CCV tomorrow!

[Nibs77]

I'm making my first trip to CCV tomorrow! It's actually my first warm water diving trip anywhere. Needless to say, I'm a little excited!

[RoatanMan]

You will likely be spoiled for most other dive locations and resorts.

Follow your DM's lead. The CCV DMs are very good at pointing out the "cool little stuff".

CoCoView Explained in Pictures pictures by Doc_Adelman - Photobucket (http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd106/Doc_Adelman/CoCoView%20Explained%20in%20Pictures/)

That is what this highly localized area is best known for. Do all the dives you can, learn to night dive- do the shore dive lots. Post a report here when you return- or use the free internet access and post while you're enjoying the better weather.

We're in Chicago right now, looking at another snowstorm, We'll do Our World Underwater SCUBA Show here and be following your right on down to CoCoView!

[KevinG58]

I'm making my first trip to CCV tomorrow! It's actually my first warm water diving trip anywhere. Needless to say, I'm a little excited!

Your're going to have a ball. Roatanman gave great advice. All I will add is if you are traveling alone don't be shy about buddying up with CCV veterans. There's almost always someone shorediving.

And yes you will be spoiled :D

[Nibs77]

Well we made it to CCV and back home safe and sound! The trip was better than I could have ever imagined despite some travel issues that our group had. My review, FWIW.

At the airport we were greeted by a lovely lady, and taken out to the shuttle bus. A short drive later we were at the boat house, and loaded onto the red skiff for a quick ride to the resort. The staff member that met us on the dock wasn't very thorough in her "tour", quickly running us through the dive locker area, to the office and kitchen. There we filled out paperwork on our own, and were left alone to go find our rooms. This could rub people the wrong way, if they were expecting a more personal greeting. I didn't really care, I'm a big boy and I can figure things out on my own! We spent the remainder of Saturday getting gear prepped in our lockers, eating, and exploring the resort.

After breakfast on Sunday, we did the mandatory orientation upstairs (helpful for us newbies) and then went out to do the check out dive with a DM. The tour of the front yard was nice, we saw a couple sea horses and a ray of some sort. After that dive, it was business as usual. Eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, sleep, repeat!

I managed to log 26 dives, with 20 hrs of bottom time. It was exactly what I wanted it to be, and more. We were assigned to Coco 1, and our DM (Mark) and Cap't (Gringo) were excellent. Mark had an uncanny knack for finding the little things that we would have missed without his guidance. I was convinced he had a pocket of sea horses with him, because he found some on every dive. Visibility was great, usually between 60-100 ft. Water temp was a steady 79F. The sea life was varied and seemed abundant. The night diving was awesome. We saw octopus on just about every night dive, sometimes 2-3.

The resort itself was fantastic. I had read a lot of reviews before going, and I was expecting it to be more rustic. I really didn't find it rustic at all. I have stayed in places far worse than CCV! The rooms were clean, the beds comfy, the food fantastic, and the staff friendly and helpful. I was mostly impressed at how easy it was to dive. Just grab a tank and go! You are not bound by anything other than your energy levels (and maybe dive tables!). You just go there and dive, as often as you want, whenever you want. What could be better than that?!

About my only complaint with the whole experience was the fact that the DM's are not working to rid the area of lionfish. We saw them on every dive, and on some dives we saw a dozen or more. Some were enormous, easily 2 lbs or more. They were active hunters, and seemed pretty darn efficient at it. We found them abundant on Cocoview wall, and in the front yard. Apparently some complaints have come in from customers that didn't like seeing the DM's killing fish, so management banned the killing of them by the DM's. I made sure to indicate in my comment card that I believe otherwise, and I would like to see the DM's doing what needs to be done to keep the lionfish populations under control.

Other than that, it was a wonderful experience, and I cannot wait to go back. And yes, I will go back. Harold was there when we were there, for the 103rd time. I don't know if I will break that record, but trip #2 is going to happen!!

[parrotheaddiver]

Harold is always there ;-p....I have know Gringo (Ricardo) since he was a little boy...he worked in the yard Ms Ev taught him and all the boys english...she told them they would need to know english to work on the boats and that is the job they all wanted a lot of them have gone on to other jobs in other places...looking forward to June....glad you had a great time...

[RoatanMan]

....About my only complaint with the whole experience was the fact that the DM's are not working to rid the area of lionfish. We saw them on every dive, and on some dives we saw a dozen or more. Some were enormous, easily 2 lbs or more. They were active hunters, and seemed pretty darn efficient at it. We found them abundant on Cocoview wall, and in the front yard. Apparently some complaints have come in from customers that didn't like seeing the DM's killing fish, so management banned the killing of them by the DM's.

