Roatan Suggestions please

[toddthecat]

Bare in mind it's ALL a matter of preference. Everyone is different. My biggest thing about Roatan shouldn't be a problem for you. You see, I really like getting involved in local culture. I spend my vacation time, weeks at a time, on the other side of the Caribbean (Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Bequia, Union Island). I love being there because I can dive in the morning/afternoon and in the evening check out the island. I enjoy going to fish markets, little local rum shops, and buying chicken from a BBQ on the side of the road. I like having other things to see and do, enjoy the local music playing, etc. I might wake up and decide to go and swim in a natural waterfall or check out a local feature as opposed to dive that day. Roatan lacks that.

I stayed at Turquoise Bay as I got a good deal there (although I wouldn't recommend it after being there). I went to West End and just preferred CCV's dive shop since it was a great shop and closer to my location. I also went a few times to La Sirenia which is opposite the West End and even from Turquoise took quite a while to get to. Liked eating there and hanging out. I don't prefer to be lost in a sea of tourists. Roatan is extremely Americanized and I despise that, especially when I am on vacation to get AWAY from the U.S. It is the only place in the world where locals seem to refuse to speak their own language (I'm bilingual and enjoy using Spanish during my travels). I knew on the drive to Turquoise Bay after arriving that it was worse than I expected when I saw the Applebee's. I leave the U.S. to leave U.S. stuff behind.

As I said, to each their own. Preferences vary.

 

[diving4ever]

I'm a Cocoview devotee but it might be too isolated and really focuses on marathon diving. We usually get in 15-16 dives in a week there...and that's considered LIGHT diving. That said, the snorkeling from shore (and boat) is really good and they'll let you wife move between boats, so that she is more likley to be a good snorkeling spot.

But another option with be Barefoot Caye. Its a little more luxury and has better access to the rest of the island. I didn't snorkel there, so I can't advise on that.

 

[toddthecat]

Oh, and when I did venture out, I ran into groups of strange expats. If you like Jimmy Buffet and want to be in the presence of many copies of him as well as a bunch of other bizarre individuals, then Roatan is a treasure trove for that. I can't remember the one place I went but it was quite a way out. Above water setup with some tables, there was a bar, and a bad 3 piece cover band. All expats, all really weird. One guy looked like a whiter version of a Klingon High Council member:



Then there was the woman who was thrilled to tell me within 5 minutes about how great the health care for expats was, especially after she had been raped by an unknown assailant a few blocks away.

There is a place, if I recall the name, was called the Hole in the Wall. It was difficult to find since road signs are an undiscovered concept. Once found, you get a water taxi to this place. The expat running the place who introduced our water taxi looked like he had been marooned for many, many years.

Don't get me started on expat karaoke night at Turquoise Bay...

 

[chillyinCanada]

LOL, well, that's certainly one person's experience/perspective!

Mike, when do you plan to be on Roatan? I still think you can have a lovely time in West End, though the better snorkeling and loveliest beach is off of West Bay beach. West Bay beach is easily reached by a short inexpensive water taxi ride, after your dives are done.

Or you can even stay in West Bay, but if your vacation is during cruise ship season, then there are tourists all over the beach lounging in beach chairs and cluttering up the place.

There are places to stay in West End that will take give you some isolation from the madding crowds (hee hee) but also keep you within short distance to your chosen dive op.

---------- Post added October 8th, 2013 at 04:00 PM ----------

Did I understand you to say that $1200 for accommodations is your budget for 7 nights? If so, you are spoiled for choice of lovely places, whether in West End, or West Bay.

 

[diversteve]

Even at $1200 per person per week, I think Cocoview or Barefoot Cay are out of your price range. $100/nt buys a pretty nice place within 5mins. walking of the West End - or closer. Most of the shops, most of the restaurants, at least a dozen dive operators are all there. West Bay has a better beach but the cruise tourists make that less than desirable during the day. Many of the more affordable accommodations offer full kitchens - there's two small markets in the West End plus the food trucks in the mornings. They mostly sell fish and produce.

