FettSolo
Contributor
Why Cocoview?
I mean, I'm on Scubaboard... that should be enough reason! I did my Divemaster on Utila back on 2012, and so I have been curious about diving on Roatan for a long time. More recently, I was feeling very over liveaboards (I don't get sick, but I never feel 100% either), and so I wanted somewhere I could dive a lot but stay on land. And as is frequently suggested on SB... go to CCV!
Booking and Cost
I had a $900 voucher for Bluewater Travel (left over from a cancelled trip a few years ago), so I decided to book the trip through them. That was admittedly a frustrating experience. My agent made a couple errors along the way, most of which were annoying but trivial. However, the kicker came when she sent my final invoice and it included a single supplement fee of $450, when we had been e-mailing for weeks with zero mention of a supplement fee. At this point, I was fed up and sent an e-mail to the Bluewater COO, who agreed to split the cost of the fee with me. Final cost was $2,681.16 (not including my aforementioned voucher) for the full 7 night package, including staying in a beach house. I spent an addition $159 for nitrox and marine park/hyperbaric chamber donations.
Getting There
I flew American Airlines from Boston to Miami, then Miami to Roatan. Return trip was the same. I used a $125 AA voucher, so the cost of the flights came out to $465. CCV's package included airport transfer to/from the resort.
Accommodations
I booked six months out, thinking that was early enough. Apparently not, because the only accommodation available was a beach house. I would have been fine with a room, but the beach house was lovely. It was a full-size house - definitely felt like too much for one person! The house was an easy 5 minute walk (or 2 minute bike ride, and there were free bikes to use) from the dive boats, restaurant, etc. It was so nice and quiet at night.
Food
As part of the CCV package, breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are included. Food was plentiful and decent. it is definitely a bit on the plain side; the habanero hot sauce helped with the more bland items. I do think it is a shame that baleadas are not on the menu; I basically lived on those when I was on Utila! I think the menu could be a little more diverse, but it is satisfying overall.
Diving
I loved having my own cubby to set up my gear and leave it for a week. With nitrox, the staff leaves tanks there for you to analyze and log yourself (there is an analyzer and binder). There are multiple boats going out every morning and afternoon, though you are usually assigned to the same boat for the week. Otherwise, you can grab tanks 24/7 to go diving in the "front yard." It takes roughly five minutes from the shore to reach the wreck of the Prince Albert, as well as a plane wreck. I loved having that available all the time; I know it could seem repetitious to some, but there was so much to explore that I never felt bored!
Since I arrived on a Friday, I had an unorthodox schedule. I did my orientation dive that afternoon and then went for a solo night dive. On Saturday morning, I went out on a boat and did the typical CCV schedule of a boat dive with the divemaster, followed by a drop-off dive on one of the walls on the way back. Same schedule for the afternoon. I was switched to the Coco I on Sunday, where I stayed for the rest of my trip. I ended up doing 26 dives total. 10 dives on the two drop-off wall sites, 5 shore dives in the front yard/Prince Albert, and 11 dives on the various sites reached by boat.
The divemaster on the Coco I, Gringo, was amazing. I was mainly shooting macro photography, and he had a real knack for finding the tiniest creatures for me - skeletal shrimp, bullet worms, nudibranchs, etc. If I returned to CCV, I would definitely request him! Otherwise, I saw sea turtles, squid, large groupers, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, a nurse shark and an octopus. The Prince Albert and plane wrecks were fun to explore, as was another wreck we visited on a boat dive (the Bud).
Non-Diving Activities
There was live music most evenings, which was pleasant. My last night had fire dancing, which was very cool (or should I say, very hot?). There are various tours to do on Roatan, but I wasn't interested in spending more money to not be diving! I did spend some time walking around to see and photograph the local terrestrial wildlife (agouti and the endangered Roatan spiny-tailed iguana).
Bottom Line
CCV held up to its positive reputation here on SB! I had a wonderful time. I understand now why people return again and again, and I could easily see myself coming back in a few years.