The DMs that lead dives are there to be Naturalist Guides. That is their job. Other DMs are also working the area on their "non guest" time, and they are pretty effective Lionfish killers. Many resorts let their DMs guide a dive and hunt as well- guess which activity the DMs take highest interest and focus in? Perceptions govern our reality, much like the posts that you read prior to your trip.

I applaud your 26 dives in a week log! Not many people dive every dive that they can! But you will have to come back, you missed one :rofl3: by my calculation. Harold? I can't explain. He just likes the place.

[Carl_F]

Cool! I'll be at Bananarama on Thursday! I don't mind the DMs waiting to hunt. I'd like them doing their job with the divers ... but then that's just me. Does CCV cater well to the non-diver? My wife doesn't dive but loves the beach and the sun.

[RoatanMan]

CCV isn't the place for a non-diver, certainly not when compared to the areas served by Bananrama, where she will have better access to the limited possibilities offered on Roatan. CCV is on it's own private cay, some 35+ minute cab ride from the busy West End area. The West is where you want to be for fun in the Sun. The only reason CCV and other more remote Southern operations exist is that it offers a very different product.

Bananrama is a very well regarded and recommended day-dive op, but I don't know their current policy on DMs hunting while leading trips. Post a report upon your return!

[Tool Belt]

Mark and Gringo are excellent.....are we there yet?

[Nibs77]

You are right RoatanMan, I did miss one dive. On Tuesday we did the off resort shark dive, so I only logged one dive that morning. It was worth it, the sharks were a blast! Next time I go back, I won't do the shark dive, so I hope to hit 27! Or maybe 28 if I could get my butt out of bed early enough to do a dawn dive!

And I agree, the DM's first priority should be leading a dive, and pointing out the little critters that most of us would fly right past. I just would have like to see someone (DM, hired assassin, ninja) working at keeping those darn lionfish under control! And it certainly wouldn't have to be during the guided dives, maybe the DM's should drop on Newmans or Cocoview and go hunting. Just a thought!

Anyway, I loved the resort, the people and the diving. Who could ask for anything else out of a vacation!

[Mike]

About my only complaint with the whole experience was the fact that the DM's are not working to rid the area of lionfish. We saw them on every dive, and on some dives we saw a dozen or more. Some were enormous, easily 2 lbs or more. They were active hunters, and seemed pretty darn efficient at it. We found them abundant on Cocoview wall, and in the front yard. Apparently some complaints have come in from customers that didn't like seeing the DM's killing fish, so management banned the killing of them by the DM's. I made sure to indicate in my comment card that I believe otherwise, and I would like to see the DM's doing what needs to be done to keep the lionfish populations under control.


I certainly agree with you. Anyone who dives in Cozumel has seen the balance of the naturalist DM / conservationist lion fish culling DM in action. It doesn't have to be one or the other, and dive masters don't have to neglect their naturalist duties. What also happens is with enough of it going on, it actually lowers the impact on divers seeing it because the lion fish simply aren't there on the dives to take the DM's away from spotting the critters for guests. You simply don't see 3 lb lionfish, the vast majority of the ones you'll see being killed are very small, so small most divers never even see them. You simply don't see multiple lion fish on dives. Dive masters with the right portable little slings for killing them take about 30 seconds to kill a lion fish and that's all. When I dive with DMs who kill lion fish I'm glad to see it and when I notice what they are doing, I just do my own thing, knowing that in 30 seconds or so it's going to be over and the dive continues.

If you've got dive masters who are changing the tempo of the dive into a lion fish killing safari or are taking up huge proportions of the dive because they are bagging the lion fish to eat, that's simply something that management needs to address with their dive masters. There is no need to abandon the important reef conservation over not knowing how to set policy for your employees to strike a balance for your guests.

[Kryssa]

Maybe a silly question, but I've never killed anything underwater and would be interested in learning how to help thin the lionfish population. Would anyone be able to teach me? Would I have to rent a weopon? Is that something you can even rent? Going to Cocoview this fall. We saw plenty of lion fish around Coz last year
:losecool:

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Glad you had a good time at CCV. I've sent some folks there and had less than stellar reviews. Maybe they got tired of the red beans and rice..? Some found it a bit clicky, like newcomers kind of got ignored. Personally I prefer Utila as it's less crowded.

[RoatanMan]

Glad you had a good time at CCV. I've sent some folks there and had less than stellar reviews. Maybe they got tired of the red beans and rice..? Some found it a bit clicky, like newcomers kind of got ignored. Personally I prefer Utila as it's less crowded.

Greg- have you ever been to CCV yourself? I go a lot of places, but have been to CCV some 60+ weeks- and never had red beans and rice.

What is your travel agency?

[Chaseh]

Funny, I love the beans and rice, but that's just a side that's available adjacent to the salad bar, while multiple entrees and sides are on the main serving area. Maybe your folks were vegetarian or didn't go the extra 2 meters?