One of the best snorkels is off Half Moon Resort on the east side of Half Moon Bay. About 100' off the beach or you can enter at Half Moon Resort with a short walk. Besides Posada Los Orchideas look at Cocolobo - it's nearby and possibly a little nicer. That area is mostly ironshore though to the waters edge. With a several foot one-way drop to the water. I rented a house just west of that area so I'm familiar with the resorts there.

5mins. walk to the heart of the West End from there. You can just barely hear it at night. For something closer there's' Posada Arco Iris or Sueno Del Mar. Sueno is one of few West End properties on the beach.

This place recently came to my attention - they were building it last time I was there. Located about 1/2 way between West Bay/End. http://villasdelplaya.weebly.com/2-bed-2-bath.html - they advertise being on a nice beach with snorkeling off shore.

Nearby is Luna Beach Resort also - it's probably within your pricerange, is a modified AI resort and they have a snorkel trail delineated on their website. From there the West End is about 10mins. walk along the beach. At night on the road you'd want to take a cab - it's dark and there's an occasional robbery reported.

We also like Coconut Tree Divers. Good group and good people run it. No need at all for a car in the West End. The cab ride from the airport is $25 (fixed) and the cab stand is just across the street from the Coconut Tree (and others) dock. The water taxi picks up there also. They list a lot of accommodations in all price ranges on their website: http://www.coconuttreedivers.com/roatan/accomodations.html

For us West Bay didn't look as ideal. It seems to be a row of larger beachfront resorts with not much behind them. Rental houses in that area often list "5 min walk to the beach". As mentioned, take the water taxi over to snorkel in the afternoons after diving. The best snorkel is the west point from what I've read. The water taxi runs till about 9PM or later. Or it's a 2 mile cab ride back. That should be under $10 - under $5 if you negotiate and don't mention "cruise ship".

There were several boat dives we did that the mooring was in about 15-20' of water with a lot of coral reef surrounding it. Some are dual snorkel/dive sites although we were all divers so didn't do those. There's a deep wreck off the north side - El Aguila. Or the Prince Albert just off Cocoview. We dove it from Barefoot Cay. Dives in the West End run about 10/$300 due to all the competition.

Also there's the Dolphin snorkel at Anthony's Key. 5mins. by cab from the West End.

Cocoview and Reef House Resort - while both have good shore dives and snorkeling, are pretty isolated. Both on ironshore so there's no beach.

Barefoot Cay has nice snorkeling, nice amenities and does small group valet diving. From the beach there you can snorkel in a huge lagoon - the fringing reef further out protects it. Nice beach also. Probably double your budget +. The lofts shore side are as nice as the villas and go for a lot less. And they're upstairs so the view is better. BFC is in sort of an industrial area though so there's commercial ship traffic sometimes during the day - mostly behind the resort to one side.

If they re-open Fantasy Island in time (ever?) - it might be an option. Nice beach, they're on the opposite island from Ccoview and share the shore diving/snorkeling. FIBR was older and is being refurbished - it was a better deal than CCV.

 

[zeppelindiver]

In our experience the question of whether or not there is "anything to do other than dive" on Roatan depends greatly on your definition of things to do. If you stay in an isolated resort like Turquoise Bay, Paya Bay, Media Luna or Palmetto Bay then you are a long drive from anything else, people go there for the isolation, to relax and enjoy the beaches & resort. They're not looking for activities or nightlife.

Others like all the activities available on the island & want to be busy all the time, there are 5 zip line companies; you can do mangrove sightseeing tours; day trips or overnight excursions to Port Royal, Pigeon Cays or Cayos Cochinos where there are few tourists & stunning nature; Paya Bay Resort is worth spending a day at even if you're not staying there and they will welcome you. There are nature parks such as Gumba Limba & botanical gardens such as Carambola Park & Blue Harbour Arboretum; or how about a 2 to 4 hour dune buggy tour through jungles, beaches and local villages?

There is a lot of history in the area, for example Port Royal was a stronghold of Capt Henry Morgan's and the ruins of his fortifications are still there on Fort Cay in Port Royal. The Yubu Garifuna experience towards the east end of the island is a fascinating look into another part of the history of Roatan. Regarding the language spoken, Roatan was an English colony for centuries and most of the old families that have lived on the island for generations all speak English, that IS their native language. In fact, if you meet someone that only speaks Spanish they are not likely a native Roatanian, they will have moved here from mainland Honduras. Whether or not you find local culture depends on where you go and your expectation of what the local culture is.

