Just got back last night from my first trip there - WE LOVED IT. I'll post a trip report once I get my pictures processed....but some quick observations from a CCV newbie (myself and my newly-certified teenage daughter):
- Relatively easy to get to - 3 hour flight from Atlanta for us (connecting there from Boston)
- 20 minutes from Roatan airport
- VERY organized dive-op = great boats, great DMs, excellent/well-stocked dive shop. Patty Grier the dive shop owner is fantastic. New rental gear in great condition. In-house photo expert offering instruction, photo/video services, etc. Patty is also a trained paramedic and they have a resident, experienced RN who provides medical care on a volunteer basis = both were a huge help with my newbie daughter's ear issues....getting her back in the water despite some equalization issues.
- As much diving as you are going to find almost anywhere in one week = I didn't even dive as hard as I could have since I was there with my daughter (doing her OW check-out dives)...I got in 20 dives. Many folks managed up to 27 in a week.
- Arguably some of the best house reef shore diving in the Caribbean, with a wreck, 2 great wall dives to choose from
- Rustic but clean and comfortable accommodations - all right on or over the water. We stayed in an oceanfront room on the second level......great ocean breezes/views, hammock on our deck with deck chairs for relaxing. My daughter was glued to the hammock whenever we were back in our room.
- VERY RELAXED vibe = all I brought were t-shirts, 4 bathing suits and 2 pairs of shorts. Like diving camp for adults
- Great dive boats. We had some wavy conditions...re-entry through mid-boat "well" made things easy, even for my newbie daughter
- Good and plentiful food, buffet-style
- Great, friendly staff
- Mellow bar scene....not a big party/night life place
- All rooms were booked when we were there last week - things never felt crowded. We had 10-11 on our boat all week and were blessed with a very nice group of folks who jelled pretty well.
- Regarding cattle boat comments above - with 10 divers on a boat dive following a DM....things can sometimes get a little crowded when the DM or anyone else spots something interesting. This doesn't have to be a problem as long as you manage your pace/proximity to everyone else. Counterpoint - in the wavy conditions we saw last week (3-4 foot waves with occasional 6 footers), a smaller boat would have been pretty uncomfortable. The CCV boats were able to handle this and with the mid-boat entry, re-entry to the boat was much safer for those who were newer to boat diving (my daughter in particular).
- There are bugs..probably worse later in the summer vs. now. We applied bug spray and despite a few bites had no major issues. We sat outside quite often on our deck and really weren't bothered; consistent breezes probably helped with this.
- Marine life is more macro = lots of great small life; the only larger stuff I saw during the week was 1 turtle, a large tarpon and some sizeable grouper. Macro life was beautiful = more sea horses than I've seen in all my previous diving to date combined, morays, drum fish everywhere, tons of angels (queens, french, gray), butterfly fish, toad fish, etc., etc.
This place is really all about diving. No pool, no TVs, etc. If you like a relaxed atmosphere with a ton of potential diving and not many other distractions, this is the place for you. We are already trying to figure out when we can go back
Chris