Utila or Roatan?

[halocline]

I was going to say sort of what Will did; look at renting a nice house in West Bay or between West bay/West End. I saw what looked to be some nice houses walking along the shore between them. None of the hotels I saw in west end woul even remotely qualify as American style luxury hotels, maybe that's why I like the place so much. I suspect that the resorts or rentals in West Bay are much more upscale; it's generally a more expensive and built up area. That's also where the nicest beaches are...so they say. (I've only stayed in the west end) You'd have to talk to the Coconut Tree crowd to figure out how you'd get to their shop in west end every morning, but I'm sure people do it all the time.

 

[ian jorsta]

If Utila look up Deep Blue Utila swim with whale sharks at our all inclusive resort. Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras. I think thay might be what you are looking for.

 

[diversteve]

I think this is where I'm staying when we go to Utila next spring.

Utopia Dive Village Scuba Diving Fishing Spa Carribean Resort :: Utila, Bay Islands :: Honduras

 

[Flight1ok]

Any particular dive charter yall would go with from cocoview?

 

[DECKHAND]

In Utila you want to stay at Mango Inn, Utila, Accommodations on the Bay Islands of Honduras - Central America Utila is a much ,much slower pace no much to do but diving ,You will have more fun in Roatan at West End there are more bars and restaurants also the diving is great please see my others posts.Good luck and happy diving .

 

[Sloeber]

I just spent time on both islands. I absolutely loved Utila, much moreso than Roatan (personal choice Roatan is still great), but from what you've posted I'd say Roatan is more your speed for no other reason than the women involved.

How long do you have? You could always dump the ladies for 2 or 3 days by leaving them at Roatan and head to Utila as a guys trip. Utila sounds to be exactly what the guys in your group seek. Ferry over and back and find a $10/night hotel and its a cheap, easy way to experience Utila but keep the ladies happy.

 

[Sorrows]

After reading over this thread, I feel strangely compelled to say that there are many, many, many women who would adore a trip with 4-5 dives a day, detest shopping, can't abide laying about on the beach all day, and need little more than comfortable lodging with hot water and decent food. You guys make it sound like we're all a bunch of wussies.

That said, any adivce that begins "you could always dump the ladies" is bound to be bad advice. Sorry, Leopard Wrasse, but being dumped will NOT make anybody happy. I'm sure these two gentlemen can work out something that is agreeable to both husbands and wives without having to dump them and go off somewhere on their own.

I've only been to Roatan once--in early January. The weather was awful; we were lucky to get two dives a day and even that was iffy. We stayed at AKR, which was nice enough (except for the weather and the stomach flu that went around and the mediocre food) with lovely, rustic cabins, plenty of hot water and a place to plug in your hair dryer.

Isn't this a moot point, anyway? It's kind of late to book something for Christmas-New Year's, isn't it? We booked Bonaire for Christmas 6 months ago and still didn't get the place we wanted!

 

[JCDdiver]

Are there recommended places to stay and dive on either island? The only site that seems to get pretty rock solid reviews on Roatan is Coconut Tree.

We just got back from 8 days at Coco View yesterday and would recommend it to anyone who wants to dive and/or relax. You can dive as much as you NDL allows.

 

[JCDdiver]

Any particular dive charter yall would go with from cocoview?

Coco View has their own boats. The easiest place to dive that I've been to. Just show up at your boat and your gear is already set-up and waiting on you.

 

[sbaggs]

From a female perspective...my husband and I spent a week on Utila and then a week on Roatan last spring. Didn't do much in Utila except dive, dive, dive and swim with whale sharks, which was awesome. Spent more time on the beach on Roatan and less time diving, although we did some diving there as well. We stayed near the West End, but walked to West Bay Beach almost everyday. There were some really cool houses along the walk that you can rent...we wished we had gone that route. West Bay beach is a really nice beach. They have lounge chairs you can rent if you feel the need. You can also rent raft type lounges for the water. I'm one who also enjoys a nice beach, and I thought this beach was awesome. Nice white sand, awesome water, great snorkeling right there. It's also a great place to people watch. I had no problems with bugs, but I was diligent about using bug spray. Once you see the people who didn't use bug spray, it makes you even more diligent! I agree that the Mayan Princess looked nice and it's right there on the beach, but I have no idea about the cost.