The West End/West Bay area of the island is very touristy & Americanized, the people that go there like the variety of dive shops, restaurants & cafe's, bars, boutiques, and more dive shops. West End is a lot of young people, backpackers, and those that like the evening action. There are places to stay right in West End, if you want a great hotel that is within walking distance of West End but out of the heart of the noise take a look at Cocolobo, a great small hotel, or the Lily Pond House, a really nice B&B. If you want to be on the beach & not expensive check out Lost Paradise or Sueno del Mar. West Bay is mostly large American style hotel resorts, a lot of all-inclusives, and caters to tourists that like to bring their home lifestyle with them. It does have one of the top 10 ranked beaches in the Caribbean & it is incredibly busy on cruise ship days, but even at the height of the season that is only Tues through Thurs so those are good days to go explore elsewhere. Over 2/3 of Roatan is undeveloped jungle with the only access to many villages being by water through canals cut through the mangroves, the secret is to talk to locals, not tour operators.

There are excellent snorkeling sites right in front of the beaches at West Bay & Half Moon Bay, West End, as well as off Coco View resort, Media Luna & in French Cay Harbour & Port Royal. The diving in the 3 main areas of the west end of the island, south shore, & east end are all excellent and all these areas are different. Coco View Resort is a dive maniac facility that is statistically the most returned to dive resort in the world, they had one guest come back for his 100th trip last year, so that says a lot about the quality of the experience there. Barefoot Cay is a luxury valet dive operation on the south shore with outstanding service & facilities and some great dive sites right in front of their front yard.

Finally, we operate a diving & sailing charter business that provides private trips for anything from half day sailing, diving & snorkeling trips up to week long all-inclusive diving & sailing vacations anywhere in the islands. This post is already too long so I won't get into the incredible variety & quality of the restaurants on the island. The Scubaboard Forum for the Bay Islands has a lot of info in the many threads about Roatan.

If you take a look at our website Zeppelin Dive & Sail | Roatan Live Aboard Sailing & Diving Charters it will give you a good starting place for information about Roatan & all the island has to offer. Even if you have no interest in our services please feel free to contact us with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands at zeppelinsail@gmail.com. We are more than happy to help anyone with questions about the area. Good luck with your decision & if we can help with any questions about Roatan & the Bay Islands just let us know!

 

[Jared Steadman]

Mike.
im currently doing my Divemaster with my fiancé at Octopus a Dive School, Sandy Bay. Best prices, brilliant people. 10 minutes away from the noise of the West End. Small, pleasant dive shop where they really know their onions.
We're staying at Seadancer (not sundancer) - also great value and on Sandy Bay. It's a self contained apartment with everything you need (but no tv). Great dock/sun deck.
Enjoy your trip.

 

[SayNo2Snow]

My preference is staying on West Bay, the beach is much nicer there than West End. If your wife doesn't dive and you want hotel/resort style accommodations I would recommend staying at the Mayan Princess Beach Resort or Infinity Bay. Both options provide for suite/apt. style accomodations in cases you like to cook in whether for breakfast / lunch / dinner or none. Mayan Princess also offers an AI approach and a buffet restaurant. Infinity Bay has a Palapa bar/restaurant and the food is great.

We prefer renting small beach house style accommodations and you can find several on VRBO. Savannah's Treasure is our favorite.


If your wife likes to snorkel there is some great snorkling right out front.

