OP
Heymo
Registered
Thanks for the info Ike, both about the availability and the 1st class options. These are big with luggage restrictions these days! I'll look into it.
Want to dive Bay Islands in Oct... too many choices!
- Thread starter Heymo
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
Heymo, My wife and I are going to CCV in Oct. I'm sending a PM.
OP
Heymo
Registered
I've sent an e-mail to CoCo View to see if they have availability...we'll see what happens.
Anyone else have any experience with Laguna Beach Resort on Utila?
Anyone else have any experience with Laguna Beach Resort on Utila?
This is who does the booking for CoCoView: RoatanCharter.com
Later, Hawk.
Later, Hawk.
djcarro
Registered
I just got back from Utila after staying at Laguna Beach and had an amazing time. Not only was the diving great (we got to snorkel with a 20 ft whale shark), but the lodging was just what I was looking for. There was ample opportunity to socialize with other divers in the dining area/bar if you wanted, but the rooms were very private, air conditioned, and clean.
The management and staff were very friendly and approachable. Soledad and Matias were the two managers on duty while I was there and set me up with horses to ride, rides into town for nightlife, and even offered me special needs options for food. The bartender, Josue, was great and makes a phenomenal fresh pina colada, and also owns a bar in town if you happen to want to venture there. The boat captains were almost as enjoyable as the diving. The three I met, John, Kerry, and Wagner, were all characters. I never rode a boat with Wagner, but enjoyed many laughs with him as we were waiting for the boats to take off. John piloted us to the whale shark and has many interesting stories to tell. Kerry has an infectious laugh and showed us around the cayes around the island and even took us to his mothers house for a delicous home cooked meal. It was an amazing experience. As you can tell, I have nothing but good things to say about everyone I met there.
About the diving: The structure was pretty standard for dive trips; There was always an opportunity for 3 boat dives with the option of a 4th drop off dive every afternoon and night dives 2 times a week. We basically saw all the aquatic life you could hope to see in the Carribean (whale sharks, eel, octopus, turtles, rays, seahorses, batfish, toadfish, etc. Not to mention all the small juvenile fish and all the small coral life) and I was not at all disappointed at any of the sites we dove at.
As far as getting to Utila, there was a prop plane that took us there-- I don't remember the individual cost because they just put it on the bill. However, if you are more adventurous than I was, or you have a larger group, there were lots of boats in town that offered to take me to Utila for anywhere between 50 to 100 bucks a trip-(not per person!)
So, I hope the encyclopedia I just wrote answers your questions. Feel free to ask any more specifics.
--Dan
The management and staff were very friendly and approachable. Soledad and Matias were the two managers on duty while I was there and set me up with horses to ride, rides into town for nightlife, and even offered me special needs options for food. The bartender, Josue, was great and makes a phenomenal fresh pina colada, and also owns a bar in town if you happen to want to venture there. The boat captains were almost as enjoyable as the diving. The three I met, John, Kerry, and Wagner, were all characters. I never rode a boat with Wagner, but enjoyed many laughs with him as we were waiting for the boats to take off. John piloted us to the whale shark and has many interesting stories to tell. Kerry has an infectious laugh and showed us around the cayes around the island and even took us to his mothers house for a delicous home cooked meal. It was an amazing experience. As you can tell, I have nothing but good things to say about everyone I met there.
About the diving: The structure was pretty standard for dive trips; There was always an opportunity for 3 boat dives with the option of a 4th drop off dive every afternoon and night dives 2 times a week. We basically saw all the aquatic life you could hope to see in the Carribean (whale sharks, eel, octopus, turtles, rays, seahorses, batfish, toadfish, etc. Not to mention all the small juvenile fish and all the small coral life) and I was not at all disappointed at any of the sites we dove at.
As far as getting to Utila, there was a prop plane that took us there-- I don't remember the individual cost because they just put it on the bill. However, if you are more adventurous than I was, or you have a larger group, there were lots of boats in town that offered to take me to Utila for anywhere between 50 to 100 bucks a trip-(not per person!)
So, I hope the encyclopedia I just wrote answers your questions. Feel free to ask any more specifics.
--Dan
itsjustme0770
Contributor
djcarro describes the flavor of Utila nicely.
scuba066
Contributor
Just returned from Utila and Utila Lodge. Utila Lodge is great, nice clean rooms out over the harbor and only yards from the dive boats. And, the boats are very nice and the divemasters and captains are good at what they do. I loved the diving, nice easy wall diving then pop up for a nice long "safety stop" along the top of the reef. My only complaint is dive boat captains use the surface interval after the first dive to get as close to "home" as possible. So, you end up with alot of diveboats stacked up on the dive sites right outside the harbor. These sites were very nice, but, they see alot of pressure. The northside of utila is spectacular! My flight from San Pedro Sula to Utila was cancelled, but, the airline took care of getting me to Le Ceiba and getting to the ferry. So, it all worked out. In short, Utila Lodge, highly recommended. One caveat, if the lodge does not have many divers diving, you might not get to the north shore as often as you would like.
OP
Heymo
Registered
Thanks for all the great info! Dan, your "encyclopedia" is terrific, lots of the great details I look for!I have a inquiry into going to CoCo View, but I'm concerned about their flight (only a 45 minutes layover in Atlanta...not sure our luggage will make the connection) so if I can get that resolved we may go there. Otherwise I think we may try for Utila. If any of you will be there from Oct. 11-18, let us know...we'd love to meet you!
OP
Heymo
Registered
Well, we did it! We booked a week at COCo View from Oct. 11-18th. Many thanks to all who gave me great help and info on the various options. If you're going to be there that week...please make sure you say hello!
Similar threads
