cleung
Contributor
Thanks to everyone here for their input in my planning for my April trip to the Bay Islands. Just come back so I thought that I would contribute my trip report - it will be in two sections, one on Utila and another for Roatan.
Arrival
Our flight arrived in Roatan at noon and the customs area is quite small at the airport with long lineups. Fortunately, an arrival volunteer got us to the front of the line since we told her that we had to catch the 2 pm ferry. Otherwise, it might have been too tight since the arrivals in Roatan are a mess. But we made it through quickly due to getting out in front and took a cab to the ferry terminal for the Galaxy Wave ferry which cost $20 (it was a short ride that we suspected was only $10 but since we were in a hurry and the $20 was shared among three of us, we did not waste time shopping for a cheaper cab).
We got to the McNabb Maritime Ferry Terminal and the cost of the ferry to La Ceiba on the mainland was $33. Once in La Ceiba, the luggage was a mess. They wheel all the checked luggage into an area at the dock and there is no organized lineup of passengers to claim their luggage. We just had to wave over one of the attendants when we saw our luggage. Then it was over to the next building to catch the Utila Princess ferry to Utila at 4 pm.
However, the Utila Princess was shut down for some reason but fortunately a new ferry called the Utila Dream just next to that was running, also at 4 pm. Lineups to get on that one were big since it was the only ferry to Utila running but a good thing was that they were charging only $5. As a result of this low price, a lot of locals were headed to Utila for the weekend but our overcapacity ferry made it safely to Utila. Once there, it was another luggage mess as again, these people just wheeled all the checked luggage at once onto the dock with all the passengers all over the place. We saw our luggage and quickly claimed it.
Gunters Ecomarine Dive Shop
A really nice service gesture we got from Gunters Ecomarine Dive Shop was that they were waiting for us at the ferry dock. They had arranged this for us in advance so instead of walking or taking a cab to our hotel, they had their dive boat there to take us and our luggage back to their dive shop where we dropped off our dive gear.
Positives
- the communications with Tara from Gunters in advance of our trip was great
- the location of Gunters was a three minute walk to our hotel, the Colibri Hill
- of course the pickup from the ferry dock was a nice initial impression, another staff Brian even walked us over to our hotel after we dropped off our dive gear
- our divemasters Trav and Shaun were very helpful as well as captain Steve
- the schedule of dives were nice too enabling us to get to dive sites when other dive operators are not there and we had the flexibility of time for the rest of the day - one day we even stopped at a fishing village for lunch and we ended up going around the entire island
- the dive shop dock was good
- the prices of their dives were very reasonable, we even had a nice discount since we were staying at their partner hotel the Colibri Hill
- as another nice service gesture, Tara organized our departure boat direct to Roatan after our stay with Bushes Charters so we did not have to repeat the double ferry via the mainland again for our return trip to Roatan
Negatives
- the Gunters dive boat is a bit below average in my opinion as there is no seating where the tanks are and there is no head on board - their covered area is also a bit small for those who want to be sheltered from the sun
- unlike dive trips in many other destinations, there were no snacks or drinks offered in between dives
- like most Bay Islands businesses, there was a hefty surcharge applied for credit cards so we actually had to bring a lot of cash with us on this trip
Although we really wanted to see whale sharks, there were no sightings anywhere during the three dive days we had and captain Steve really did try his best to find them. Overall, I thought the staff at Gunters were very personable and I liked their flexibility with their dive schedules resulting in no other dive boats at the dive sites we visited. Despite their dated dive boat, I would recommend Gunters Ecomarine when diving in Utila.
Colibri Hill Resort
The Colibri Hill is a partner of Gunters and it was an easy three minute walk away.
Positives
- the location is off a side street which really helped in keeping noise from the motorcycles, tuk tuks and golf carts on the main street down.
- the room rate was very reasonable - I had a breezy 3rd floor corner room that was spacious for only $50 per night (AC was another $10 but I did not need it due to the breeze)
- the pool was refreshing and water temp was nice although there is no shallow end
- at this time of year, there were NO mosquitoes! But there were geckos.
- breakfast was included and they even started it early since we were diving early one morning
- email communications with Luzia were also good in advance of our trip
- wifi worked pretty good on site
Negatives
- the windows only had light sheers resulting in no privacy at all - I thought this was strange
- although they claimed hot water in their website, we had none throughout our entire stay - Luzia tried to make a technical excuse but the end result was no same = no hot water for the guests and no apologies or other amends were offered
- my bathroom faucet was loose - they were not even aware of it when I reported it
- the pathway was quite dark at night with a low chain near the hotel - very possible to trip
- hotel was too close to local residents who had noisy dogs at night
- no safe provided inside rooms nor soap aside from the body gel in the shower
- 20% surcharge for credit card payments so again cash was needed
- 50% deposit in advance required but no secure website to use credit card - I convinced them to being using PayPal
Overall, the Colibri Hill was okay as our base in Utila. We did not want to pay for the higher end inclusive resorts but we also do not know how this hotel compares with others in the same price range. We know that there are other hotels that do not have hot water for sure.
