Needs tips for Roatan/Utila

[nen]

Hello--I'm a new-ish lurker of these boards. My husband and I are planning a trip to Roatan and Utila Jan 24-Feb 5 2004. I have read lots of posts and trip reports about Roatan and Utila, and feel more confused than before we started our research! I hoped to get some more input.

We are looking at some of the all-inclusives, warily. While relatively easy, the idea kind of turns us off--eating at the same place all week? Less interaction with the island as a whole? We do enjoy a night on the town--will the location discourage that? But, our idea of an all-inclusive may be negatively coloured by those that exist in terrifyingly-developed parts of the world--wondered what you all think.

I'd really appreciate your thoughts on these ideas, as well as our tentative plan, as follows:
We are thinking of doing the first 7 nights at AKR, because it seems convenient to shore diving, and has had generally good reviews. We wondered about the kids' camp. Some people seemed to think that AKC felt crowded and loud? (I work with kids and love what I do, but on a vacation--we're looking for a little p & q.)

Then we thought we'd hit Utila for 5 nights and wondered what people thoughta about Utila Lodge vs. Laguna Beach Resort (incl. location). (And, if others have done this sort of trip, how they worked with the flights---since they are low alt., and short, how do you handle the no-fly time?)

Thanks for your tips--and for all the other info I've been gleaning from the boards. Nancy

[RoatanMan]

questions for a "lurker" :) Use the search capability available here on this fine board as well!

There is NO shore diving to speak of at AKR. The only resort that offers true shore dives that start at the waters edge is CCV, but children are not generaly welcome. A close second is FIBR, where kids (and anything else) are okay. If you want p&q, try CCV.

All inclusives in the Bay Islands? Absolutely. You can always skip a meal or dive and hit the big city of Coxen Hole or West End. If you are at CCV or FIBR your access to French Harbor and its better known restaurants (FH Yacht Club or Geo's) is easier. The West End has any number of taverns and a few "better" restaurants that are unfortunately so transitoory that I cant advise of one other than the Argentine Grille. In short, Roatan isn't Bonaire or Cayman in terms of eating establishments.

The local culture is fairly well diluted. Not caring too much for their Cayman Island and British roots, most of the younger folk have gone "Island", Mon. No problem, mon.

REAL island culture is only available in Punta Gorda and there are no facilities there. This is the Garifuna Community. They come to CocoView once a week to dance after dinner- quite a circus. The service staff there are all Garifuna employed there, the dive staff is mostly mainland hispanic but born and raised on the Bay Islands. There are some "Cayman Cousins" mixed in. I have stayed there many times and find it nothing but representative of the island itself. CCV makes you want to stay there and keep diving.

AKR is probably the best resort closest to the West End. I like to go to the West end once in a while, maybe every other trip that I take to Roatan. I prefer quiet and diving.

Air flights, altitudes, surface interval and ....? What are you willing to tolerate? I have flown it many times after diving and haven't croaked out yet, but I am beginning to forget stuff- maybe it's old age? But it begs the question- do you want someone to tell you their opinion, scientific or best guess- or are you looking for maximum altitude of the aircraft. Neither one will I offer. DAN and PADI say 12 hours, I believe, but that may be in response to market pressure. Most experts still say 24 hours.

Looking at the calendar, I think 2/5/04 is a Thursday (?). Do they fly from Utila to Roatan on Thursday, I dunno.

Eiither route- go slowly when diving, take a magnifying glass and flashlight on all dives. the diversity of little critters and micor is very cool! have fun.

[lokigold]

My wife and I are going to CocoView on 1/24 and then on to Utila Lodge on 1/31. We did the same trip last year and even though we had a lot of rain we enjoyed both places so much we decided to do it again. (We're hoping that the rain was an el Nino effect that won't be with us this year.) There is a ferry that operates between Roatan, La Cieba on the mainland, and Utila. We flew over to Utila last year but decided to take the ferry this time - it's much less expensive, no fly time worries and with airport check-in, security delays, etc. travel time is about the same. Last year we did an island tour on the Friday before we left CocoView to satisfy our no fly time, this year we will dive an extra day.

We did not venture outside of the resort for dining so we can't tell you anything about it, but you can arrange for transport to various restaurants from CocoView and Utila Lodge is in town within walking distance of anything you might want try. There are probably many posts that can point you to the better local dining establishments.

