Upcoming Roatan trip ?'s

[wetminkey]

Yo! Y'all!
Having dove the Caribbean since 1972 (my wife since '88), we've hit all the great places, most before any number of divers got their chance! Now up for a cheap trip to a place we can get to fast from Colorado (tired of overnights, and "Take A Chance Airlines"). We love to "rough it", and do not shop or do the usual tourist stuff. SCUBA and UW photography is what we want, and we could dive in a saltwater puddle and have a blast! We snorkle and hike when off-gassing,...Two questions for your opinons: who to dive with, and where to stay on Roatan, this time. We were there several years ago and enjoyed Inn of Last Resort, although it's a bit isolated and all inclusive. Visited Anthony's Key for a dolphin dive (it was OK, a little crowded,...loved the dolphins!!),...and places like Fantasy Island are,...well,...WAY out of our league! We only need a room to store our gear and sleep, and enjoy getting to know the island and islanders. Advice? Thanks in advance!

 

[nipi]

Stay at Pura Vida & dive with West End Divers.

 

[Doc]

We love to "rough it"
Oak Ridge area- also Port Royal.
and do not shop
or do the usual tourist stuff.
Oak Ridge still in the running. Skip the West End.
SCUBA and UW photography is what we want
That means an AI resort, I would suggest CCV
We snorkle and hike when off-gassing
Snorkling, again- CCV. I've always been too busy diving. Hiking on Roatan may or may not be ill advised. Take nothing of value with you. Take water.
enjoyed Inn of Last Resort, although it's a bit isolated and all inclusive
Isolated? It's a short hop to the West end tourist zone.
Anthony's Key for a dolphin dive (it was OK, a little crowded)
Okay, it is what it is.
Fantasy Island are WAY out of our league!
If you mean that it didn't fit your needs and style, I would agree.
We only need a room to store our gear and sleep
lots of those- anywhere you go.
enjoy getting to know the island and islanders
If you want to take a shot at what is left of island culture, head East towards Oak Ridge and Port Royal.

You will find that since your last visit, Roatan has changed in many ways. Paved runway, almost universal electricity (altho unaffordable to most), a major influx of mainland "spaniards" to mix in with the island's indigenous poor Garifuna & the Cayman Cousins that still run the place. Everyone has cell phones and the roads still suck. Thjere really is no discernable island culture that is specific to the land mass. It is a Caribbean melange modeled by loud reggae music. Nothing bad- just no longer unique.

Remember- Roatan and the Bay Islands considered themselves to be subjects of the English Queen long after the Spanish speaking Honduras gained ownership. It is an English speaking island(s) being goverened by a foreign language management. You figure it out. What little indigenous culture that there was slipped away into the mist with the advent of satellite tv, FM radio and tourism.

The best of "island life" on Roatan is currently located on the nearby Bay Island of Utila.

 

[Bratface]

Doc A, I have to agree with you on the cultural aspects of Roatan. They don't call Westend "Gringoville" for nothing.

 

[wetminkey]

Wow! Thanks all! I know we'll not find a true "culture" to the island of Roatan, but what's fun is to head for the places the locals do their business with,...shops, food, etc,...When I was in the Navy, we'd head for the out of the way spots that the locals frequented. Found some spectacular spots for food, and entertainment, that way. An invitation to the Lion's Club homecooked dinner to judge paintings by the local kids at Ambergise Caye is a perfect example. In Little Cayman we had a great time on a trash hunt contest organized by our all inclusive resort as all of us bicycled to a picnic (didn't like the all inclusive idea, but had a great time helping to clean up the crap that tourists and natives alike leave behind!). My wife and I love to befriend the local population in short order, try to be accepted by them, and included in their local activities. We find even something as mundane as exploring a local (with the items the locals buy) grocery store great fun,...that's also a great place to meet locals. And when I speak of hiking, I mean explore. We're Colorado natives and usually make our own trails, rarely following where others have already been. We find fantastic sealife in areas others tell us "nobody snorkles or dives"! While diving we usually skirt the flanks of the group, and fall a bit behind, since the group can actually scare away alot of sealife. I do not trust divemasters anymore, since I've been diving longer than they've been alive in many cases, and several have proven their lack of skill and knowledge. If I had intimate knowledge of the divesites and sealife in the region, we'd charter, and I'd divemaster. CCV seems to be all inclusive resort and we'd like to not be locked into all services provided by the same place full of Americans or touists of some sort. We hardly left Inn of Last Resort (except for several hikes to West End, Anthony's Key, and a couple of other spots,...and one day of driving around the island,...saw alot, interacted very little, if any) because all our services were paid for. Utilla was great, but ran into too many international tourists, non-comitted new divers, and several people we know!
Any input on shore diving on Roatan,...that is the type of diving in which my wife and I seem have the most control. I am an expert underwater navigator and require only a recommendation of an area to dive. Thanks again, Todd.

