingredients they had, and they were reasonably creative about it. There was homemade pico de gallo-style salsa available (though you sometimes had to ask), and bottled salsa galore on the tables. I would call much of the food "homestyle"--not unlike the concoctions my wife and I make at home.

So much talk of fried bad food at Coco View and so little talk of Anthony’s Key. Why did you limit your inquiry to Coco? Anthony’s Key has excellent food for every meal.

AKR's food was worse than CCV's, in my opinion. Serving food at your table and dressing it up with garnishes and such does not make the food itself higher quality, and it certainly wasn't served in sufficient quantity at AKR to satisfy ravenous divers. See my detailed discussion of food in this AKR trip report:

Trip Report - Anthony's Key Resort (AKR) trip report - November 2013

My wife and I spent the week of Sat. 11/16/2013 through Sat. 11/23/2013 at Anthony’s Key Resort (AKR) on the island of Roatan, Honduras. It was my second time in the Bay Islands, having spent a week in West End and a month on Utila about 10 years ago, and the first time in Honduras for my...

scubaboard.com

Contrast that with what I said here in this CCV trip report, where I tried to convey the aspects I perceived as superior to AKR:

Trip Report - CoCo View Resort - August 2023

My wife and I and another couple with whom we frequently dive-travel made our first visit to CoCo View Resort the first week in August 2023. As there are many reviews of CCV posted here, rather than try to describe the whole trip, I will focus on the things about CCV that were notable to me...

scubaboard.com

 

[Knockneed Man]

^^^ So you’re basing it off your 2013 trip to AKR? You haven’t been since they opened their new restaurant? I was there this year and the food was fantastic… and more than plenty of it.

I was there in May for 8 nights and ate twenty something meals in the restaurant, and would dare to say that every meal was so great, that if it were any better it would border on pretentious. And I’m 225 lbs and like a hardy meal but don’t need or want a buffet food trough.

 

[Damselfish]

I'm an omnivore, not nearly a vegetarian, and I've never been to summer camp, but your camp had steak burritos with homemade flour tortillas? Surf and turf on the weekly "farewell" night? I was impressed with the variety--meat, fish, chicken, pasta, a salad bar, etc. The preparations were generally simple, but the food itself was decent quality and generally not too abused by overcooking or awful sauces (to my recollection). Sure, the fish was likely frozen tilapia and not an unlucky mahi mahi that cruised by Roatan, but I believe the CCV cook staff did the best they could with the ingredients they had, and they were reasonably creative about it. There was homemade pico de gallo-style salsa available (though you sometimes had to ask), and bottled salsa galore on the tables. I would call much of the food "homestyle"--not unlike the concoctions my wife and I make at home.


AKR's food was worse than CCV's, in my opinion. Serving food at your table and dressing it up with garnishes and such does not make the food itself higher quality, and it certainly wasn't served in sufficient quantity at AKR to satisfy ravenous divers. See my detailed discussion of food in this AKR trip report:

Trip Report - Anthony's Key Resort (AKR) trip report - November 2013

My wife and I spent the week of Sat. 11/16/2013 through Sat. 11/23/2013 at Anthony’s Key Resort (AKR) on the island of Roatan, Honduras. It was my second time in the Bay Islands, having spent a week in West End and a month on Utila about 10 years ago, and the first time in Honduras for my...

scubaboard.com

Contrast that with what I said here in this CCV trip report, where I tried to convey the aspects I perceived as superior to AKR:

Trip Report - CoCo View Resort - August 2023

My wife and I and another couple with whom we frequently dive-travel made our first visit to CoCo View Resort the first week in August 2023. As there are many reviews of CCV posted here, rather than try to describe the whole trip, I will focus on the things about CCV that were notable to me...

scubaboard.com

When we were there that surf & turf was lousy. Attempt at fancy for the sake of it but not actually any good.
Wasn’t necessarily ingredients. They did much better when they cooked local food. Would have been better if they stuck to that. Too many bad attempts at “american” food. Salad bar was like iceburg lettuce and a few toppings. That may have been about ingredients, or maybe simply a misguided idea of what a salad bar should be. But theres got to be interesting local veggies and things they could serve. They made great rice and beans, but I don’t want that all the time, and they didn’t have it all the time anyway.

It’s just not a food place. And thats ok, it obviously does the job for many people especially those that love the rest of the place. But if good food is important to you and something you look forward to when traveling, you’ll likely be disappointed in that part.

I’ve heard supply and availabilty used as an excuse for lame food on Roatan. Yet plenty of places have great food, so I don’t buy it.

 

[Doc]

ahh, the nets have devolved into rating the food quality as a deciding factor.

No subjectivism there.

SB moves closer to Twit Advisor every day.

 

[tridacna]

Anyone checked the pricing at CCV recently? The bargain days are over. 2025 pricing is insane. I've always been willing to withstand the mozzies and "hot and a lot" food choices but I'm reconsidering. What with SCLTD and crappy fish life and about the same price to go to Asia. Hmmm...