We highly recommend both CocoView and Utila Lodge. Staff and guests at both locations were wonderful and made for a really fun vacation. The shore diving at CocoView is not as varied as you might find in Bonaire, but who's going to complain when you have two walls and a wreck a hundred yards from your doorstep.

:thumb:

[scubajoe]

We spent a great week at Laguna Beach Resort. It was great. Big uncrowded boats. Great accomodations. Excellent shore diving. Good food. We never left the property except to dive. A few couples went into town one day and had a good time, I have no idea what they did there. The beach was beautiful. I wasn't bothered by the sand fleas but my wife was. The staff at LBR is great too. Seeing whale sharks turns into quite a competition between the boat captains. Our boat got just a glimpse of one but it was still way cool. Only down side was that drinks other then water, tea and coffee are not included. Beer and other drinks were in my opinion a little expensive. But we were doing 3 or 4 dives a day and sleeping the rest of the time so it wasn't that much of a problem.
After a week at LBR we spent the next week on the Aggressor. I thought the diving was much better on Utila then Roatan. The weather was less the perfect that week so it could have been the reason for the less desirable diving. I think I should go back to make sure!
I am getting a bit long winded here. PM me if you need more info.

Joe

[terrydarc]

I'm not fond of the idea of cocooning myself in an all inclusive for reasons that Nancy alludes to. We were on Roatan a couple years ago and as far as the West Bay/West End are concerned, the reef was in poor shape, particularly near shore. The place is waay overdevloped, IMO. Wall to wall resorts up and down the beach. Dive boats need to travel a fair distance from the island to get to decent reef, sometimes a long way.

Plus that way of traveling and diving's hugely spendy. For a change, pick a place and find your own food to cut your bills in half. Maybe you can afford the $200+ per day per diver, but I'd rather extend my stay and feel more a part the islands.

For those reasons and more, you'll find me on Utila (and not at the all inclusive Utila Lodge). Deep Blue gets my money next year after Utila Dive Center (which I've read a fair amount of nonsense about on this board) and the Mango Inn. Great place to stay, but we've heard and read good stuff about both Deep Blue and LBR.
=Terry

[nen]

Thanks for the tips! It certainly has helped us narrow down a bit. And along with recently posted info re: weather in January, made us decide for sure on the south shore, of Roatan, likely CCV...tho the Utila decision is still being mulled over. (Maybe Mango, maybe UBR, but Deep Blue, Terry? How can it be so expensive?) Ater searching Roatan on these boards I felt :confused: but your posts have helped us out. Thanks!!!

[terrydarc]

Sorry, it's not probably $200 a day on Utila, but maybe in Roatan's fancier digs or maybe the spiffiest digs in Utila Lodge.

Utila Lodge advertises $825 for 7 nights lodging + diving + 3 meals a day. That's not bad for many places in the world. Deep Blue says $1200 for 8 days, 7 nights food, unlimited shore divinig, etc. Ouch!!! Mango Inn is $600 and Laguna Beach Resort for $795 for similar deals but w/o food.

You can get a 10 dive package for $125 from just about any dive center on the island. We did around 15 dives in the 6 days. Food is maybe $20 a day and we stayed in the Mango last year for, as I recall, around $45 a night. We got a discount because David was taking the BOW at the time, so it'd be a bit more than that without discounts. I don't recall what I paid for equipment (well used but maintained pretty well) rentals, but it wasn't terribly expensive.

All totaled it'd be $25 per day for equipment and diving, $25 a day for food 'n beer and probably $25 a day for a place to stay: $500 a week more or less. Maybe not quite as big a swing for a roll your own vacation, but still worth doing in my book.

Lots of special deals, so keep your eyes peeled when booking.
=Terry

[DivePartner1]

I like both places but for the trip and the quality of diving, I'd go with Laguna Beach Resort on Utila, especially in February!

Both AKR and LBR are well run. In both, you'll sleep in a nice hut.
AKR gives a feeling of being pampered.

Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan is nice and all-inclusive, and it does have a shore dive. Someone is always at the far end of the Key where they keep tanks. It's only one 'shore' but it's not a bad dive. If you don't care to mingle with the locals, AKR is your place.

