Where to stay in the Bay Islands?

[laurenceh]

deep blue resort is run by steve fox and there's probably no one on the island that knows more about whale sharks, their skipper swin is great as well.
another all inclusive resort on utila thats running specials this summer is utopia. i believe its $900 a week all in, including your flight from san pedro sula or roatan. its the most remote of the resorts on utila and has about 16 rooms i think but the dive op is well run and the resort is pretty and comfortable.
fyi. september has been a good whale shark month around utila the last few years.

 

[dlofting]

I'm sitting in our rental house in West End at the moment, so thought I'd write down a few thoughts on why I like it here, while it's current.

We can pick from a number of good dive shops....Coconut Tree and West End are definitely the biggest operations but there are a half dozen other good ones.

We can eat at a variety of restaurants.....from 40 L ($2) baleadas to $20 lobster plates.

We can stay in a small room, large house or upscale hotel.

We have the option of a place with a kitchen, and can buy "groceries" from the back of a pickup truck, from a fish seller with a cooler, from a fruit/vegetable stand, from a small store or from a large supermarket (in Coxen Hole).

We can interact with all the locals - expats, English speaking 4th/5th generation islanders and Spanish only mainlanders

We can patronize a number of shops including the Roatan Marine Park....never mind spending my money there and may get the lionfish hunting licence, orientation, spear "pak" from them next time.

We can make friends with all the dogs and cats.....

These may not be things that are important for you, but for us they make the diving holiday complete.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Dlofting, it's all about perspective isn't it? I had to smile when you said West End Divers are a bigger shop.