 

[undefined]

wetminkey,

I can only speak to what I know of Roatan, so please take the advice of others into consideration as well. If you want to stay where there is something to do, go to West End. My wife and I dive with Coconut Tree Divers out of West End and absolutely love it. They only operate 4 dives per day and generally do not offer any shore diving. If more dives and/or shore diving is a requirement, you are better off listening to the advice of RoatanMan who can preach the merits of CocoView until your ears bleed.

The divemasters in West End are almost all young. Experience levels range, of course, but you won't find many who have been diving for more than 15 years. The benefit of this, however, is that many of them having been diving Roatan for close to a decade and know what to look for and the best dives in the area. Tell whoever you dive with your level of experience and let them know you don't want to be hearded around. Most places down there prefer to have divers dive their experience level, so if you want to do some on your own you need to express this to the shop unless you are going with an AI like CCV or FI.

As for a place to stay in West End, should you decide to go that route (and save a metric ton of money!), we have stayed at Lands End. It's a five minute walk to the diveshop in the morning. Rooms start at $50/night w/ king size bed, A/C, TV, and private bath. We liked the place, although you can get something similar for $10 - $20 less per night in West End. Food costs vary in West End, but we have seldom spent more than $35 for dinner. One of our favorite places is "The Argentinean Grill", where a filet mignon costs about $14 including side items.

Have a good trip!

 

[wetminkey]

Yo! Thank you undefined! We're absorbing everyone's input. We do like to save money, 'cause we don't require much, like to venture out on our own (either above, or below, water), and don't need anyone catering to us (again, either above, or below, water)! We spend VERY little time in our room and typically head out to explore after washing off the saltwater. I am quite particular about our gear, so I shower as my wife hands me each item and it gets rinsed, hung out to dry, and then she showers (I've got gear that's 35 years old due to this kind of care, including my 2ond stage, a Scubapro MK V!),...due to being on the island, we DO keep the water use to a minimum, but I've found that rinse tanks, etc,...do a VERY poor job, and regulators, especially, require this kind of care. Both I, and my wife, have always felt comfortable with two to three dives a day and with snorkling, we can spend nearly the whole day in the water (I can dive to nearly 30-35' on snorkle so it's quite a bit of fun!). We like to explore (hike) and the steeper, the better (Great exercise! On Saba, there's an eco-place called Ecolodge, and the hike must be nearly 1000 vertical feet in about two miles! We started hiking to it each day, just for fun and exercise during the week we were there!),...and we walk nearly everywhere,...bicycling (if longer distances) is our other preference. We only get to dive one week a year, and we've been to all the best that the Caribbean has to offer as far as we can tell. While recovering financially from our last trip, we'd like to return to a place we've been that's relatively cheap. I have a new Sony DSC-N1 UW digital that I'll have my wife shoot, while I continue to drag along my Nikonos V with Ikelite substrobe. I expect to see nothing new in Roatan, but perhaps we can get some "killer" shots of the usual Caribbean sealife! I'd sure like to hear more from each of you about your advice for our Roatan trip,...now that you better understand our requirements,...we're not your average American tourists/SCUBA divers! Thanks, Todd.

 

[Funkster]

Undefined:
Me and a friend of mine are going to Roatan March 29th to do our divemaster
internship courses at Subway Watersports at Turquise Bay Resort. We will be
there for two months through June 2nd so it seems we might run into you there!
It would be fun to have one of the Salva Vida beers that I've read so much
about and get some advise on Roatan!
By the way: Anyone got some opinions about Subway Watersports? How
far is it from Turqoise Bay to West End? TB is on the centre of the island.
How much would it be to go by taxi? Seems West End is the only place to
visit if you want some "nightlife" or at least have a couple of choices of where
to go have a meal and some drinks, is that true?

 

[undefined]

Funkster,

Come down to West End on Thursday, May 10th. I'm hosting the first Scubaboard party at Sundowners. Anyone who brings a copy of one of my posts here gets a free drink. (I dive with Coconut Tree, ask for the crazy blond with the hot wife).

In fact, stick around the next day and we'll dive together.

 

[PacketSniffer]

<snip>Two questions for your opinons: who to dive with, and where to stay on Roatan, this time. Advice?

Here's your chance for one heck of a dive trip. Roatan trip of a lifetime.