Roatan

Hello all,

My fiance and I are thinking of trying Roatan. We have been a fan of Cozumel for many years now. Any ideas on the best place to stay? Fantasy Island Resort? Anthony's Key Resort? Any others? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jason

How's the weather in Roatan at the end of February??

Thinking of taking the advice of all of the posters in this
board.

Thanks!
Pam

We love Cozumel too so it's hard to say either one is better than the other. Roatan is just different. CoCo View Resort fits our needs very well. It's not fancy, the food is good, and the unlimited shore diving is great. Four boat dives a day, 10-20 min. rides, take you to area reefs. There's not as much current as you'll find in Coz..usually, and the vis is only about 80ft. It's the vertical walls just offshore and the shipwreck that takes us back year after year....along with the people there, the parrots, the friends we see.....

CoCo View Resort

We were in West Bay at the end of March and Feb-Arpil is just about peak season. West End is kind of nice for a variety of dive schools, lower prices than Coco View (I'd guess). Check www.roatan.com for Honduras and Belize. There are a couple dozen resorts Roatan Charter handles. Been satisfied twice with their service.

We stayed in cute, declasse place for $45 a night, diving extra. I will also put in a plug for Cayos Cochinos, if you want to get away from it all. We stayed there 10 days in August and had a great time diving. Nothing much else to do but read, watch videos, drink beer, walk on the beach sea kayak and such. No casinos, no discos but no swarms of gringo turistas, either. Take yer pick.

My picture of Cozumel is one of a lot of development, though doubtless someone will point out how you can get away from all that. In fact, I thought that Roatan was overdeveloped. Resort by resort, cheek by jowl along the beach except where the real rich people had their enclaves with acres of green lawns.
Terry

I've been to CocoView 2 or 3 times in the past few years - never had a reason to go anywhere else on Roatan - good diving, good people, good accomodations -

let me know if you have any questions

I'll be going to Roatan Dec.1st for a week's stay. I'm staying at the Bay Islands Beach Resort. I'll be glad to give a trip report when I return, if anyone is interested. I just hope the rainy season has tapered off by the 1st week of Dec.

lildiver~

Hi All!
Check out the trip to CoCo View resort in the “group trips”. We had a great trip, loved the diving, food, accommodations and the friendly faces. Several divers wanted to return in the spring. Check it out! This will be my 4th trip!

Jeff

Hi

I decided on CoCoa View in Roatan, because of the reviews on
this board. Unfortunately, it's booked solid for the week we are going.

What other resorts on Roatan are good? Roatan charters mentioned Fantasy Island, but unfortunately, I asked if we could
do shore dives to the walls and they said no.

Which resort would you recommend other than CocoaView, and should we take the dive package or book a dive master ourselves? Do the resorts have cattleboats?

Thanks!

Pam

Hi

Which side of the Island has the best Dive Sites?
On the North side near Anthony's Key Resort, or
around CocoView/Fantasy Island?

Thanks, Pam

Pam...the only other resort I've heard alot of possitive feedback from is Anthony's Key. It's a bit fancier than CoCo View and has a great gift shop, we usually go there our last off gassing day. The dives are a bit more scheduled, I think. While at CCV our last trip, the boat took us to the west side to dive one day and I wasn't impressed. The reefs looked a little tired and there weren't as many fish. I much prefer the south side. On the south side you'll also have a better chance of seeing pelagics...Manta Rays, Whale Sharks, etc....because of the deep drop and the walls.

Please research Fantasy Island very well before you consider it. This past March one of their dive boats sank while we were at CCV and our boat retrieved the divers in the water. There are also reports on Rodales (scubadiving.com) of other dive boats sinking, bad food, rude staff, you name it. It's heresay from me, except for the first boat incident, so please check it out first.

If you go to a resort, I'd go with their dive package. They will, or should, have Divemasters on the boats. If you want a Divemaster to go on every dive with you, that can be arranged.

Have a great time.