For my taste, Laguna Beach Resort on Utila is a better bet. It is all inclusive and is the best place to stay on Utila. LBR is smaller and is not quite as luxurious as AKR but is very comfortable and has an atmosphere of being well-cared for family. LBR finishes afternoon dives by letting divers swim in past their surprising good nearby wall as a fourth dive. They have a golf cart ready on the shore to haul your gear back. And don't miss a trip to the village.

More the point, the dive sites on Utila are far livelier around Utila and in February the boat drive, Walter, WILL find you a whale shark!

[scubajoe]

terrydarc once bubbled...


Utila Lodge advertises $825 for 7 nights lodging + diving + 3 meals a day. That's not bad for many places in the world. Deep Blue says $1200 for 8 days, 7 nights food, unlimited shore divinig, etc. Ouch!!! Mango Inn is $600 and Laguna Beach Resort for $795 for similar deals but w/o food.



Laguna Beach Resort is $795 and that includes meals but not drinks other then coffee, tea or water. I think they are going up $100 next year. Still worth the money in my opinion.

Joe

[Luckyfishrag]

Just got back from Roatan. Roatanman on this site recommended CCV and we went. It was great. A nice operation. Very safe, clean and friendly. Great boats... We did 2 shore dives... Excellent. Very nice place to lounge around on land as well. The ride from the port of our cruise ship to the resort was scary! The surrounding area is VERY 3rd world. POOR... Dirty... etc... I woudl eat at the resort if that is as good as it gets. CCV is a little oasis. The wrecks are neat and there are lots of cool fish and such. I would take a boat trip too and see some seahorses and maybe some dolphins too. We had time constraints though. The shore dives are EASY and they have a rope that leads to the wreck so it is easy to navigate.
Hope you have a great time!
Lucky

[Cudabait]

Nen,

Just got back from Utila. Our 3rd trip there this year. We do NOT do the all-inclusive route. We have friends who are in the all inclusive business/dive busuness. We have traveled there through San Pedro Sula and from Roatan via ferry. We only stayed 10 days this time. Room at Hotel Rose (Across street from Deep Blue Divers) was $18.00 nite. We paid $125.00 for dive packages of 10 dives. ($12.50 dive) We paid $350.00 total for all our meals, bar bills, T-shirts, & some medicine we bought. Plus you can walk anywhere on the island. Tallest buildings are two story frame. If you are going to travel with kids, then you probably should look into an all inclusive with children facilities. I don't know of any on Utila. AKR on Roatan might be a possibility.

[rayleeny]

Utila is a great place for diving with over 70 bouyed sites around the island and the second largest barrier reef in the world on the North side of the island and of course whale sharks if you are lucky. In terms of whether you do all inclusive or not depends on what you are looking for and utila offers both opportunities.

I dived with Deep Blue an excellent outfit owned and run by an English couple so very personal and professional operation see their web site at www.deepblueutila.com. They can offer both ends of the spectrum as they have a school in town and a resort away from the town and my partner and I have dived with both.

The schools and businesses in town focus primarily on the back packer travelling customers most of whom are 18-25 and have never dived before and want cheap, so diving is cheap and accommodation and food are priced accordingly. The resorts focus on the annual vacationer who is an experienced diver who wants good diving and a little luxury and pampering to go along with it plus peaceful and beautiful surroundings.

good luck with your choice

[nen]

Hello--We pulled the trigger this week and in the end went for cocoview/utila lodge...though the words "all inclusive" initially turned us off, it seems different from what that means in, say, cancun. We wanted always-available diving, a quiet place, and reasonable lodgings should it rain (we're going jan-feb). Thanks for all the help--I know we're going to love it!

[RoatanMan]

I doubt that's good English, but you never know who'll be there to dive with you! :confined:

So- when you goin'?

[Dee]

You're gonna love CCV!

[nen]

Jan 24-30 Roatan, Jan 30-Feb 5 Utila
Got our tix in the mail today, and getting psyched!

[Zippsy]

I'm :out: with envy.

[RoatanMan]

Go to http://www.cocoviewresort.com and click on the "discussion group". There are all sorts of descriptions of the resort and shore dive, dive operation, etc.

If there's something you want to know, that's a good place to go for info.