re: resorts in Roatan

[ns2ny]

My wife and I stayed at CCV last year and had a great time. Good diving, great folks, etc. It was a very well run dive operation. (I say "was" as the Canadian couple that were running it have since moved on but I can guess that the new folks are just as good.)


While we never stayed there, everyone I know that stayed at AKR raves about it. They said it was one of the most professional resorts centers they have seen. Don't get me wrong, I thought CCV was fine and we will certainly stay there again. IMHO it is geared more for folks that are a bit on the hard core side of diving and want to crank out as many dives as possible. (hell a guy did 34 dives the week we were there)

AKR with the Dolphin gig and location has a bit more diversity and seems a bit more family oriented.

As for FI, it is a stone throw from CCV so basically any shore diving you do at CCV can be done w/ FI. You may have to swim an extra 100-200 yards. I agree that FI is less focused on diving but they have a nicelittle beach and protected cove in case one just wants to be lazy...

my 2 cents worth....David

 

[TropicalDiver]

FI has changed MUCH for the better in the last couple of years. Different owners and management have made this resort a GOOD place to go. Dive center now offers basic, advanced, nitrox, and advanced specialty courses, as well as rescue diver courses. Over 4 boats going out when we were there this memorial day weekend. Lots of divers, full boats, and staff did a great job balancing all the demands of a full capacity week. Great food, AC rooms, etc. Don't think that this is the old FI, it's the new and improved one! Been there twice in past couple of years and LOVE it!

Check out my trip report in the Central and South America section of this site.

 

[Hullsner]

I've heard bugs are a problem what's up with that. And how are the boat charters set up do you go through the resort or what?

 

[TropicalDiver]

Hullsner -
Bugs are a problem - small ones that you can't see and leave a small circular red bite. Bring a spray (not propellant, or it will be confiscated upon return to US if you try to bring back) that has DEET and wear it ALWAYS - even on brief trips back and forth on the resort. Big bugs, like mosquitos were'nt problem for us.

Diving at FI is part of your inclusive package, if you book it that way (food and diving usual package). Would suspect other resorts have same thing.

 

[ryssyr]

I have a question: Why do the resorts in Roatan want to hold your passport? I'm pretty apprehensive about giving anyone my passport when I get to another country. Would a copy be sufficient?

 

[Doc]

I have a question: Why do the resorts in Roatan want to hold your passport? I'm pretty apprehensive about giving anyone my passport when I get to another country. Would a copy be sufficient?

The better ones will ask for them so as to facilitate and expedite the process of immigration/passport control, as well as the rebooking of your return flight. (Yes, I said re-booking) In Honduras, when you arrive with an RT ticket, the airline makes no assumption that you might be using the return portion. You have no reservation for that return flight back to the land of WallMart until they are contacted. As I said, better resorts will do this for you. Otherwise, you're on your own to either visit the office at the airport, or call them on the phone to do so.

You can opt out of all of handing it over, but you had better ask them what you will have to do on your own. I strongly suggest NOT asking them this if they are collecting them at the airport and asking them to lay out the precise details of the process. The arrival detention area of RTB is frantic at best and the person in charge of collecting passports is very busy with many things- not the least of which is clamping down hard onto a stack of passports.

I believe in over 50 times for me at RTB, I have only heard tell of one passport being misplaced. It occurred while it was given over to the hands of Honduran Customs/Immigration, but they located before the end of the week.

This procedure is also utilized by the more proactive resorts to get your seat assignment for your return. Most operations do not provide this service. Since the 2003 OP was about CoCoView... yes, the do this for you- if you let them. They used to gather the passports before customs and waltz you through it, but now they wait until day 2 of your vacation when they ask for the passport and your return ticket as well. There's zero security issue at CCV, but I'd rather they kept it in their a/c office safe- seems less moist and mouldy when they return it.

