Nuub
Registered
Diving -
East side: The East side of Roatan is is way better shape, IMHO than the West side. The variety of flora especially is stunningly different. Some places like Dos Hermanas, Single Rabbit, Calvin's Crack and many others had FIELDS of lettuce, coral interspersed with staghorns (gorgeous!) car sized barrel sponges, and large Elkhorns. I dove three/day over 7 days. The flora is generally more varied with the usual reef life. I was diving with only three to five other people at a time, and we never shared a site with another boat. We only saw CoCoView boats two times over 7 days of diving. You really get the whole site to yourself. Visibility was mostly great (80-100+), but occasionally clouded by rains down to 60'. Fauna was numerous and great, but few large fish. Oddly I only saw one turtle the whole trip. There looked to be more local fishing done here. (I don't begrudge people who HAVE to fish to feed their family. But i did see bigger fish including sizeable groupers and sharks during a Shark dive at Cara e Cara.). I passed my 100th dive on this trip and also managed to spot my first seahorse and shark on this trip. I spent my days eating, diving, and drinking beers in lounge chairs, thinking how lucky i was to be here, and marvelling at the Caribbean ocean.
The Reef House dive op - by divemaster Davit and captain Choco is top notch. The boat is older, but steady and spacious, easy to get around in, and getting out of the water is simple when Choco grabs your BCD and tank for you before climbing back on board, no ladder needed! Davit is very good at spotting critters and far off denizens, though he is sometimes distracted by hunting for lionfish. He knows his reefs like the back of his hand. Davitt will give you as much rope as you want. I just checked my computer and none of my 20 dives was less than 60 minutes and the dive profiles are well planned and executed. I have no hesitation whatsoever with recommending this dive op to all levels of divers!
> Shout out to Katie from Ottawa, my great dive buddy for the week!
West side: I dove only a few with Infinity, because I used them on a previous trip and really like their boat and divemaster Adam is one of the best I've met. This is a well-run, well oiled machine of an operation with safety as their main concern. However, my previous personalized, fun experience was a little less this time due to an influx of cruise and novice vacation divers. The early dive was great, because I guess only serious divers do the early trip and the afternoon dive was not fun at all, dominated by flailing, goPro stick waving vacay divers (If you have one, please don't go sticking it in front of other divers - that's bad form). The zen of diving was nowhere to be found. The structures and formations of the coral heads were more interesting than the east side, but there was definitely less flora than the east side. That said, there were more schools of larger tangs and more turtles on the west than east side. a few lobsters. Usual easy-to-find fish, some pedersons and red banded shrimp.
Topside:
(Expanded from my Tripadvisor review) The Reef House Resort is wonderful throwback to the early days of diving, this place must be like how diving was in the 80-90s. 12 'cabin' -like accommodations that were a couple of upgrades above basic. It's colorful and simple, not luxurious - but the 'resort' has satellite TV in every room and wifi worked pretty much all the time, except when the storms came in and interrupted the signal. RHR is on self contained island so septic and water use requires a little TLC (don't drink tap water and don't flush toilet paper). The food was good and at times sublime! Served in a big dining room family style which makes for good dive camaraderie! Good variety in food emphasizing fresh local fare, whatever is available. Though you don't get a choice, they do their best to accommodate your wishes, just let them know beforehand! It's an honor bar (awesome) get whatever you want when you want and tally it up at the end of the trip. Davey will fetch whatever you need from town, just ask! On a few Sundays they do a party for ex-pats and guests which is a lot of fun. Otherwise you basically have the whole place to the guests and it's laid back Caribbean goodness. Just relax and dive and have a few good conversations. Cool saltwater pool right in front, and you can go diving right off the front porch for more UW time if you wish. I went on a quickie night snorkel and spotted a couple of octopus!
Coming in on a long trip, I decided to split times between the two shores, but I did not get the dreaded cabin fever and actually extended my stay at RHR by a day before heading over to the other side. The hosts, Davey & Dulcia and Keith are great and Daisy, Jimmy and the rest of the staff are thoroughly helpful. It says something when i remember their names a week after the trip. Plus the resort is a great deal when you include stay, food and diving for all the same price. When i return to Roatan, this is where I will stay and dive.
Banaramana - it's good basic, accommodations on the West side. It's worth what you pay for it. You don't stay there for the luxury, you stay there for cheap and easy access to West Side fun. The thirsty turtle is actually a decent restaurant and Pizzarama is very good. The best deli, Mangiamo is a short walk away. The West Bay beach is the best. but also full of boats and people and activities and on certain days, cruise ship people and the vendors trying to extract as much money from them as possible. The beach is overrun on some days and is full of rude entitled tourists.
If you've gotten this far.. for diving, go to the east side of Roatan. RHR is highly recommended for value and laid back atmosphere, and fantastic sites.