As for transfers back to Roatan, for those who do not want to pay for a quick flight, the water options are;
- two ferries via the mainland
- Utila Dream direct to Roatan but only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Lady Julia private boat but they need 5 passengers minimum - $45 per person
- Bushes Charters private boat - very fast boat at $45 per person
Arrival
Our flight arrived in Roatan at noon and the customs area is quite small at the airport with long lineups. Fortunately, an arrival volunteer got us to the front of the line since we told her that we had to catch the 2 pm ferry. Otherwise, it might have been too tight since the arrivals in Roatan are a mess. But we made it through quickly due to getting out in front and took a cab to the ferry terminal for the Galaxy Wave ferry which cost $20 (it was a short ride that we suspected was only $10 but since we were in a hurry and the $20 was shared among three of us, we did not waste time shopping for a cheaper cab).
We got to the McNabb Maritime Ferry Terminal and the cost of the ferry to La Ceiba on the mainland was $33. Once in La Ceiba, the luggage was a mess. They wheel all the checked luggage into an area at the dock and there is no organized lineup of passengers to claim their luggage. We just had to wave over one of the attendants when we saw our luggage. Then it was over to the next building to catch the Utila Princess ferry to Utila at 4 pm.
However, the Utila Princess was shut down for some reason but fortunately a new ferry called the Utila Dream just next to that was running, also at 4 pm. Lineups to get on that one were big since it was the only ferry to Utila running but a good thing was that they were charging only $5. As a result of this low price, a lot of locals were headed to Utila for the weekend but our overcapacity ferry made it safely to Utila. Once there, it was another luggage mess as again, these people just wheeled all the checked luggage at once onto the dock with all the passengers all over the place. We saw our luggage and quickly claimed it.
Gunters Ecomarine Dive Shop
A really nice service gesture we got from Gunters Ecomarine Dive Shop was that they were waiting for us at the ferry dock. They had arranged this for us in advance so instead of walking or taking a cab to our hotel, they had their dive boat there to take us and our luggage back to their dive shop where we dropped off our dive gear.
Positives
- the communications with Tara from Gunters in advance of our trip was great
- the location of Gunters was a three minute walk to our hotel, the Colibri Hill
- of course the pickup from the ferry dock was a nice initial impression, another staff Brian even walked us over to our hotel after we dropped off our dive gear
- our divemasters Trav and Shaun were very helpful as well as captain Steve
- the schedule of dives were nice too enabling us to get to dive sites when other dive operators are not there and we had the flexibility of time for the rest of the day - one day we even stopped at a fishing village for lunch and we ended up going around the entire island
- the dive shop dock was good
- the prices of their dives were very reasonable, we even had a nice discount since we were staying at their partner hotel the Colibri Hill
- as another nice service gesture, Tara organized our departure boat direct to Roatan after our stay with Bushes Charters so we did not have to repeat the double ferry via the mainland again for our return trip to Roatan
Negatives
- the Gunters dive boat is a bit below average in my opinion as there is no seating where the tanks are and there is no head on board - their covered area is also a bit small for those who want to be sheltered from the sun
- unlike dive trips in many other destinations, there were no snacks or drinks offered in between dives
- like most Bay Islands businesses, there was a hefty surcharge applied for credit cards so we actually had to bring a lot of cash with us on this trip
Although we really wanted to see whale sharks, there were no sightings anywhere during the three dive days we had and captain Steve really did try his best to find them. Overall, I thought the staff at Gunters were very personable and I liked their flexibility with their dive schedules resulting in no other dive boats at the dive sites we visited. Despite their dated dive boat, I would recommend Gunters Ecomarine when diving in Utila.
Colibri Hill Resort
The Colibri Hill is a partner of Gunters and it was an easy three minute walk away.
Positives
- the location is off a side street which really helped in keeping noise from the motorcycles, tuk tuks and golf carts on the main street down.
- the room rate was very reasonable - I had a breezy 3rd floor corner room that was spacious for only $50 per night (AC was another $10 but I did not need it due to the breeze)
- the pool was refreshing and water temp was nice although there is no shallow end
- at this time of year, there were NO mosquitoes! But there were geckos.
- breakfast was included and they even started it early since we were diving early one morning
- email communications with Luzia were also good in advance of our trip
- wifi worked pretty good on site
Negatives
- the windows only had light sheers resulting in no privacy at all - I thought this was strange
- although they claimed hot water in their website, we had none throughout our entire stay - Luzia tried to make a technical excuse but the end result was no same = no hot water for the guests and no apologies or other amends were offered
- my bathroom faucet was loose - they were not even aware of it when I reported it
- the pathway was quite dark at night with a low chain near the hotel - very possible to trip
- hotel was too close to local residents who had noisy dogs at night
- no safe provided inside rooms nor soap aside from the body gel in the shower
- 20% surcharge for credit card payments so again cash was needed
- 50% deposit in advance required but no secure website to use credit card - I convinced them to being using PayPal
Overall, the Colibri Hill was okay as our base in Utila. We did not want to pay for the higher end inclusive resorts but we also do not know how this hotel compares with others in the same price range. We know that there are other hotels that do not have hot water for sure.
As for transfers back to Roatan, for those who do not want to pay for a quick flight, the water options are;
- two ferries via the mainland
- Utila Dream direct to Roatan but only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Lady Julia private boat but they need 5 passengers minimum - $45 per person
- Bushes Charters private boat - very fast boat at $45 per person