CCV used to be absolute masters of moving you through the process. Their staff who does this were former governmental functionaries or at least so connected that your arrival and departure was luxurious and seamless when compared to other visitors to Roatan. With the advent of demands from the US of increased government scrutiny over air travel, many of these spectacular niceties have gone by the wayside, but CCV still "delivers" at your airport process. Any problems, minor or catastrophic are easily handled by Nora- a woman who is a study in Central American manipulative skills. Tell her your problem, then sit there quietly. She will resolve it.

It is still a common procedure throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa that when you check into your hotel they do take your passport for the first overnight (or 8-10 hours) At this point, it is made available for inspection by the local police department to see if you have recently escaped from Casablanca with Rick. In Spain, the Guardia Civil could be observed in their relatively pompous ceremony of this otherwise simple act~ I recommended it as a tourist sport.

Understand that in many countries, there are multiple layers of governmental administration- so many types of legal system bureaucrats that you really can't tell the players without a scorecard. It keeps everyone employed and even better- they have a uniform. As funny as it may seem, go along with the process and flow otherwise they will likely delay your day. Don't smart off to cops like you may in the US. Homey don't play dat.

There is no such similar check in Honduras. Divers find this common practice disconcerting when they travel to the Red Sea.

Always retain a photocopy of the pertinent pages of your passport. All of your credit cards, too.

 

[diversteve]

The better ones will ask for them so as to facilitate and expedite the process of immigration/passport control, as well as the rebooking of your return flight. (Yes, I said re-booking) In Honduras, when you arrive with an RT ticket, the airline makes no assumption that you might be using the return portion. You have no reservation for that return flight back to the land of WallMart until they are contacted. As I said, better resorts will do this for you. Otherwise, you're on your own to either visit the office at the airport, or call them on the phone to do so.

Respectfully Doc, that wasn't our experience at all. A group of us spent a week on Roatan last May, staying at two locations in the West End and we didn't do any of that - just kept our passports with the Honduran Immigration document intact. Which they took back when we left.

We made no acknowledgement of our return flight - as you mentioned the phone system is pretty sub-standard, and frankly no one even discussed doing it - but when we showed up at the airport all of our seats were still ours. Completely full flights both ways.

Maybe that's what CCV likes you to believe - not sure why they do.

Wooh!! just noticed this thread is 5 years old...

 

[Doc]

Maybe that's what CCV likes you to believe - not sure why they do.

Probably just like everything else in Honduras... inertia, momentum and job security.

 

[georoc01]

We had them take our passports upon arriving at Anthony's Key and returned them the day before we were leaving with our boarding passes. Still had to check bags, but other than that, it did go smoothly.

The exception was if you were traveling through San Pedro Sula. They kept their passports andhad to handle that when they got to the airport. The only problem is that their bags were left in Roatan and two weeks later, she is still waiting hopefully for her bags to make it to the US. And like was said above, calling TACA can be a real challenge to speak to a human. If you are on a cell phone, be sure its fully charged before calling.

 

[cppike79]

I was there in 99, great diving. I got you beat 23 dives in a week. Don't bother with Fantasy Island, there emphasis is not diving, mostly ecotours and just laying back.

Not sure how it was in 99, but I would definately disagree with this statement about Fantasy Island. While I will agree that CoCo View does attract a more "hard core diver" group, whereas you do get many "Vacation divers" at FI, given the right motivation, and a good boat captain, you can easily do as many dives at FI as you can at CCV, and actually can make more boat dives to different destinations, as opposed to diving the house reefs twice a day (not to say that there is anything wrong with diving the house walls, as I could do hundreds of dives on them and be quite content).

I was there this summer, and we did 23 dives in a week (granted we were the only people we saw doing night dives on the PA all the time). Also there were no limitations on dive times, even though we did try to keep our dives around 60 minutes out of respect for the people on the boat.

If I go back I would be quite happy at either CCV or FI, but FI was a good bit less expensive at the time.

Brian