East side: The East side of Roatan is is way better shape, IMHO than the West side. The variety of flora especially is stunningly different. Some places like Dos Hermanas, Single Rabbit, Calvin's Crack and many others had FIELDS of lettuce, coral interspersed with staghorns (gorgeous!) car sized barrel sponges, and large Elkhorns. I dove three/day over 7 days. The flora is generally more varied with the usual reef life. I was diving with only three to five other people at a time, and we never shared a site with another boat. We only saw CoCoView boats two times over 7 days of diving. You really get the whole site to yourself. Visibility was mostly great (80-100+), but occasionally clouded by rains down to 60'. Fauna was numerous and great, but few large fish. Oddly I only saw one turtle the whole trip. There looked to be more local fishing done here. (I don't begrudge people who HAVE to fish to feed their family. But i did see bigger fish including sizeable groupers and sharks during a Shark dive at Cara e Cara.). I passed my 100th dive on this trip and also managed to spot my first seahorse and shark on this trip. I spent my days eating, diving, and drinking beers in lounge chairs, thinking how lucky i was to be here, and marvelling at the Caribbean ocean.
The Reef House dive op - by divemaster Davit and captain Choco is top notch. The boat is older, but steady and spacious, easy to get around in, and getting out of the water is simple when Choco grabs your BCD and tank for you before climbing back on board, no ladder needed! Davit is very good at spotting critters and far off denizens, though he is sometimes distracted by hunting for lionfish. He knows his reefs like the back of his hand. Davitt will give you as much rope as you want. I just checked my computer and none of my 20 dives was less than 60 minutes and the dive profiles are well planned and executed. I have no hesitation whatsoever with recommending this dive op to all levels of divers!
> Shout out to Katie from Ottawa, my great dive buddy for the week!
West side: I dove only a few with Infinity, because I used them on a previous trip and really like their boat and divemaster Adam is one of the best I've met. This is a well-run, well oiled machine of an operation with safety as their main concern. However, my previous personalized, fun experience was a little less this time due to an influx of cruise and novice vacation divers. The early dive was great, because I guess only serious divers do the early trip and the afternoon dive was not fun at all, dominated by flailing, goPro stick waving vacay divers (If you have one, please don't go sticking it in front of other divers - that's bad form). The zen of diving was nowhere to be found. The structures and formations of the coral heads were more interesting than the east side, but there was definitely less flora than the east side. That said, there were more schools of larger tangs and more turtles on the west than east side. a few lobsters. Usual easy-to-find fish, some pedersons and red banded shrimp.
Topside:
(Expanded from my Tripadvisor review) The Reef House Resort is wonderful throwback to the early days of diving, this place must be like how diving was in the 80-90s. 12 'cabin' -like accommodations that were a couple of upgrades above basic. It's colorful and simple, not luxurious - but the 'resort' has satellite TV in every room and wifi worked pretty much all the time, except when the storms came in and interrupted the signal. RHR is on self contained island so septic and water use requires a little TLC (don't drink tap water and don't flush toilet paper). The food was good and at times sublime! Served in a big dining room family style which makes for good dive camaraderie! Good variety in food emphasizing fresh local fare, whatever is available. Though you don't get a choice, they do their best to accommodate your wishes, just let them know beforehand! It's an honor bar (awesome) get whatever you want when you want and tally it up at the end of the trip. Davey will fetch whatever you need from town, just ask! On a few Sundays they do a party for ex-pats and guests which is a lot of fun. Otherwise you basically have the whole place to the guests and it's laid back Caribbean goodness. Just relax and dive and have a few good conversations. Cool saltwater pool right in front, and you can go diving right off the front porch for more UW time if you wish. I went on a quickie night snorkel and spotted a couple of octopus!
Coming in on a long trip, I decided to split times between the two shores, but I did not get the dreaded cabin fever and actually extended my stay at RHR by a day before heading over to the other side. The hosts, Davey & Dulcia and Keith are great and Daisy, Jimmy and the rest of the staff are thoroughly helpful. It says something when i remember their names a week after the trip. Plus the resort is a great deal when you include stay, food and diving for all the same price. When i return to Roatan, this is where I will stay and dive.
Banaramana - it's good basic, accommodations on the West side. It's worth what you pay for it. You don't stay there for the luxury, you stay there for cheap and easy access to West Side fun. The thirsty turtle is actually a decent restaurant and Pizzarama is very good. The best deli, Mangiamo is a short walk away. The West Bay beach is the best. but also full of boats and people and activities and on certain days, cruise ship people and the vendors trying to extract as much money from them as possible. The beach is overrun on some days and is full of rude entitled tourists.
If you've gotten this far.. for diving, go to the east side of Roatan. RHR is highly recommended for value and laid back atmosphere, and fantastic sites.