There are water taxi's (about a 10 minute ride) from West Bay to West End, West End is more of a party spot, whereas West Bay is a little quieter and laid back


Some complain about how West Bay can get crowded when the cruise ships come in. The pod people don't arrive till closer to noon so you can get 2 morning dives in and go sight seeing on the days the cruise ships are in. There is plenty to see and do on the island


For diver operators my 2 favorite are both on West Bay, they are in order Mayan Divers (located on the Mayan Princess Resort) and Bananarama, both are excellent. Mayan has bigger boats. Bananarama uses panga boats. Henry Morgan is another resort and dive operator on West Bay, I've not gone diving with them but they have big cattle hauler style boats, (which provides lots of people to visit with during dive intervals)

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me

Roatan is a great destination,

 

[Doc]

If they re-open Fantasy Island in time (ever?) - it might be an option. Nice beach, they're on the opposite island from Ccoview and share the shore diving/snorkeling. FIBR was older and is being refurbished - it was a better deal than CCV.

Better deal? No, it was cheaper than CCV. FIBR also was much newer than CCV, it just looked old. Otherwise, it was an lengthy ongoing nightmare. Time will tell if there will be a resurrection, but this type of PC description caused the trainwreck to continue long past it's time.

Probably 4 2 tank dives at least.
I snorkel with her so once I come in from a dive trip, we hop on a boat and go snorkel. I'm in the water ALL DAY!

Isolation? Well, depends on the amount of Cruise Ship and other foot traffic. If there's a lot of that going on, I would prefer isolation if within means.

That is the most telling bit of information, and this is going to make it a tough one.

I think maybe what you are saying is that you want 4 days of 2 tank boat dives. As said before, for Roatan, this is easy to obtain at any dive operation. If you want 3 or more dives each day, the only economical way to do this on Roatan is with an AI. Since you are good with 4x2, the world of Roatn's West End Day-Dive Ops is your oyster.

Many people think (imagine) they're going to do the Day-Dive Op route and bang out 4 dives a day, each day for a week. Likely a very tall order, bearing on impossible. Costly and a lot of rushing about. Your requirement fit into West End perfectly. Cost effective buying a ten-dive package and not hard to do a two tank boat for four days. Easy breezy~ West End is fine for this.

The tough add-in is where you want to get off the dive boat and do the snorkel. Again, pretty do-able in a West End setting, but if you are trying to avoid cruise pod people, you have specified the exact template for any visit these hordes are likely to make, and you will be at the epicenter of impact.

Consider food in your computation, as well. Think about it in terms of "time required" as well as actual cost. In your case, the raw time required to get food (either shop & cook or hit a restaurant) is not terribly important because it won't intrude on the dive schedule that you selected. Ths again is where AIs come into play, making them better choices for the Nitrogen junkies among us- the only way to do 27 in a week is by AI, and getting fueled-up is a big part of that mathematical equation. Again, you have no such constraints on time, you can shop, cook, or not fret over "island time" wait staff and service. There are many great little dining opportunities available on West End.

Do not ignore actual cost of food, either. Compared to most other islands, the Bay Islands can be easy to eat cheap, but you can rack up some serious costs pretty easily, as well. Just consider that as part of your computation, and again- this is a another factor and feature in comparing West End Guest House options versus AIs.

Glad you have no desire to rent a vehicle. Live a long and healthy life, a good plan.

After many years on SCUBABoard, it's refreshing to see some of the posts above that affirm that the search for "Island Culture" is a fool's errand on the Bay Islands- unless you're talking about the Jimmy Buffet drinking "vibe". There are no historic forts to pose next to the canons, no sugar mills, no... nothing. There are some contrived attractions from zip lines, ATV tours and the standard island Shark/Dolphin canned dive experience, but if there was anything you would figure it would be on every brochure- and it aint. The big money plugged-in a nice golf course that will further destroy the North Side reef structure, the aforementioned Applebees, another try at a crappy wannabe Casino, and yes... TWO Bojangles Chicken joints- so how can you beat that? If only the miniature golf place was open more predictable and they served rum drinks- that would be a real remarkable island diversion. Drunk mini-golf with Hunter Thompson is really on the top of my list, but I diverge. Roatan is about as Americanized as South Texas- again- Hunter woulda' loved this place. I love the Bay Islands, but it is what it is.

Again, what you are looking for is easily available on West End, and but for the clockwork predictability of swarms of Pod People, it suits all your points very well.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Check out Sueno del Mar. It might just tick all your boxes. Oh wait! They are beachfront with the beautiful view but don't think they have a pool.