Roatan, Here we come!!!

Ok, the airline reservations are make, the accomodations selected, the diving selected (operator only...not actual sites), the scuba bags are packed...all I need now is the new digital dive camera and housing. Yes, it's true...June 11'th we leave for Roatan...we will be staying at the Reef House Resort for one (hopefully) glorious, hurricane free, week.

Having never been to Roatan before, what advice can the bretheren of Scuba Board offer? Any helpful hints (other than bring lots of insect repellant...heard that so much we have one bag with nothing else in it...HA, HA, HA) with respect to diving, dive sites, water temperature, reef life and other fish. What about shore activities for non-divers and after diving/nap activities?

All advice, comments and experiences are welcome and appreciated. I wish I could figure out how to put one of those count-down boxes on here so I could track the time table more easily...just builds the anticipation.

Thanks in advance for your assistance...

Squashie

Squashie:

what advice can the bretheren of Scuba Board offer? Any helpful hints ....reef life and other fish.

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The real cool thing about Roatan is the "small stuff".

It has been said a million times, but it always bears a repeat!

What do you need to bring to the party? Perfect, dead nuts buoyancy skills, combined with an inexpensive 10x magnifying glass on a lanyard.

Put your nose right on your DM's fins and bring a small flashlight on every dive. Very few divers find squat on their own.

When he points out the simple hidden treasures like Arrow Blennies, Scorpionfish, Pedersen Shrimp, Juvenile Drums and Angels, baby Squid and oh-so-many-more delights...

Be sure to watch the niche environments that these tiny creatures inhabit. Even the most skilled DM really never spots the critter- he looks for the specific environments that they are always found in.

DO NOT come to Roatan to find the critters that are bigger than a dollar bill. Oh, sure- they're there, alright, but you can see a Lobster or a Shark pretty much so anywhere in the Caribbean. I always joke and say things like, "Can't find anything underwater smaller than a Yellow School Bus". Sharpen your observational skills, and the first rule of Roatan:Slow down, this aint a race!

Delight in the tiny stuff!

Make every effort to night dive every chance. We go at least once and often twice each evening. Roatan is absolutely alive and pulsating with Night Life , but it's all wet, not drinking beer!

Squashie,

We'll be there in April - FYI I got no hits here when I asked for folks on recent experiences at Reef House Resort - so I'll make sure to let you in on our experience. We're looking forward to the more remote location and advertised trips such as to Barbareta and Pigeon Cayes, and I have hopes the house shore dive is a decent one (especially for night dives - photography). We have the day off from work tomorrow, so it's off to Target or the Dollar Store for some cheap plastic magnifying glasses and swing by AAA for traveler's checks, the bookstore for something to enjoy between dives, etc. We're flying Continental all the way - one stop in Houston. I'm REALLY ready for a break, not just from work, but also from the Great Lakes weather!

WarmWaterDiver:

Squashie,

We'll be there in April - FYI I got no hits here when I asked for folks on recent experiences at Reef House Resort - so I'll make sure to let you in on our experience. We're looking forward to the more remote location and advertised trips such as to Barbareta and Pigeon Cayes, and I have hopes the house shore dive is a decent one (especially for night dives - photography).

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Apparently, the Reef House has new owners...don't know when they assumed control, but for our visit they have been more than accomodating...special group rate, diving included, says "They will take us anywhere we want to go...no exceptions"...etc...

I am looking forward to your trip report, how I could get more excited...I don't know, but lets try!

Evidently Reef House Resort ownership traded hands a week or so ago, right after or in the middle of our communications with them about making reservations, as we were communicating with Jeanne in San Antonio at first, and right after we gave her our credit card info over the phone, the confirmation e-mail showing the deposit charges came from the new owners. Got a letter from the SA office stating Lucian would meet us at the airport, but got e-mail from the new owners that Larry Stevenson will pick us up at the airport.

I noticed today the new owners are also advertising a 2 bedroom fully air conditioned house available for rental, so I'm wondering if that's the previous owners' / managers' hacienda. Once we arrive, I'm going to check out both the room we have reserved (I wanted one with A/C available mainly for naptime / bedtime and got that confirmed) vs. the house, if it's not reserved that week, to see if we want to 'upgrade'. One reason we chose this property was for greater seclusion, and if the rest of the property is booked up with a 'rowdy' dive club that week we might move over to the house, if it's available, but didn't want to leap before we looked yet.

There's still an on-line ad for special pricing via Rodale's web site that doesn't appear on the Reef House Resort web site since it was revamped by the new owners - this is the 'deal' we reserved, and there was no extra $$$ for reserving a room with A/C available when we made our reservations through Jeanne in SA. That ad still shows the SA contact info, so that 'deal' probably is no longer available.

http://dive.scubadiving.com/tripfinder/main.php/operator/view/636

Well the more I read, the better Roatan sounds..! (not that it sounded bad to start with )

I am booked in to do my DM there for five weeks from mid-september onwards.

Can't wait...

We will be there in four weeks ... staying at CocoView. Looking forward to the small stuff ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

We will be there very soon ourselves!

Squashie,

Found out we'll 'have the resort to ourselves' for 5 days of our 7 day trip, boat to ourselves for those days, and maybe entice the new owner to come with us a day or 2, so our timing's perfect for what we're looking for! Owners guaranteed they run the boat as long as 1 diver is at the resort! Larry's direct quotes below.

"Have no fear.....if there is a diver in the resort the boat will be going. Our divemaster gets a little nasty if he doesn't get in the water at least every second day!

You paid to dive and you will dive as much as you can stand it! I might get out while you are here which would be a real treat!

Larry"

WarmWaterDiver:

Larry's direct quotes below.

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Larry's a good man and he'll surely show you a good time. You have a good and reliable host there! Enjoy!

(Remember... do go s-l-o-w-l-y underwater!)