I mean, I'm on Scubaboard... that should be enough reason! I did my Divemaster on Utila back on 2012, and so I have been curious about diving on Roatan for a long time. More recently, I was feeling very over liveaboards (I don't get sick, but I never feel 100% either), and so I wanted somewhere I could dive a lot but stay on land. And as is frequently suggested on SB... go to CCV!
Booking and Cost
I had a $900 voucher for Bluewater Travel (left over from a cancelled trip a few years ago), so I decided to book the trip through them. That was admittedly a frustrating experience. My agent made a couple errors along the way, most of which were annoying but trivial. However, the kicker came when she sent my final invoice and it included a single supplement fee of $450, when we had been e-mailing for weeks with zero mention of a supplement fee. At this point, I was fed up and sent an e-mail to the Bluewater COO, who agreed to split the cost of the fee with me. Final cost was $2,681.16 (not including my aforementioned voucher) for the full 7 night package, including staying in a beach house. I spent an addition $159 for nitrox and marine park/hyperbaric chamber donations.
Getting There
I flew American Airlines from Boston to Miami, then Miami to Roatan. Return trip was the same. I used a $125 AA voucher, so the cost of the flights came out to $465. CCV's package included airport transfer to/from the resort.
Accommodations
I booked six months out, thinking that was early enough. Apparently not, because the only accommodation available was a beach house. I would have been fine with a room, but the beach house was lovely. It was a full-size house - definitely felt like too much for one person! The house was an easy 5 minute walk (or 2 minute bike ride, and there were free bikes to use) from the dive boats, restaurant, etc. It was so nice and quiet at night.
Food
As part of the CCV package, breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are included. Food was plentiful and decent. it is definitely a bit on the plain side; the habanero hot sauce helped with the more bland items. I do think it is a shame that baleadas are not on the menu; I basically lived on those when I was on Utila! I think the menu could be a little more diverse, but it is satisfying overall.
Diving
I loved having my own cubby to set up my gear and leave it for a week. With nitrox, the staff leaves tanks there for you to analyze and log yourself (there is an analyzer and binder). There are multiple boats going out every morning and afternoon, though you are usually assigned to the same boat for the week. Otherwise, you can grab tanks 24/7 to go diving in the "front yard." It takes roughly five minutes from the shore to reach the wreck of the Prince Albert, as well as a plane wreck. I loved having that available all the time; I know it could seem repetitious to some, but there was so much to explore that I never felt bored!
Since I arrived on a Friday, I had an unorthodox schedule. I did my orientation dive that afternoon and then went for a solo night dive. On Saturday morning, I went out on a boat and did the typical CCV schedule of a boat dive with the divemaster, followed by a drop-off dive on one of the walls on the way back. Same schedule for the afternoon. I was switched to the Coco I on Sunday, where I stayed for the rest of my trip. I ended up doing 26 dives total. 10 dives on the two drop-off wall sites, 5 shore dives in the front yard/Prince Albert, and 11 dives on the various sites reached by boat.
The divemaster on the Coco I, Gringo, was amazing. I was mainly shooting macro photography, and he had a real knack for finding the tiniest creatures for me - skeletal shrimp, bullet worms, nudibranchs, etc. If I returned to CCV, I would definitely request him! Otherwise, I saw sea turtles, squid, large groupers, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, a nurse shark and an octopus. The Prince Albert and plane wrecks were fun to explore, as was another wreck we visited on a boat dive (the Bud).
Non-Diving Activities
There was live music most evenings, which was pleasant. My last night had fire dancing, which was very cool (or should I say, very hot?). There are various tours to do on Roatan, but I wasn't interested in spending more money to not be diving! I did spend some time walking around to see and photograph the local terrestrial wildlife (agouti and the endangered Roatan spiny-tailed iguana).
Bottom Line
CCV held up to its positive reputation here on SB! I had a wonderful time. I understand now why people return again and again, and I could easily see myself coming back in a few years.
