West Bay Trip Report 6/20 to 6/27

[NWA395]

Bananarama West Bay Trip Report
Stayed June 20^th thru 27^th 2014.

After much research for flight dates and times using Matrix - ITA Software we determined chose Fridays as our travel days. We flew United via Houston with an scheduled arrival time of 11:47 a.m. Unfortunately a mechanical issue delayed the flight for 2 hours. We arrived by 1:45 p.m.

Transportation to and from the airport was included in the room cost as well as breakfast. After a brief stop at Eldons for supplies we arrived at Bananarama. We stayed in a Garden Cabana #3 (very basic cabin) with one queen size bed, microwave, coffee pot and 5 gallon bottled water, bathroom and shower. The room has a/c and a ceiling fan. Check in was easy and Victoria then showed us to our room followed by an orientation of the grounds.

The cabanas are located in the back of the property surrounded by palm trees and a manicured garden area which provided privacy and ability to relax. The small but adequate covered porch has a hammock and Adirondack rocker, small table and wooden chair.

Then is was off to the dive shop with my gear for the required forms and to get my name on the board for everyday. The dive shop has a white board which shows diver, DM and boat assignments for the week. The dive shop did a great job keeping the divers grouped by experience and ability

The dive shop is located about 75' from the cabana. They will store all personal dive gear on site and have separate rinse tanks for gear (bcd, regs, cameras, wetsuits). Mariella handled the business end of the dive operations and Marco and the DM's do a fantastic job. Water and fresh fruit are provided on the boat during the SI ride.

The boats are panga style (back roll) boats and the dive shop limits the number of divers to 8. We averaged 6 divers for most mornings with afternoon dives often having only two or three divers. The boat returns to the beach for the surface interval. Bottom times ranged from about 60 to 75 minutes. Dive plans were professional with just the right amount of humor while still covering all topics and safety. Depending on the dive location and surface chop/swells, some dives were negative entry dives and others were group descents. DM's allowed divers to dive their own tanks and profiles.

With a non- diving wife I still managed 15 dives over 6 days with the following profiles listed as location, depth, and water temps.

One challenge was breakfast timing for divers. The Thirsty Turtle begins serving breakfast for divers at 7:45 a.m. About 50% of the time breakfast would not arrive until about 8 or a few minutes after. I was never late for a dive, but a couple of mornings you did have to eat quickly. Food quality and quantity was sufficient with breakfast ranging from Breakfast burritos, pancakes, breakfast pizza etc.


Resort staff was very friendly and attentive to any issues or questions guests may have and we had absolutely no issues and would have no reservations diving or staying with them again.

Bears Den	58'	82*
West End Wall	66'	83*
Deep Sea Oasis	82'	83*
Green Roof	71'	83*
Butcher Bank	53'	83*
Pablo's	67'	83*
Jumpin Jacks	63'	83*
Tabayana	82'
Half Moon Bay Wall	79'	82*
Turtle Crossing	45'	83*
Fish Den	69'
Black Rock	57'	83*
Temptation	54'	83*
El Aguila	106'	83*
Blue Channel	64'	83*

 

[ratchet04]

We were there about 2 weeks before you. Your review makes me want to go back. Checking flights as I post!

 

[Nuub]

Thanks for the report! does 'no reservations diving or staying with them again." mean:
highly recommended nothing to improve save bfast timing
we got more than we expected, but a few things could be better
about what we thought it'd be, there's a few things we'd do differently...

We were considering the Owner's unit (2 BDR) any thoughts?
. plus - how are they about arranging for other sites like Mary's or Spooky, shark dives, etc..
Thanks for any help, and you could always PM me... we're trying to make a decision on where to stay and which op to use..

 

[lthomas132]

We were considering the Owner's unit (2 BDR) any thoughts?

As far as I know all units are "owned" by someone and most are 2 BDR; they're condos. It's a very new & nice place, probably nicest on the island.

Sorry, I though you were talking about Infinity Bay. My bad.

 

[NWA395]

Thanks for the report! does 'no reservations diving or staying with them again." mean:
highly recommended nothing to improve save bfast timing
we got more than we expected, but a few things could be better
about what we thought it'd be, there's a few things we'd do differently...

We were considering the Owner's unit (2 BDR) any thoughts?
. plus - how are they about arranging for other sites like Mary's or Spooky, shark dives, etc..
Thanks for any help, and you could always PM me... we're trying to make a decision on where to stay and which op to use..

When I said "no reservations about diving or staying with them again" it meant that what the resort and dive shop delivered was consistent with my expectations.

I did a fair amount of research on the hotel end and dive shop end.

I knew the cabanas had no televisions, were very small, rustic etc.. I had spoken with the staff by phone and communicated by email and they sent me pictures or the rooms.

As far as the dive shop and recommending them, I have no idea what your expectations are from a dive operation. I phoned and emailed them on several occasions about dive profiles, air hogs and protocols, boats, gear storage and rinsing etc. If you enjoy nice relaxed dives with short boat rides, panga's with shade, a maximum of 8 divers, where you go slow and have time to focus on the macro, you would enjoy them.

Yes I would stay and dive with them again. I did not inquire about the shark dive but they will arrange it if you want to do it,

 

[Nuub]

thank you very much for your detailed reply! much appreciated.. the dive op sounds about the style and pace we are looking for. I realize I should have asked earlier - what is your opinion on the topside/townside/beachside options.. was your non-diving wife happy? We're realizing that we might miss that if we went to coco.

 

[NWA395]

thank you very much for your detailed reply! much appreciated.. the dive op sounds about the style and pace we are looking for. I realize I should have asked earlier - what is your opinion on the topside/townside/beachside options.. was your non-diving wife happy? We're realizing that we might miss that if we went to coco.

The wife wanted a pool or a beach, that was her only requirement. The first day I returned from the second dive and found her sound asleep in the hammock on the porch, swaying gently in the trade winds....

My morning routine was rise about 5 or 5:30, walk out to the beach, cup of coffee in hand and just enjoy the morning.

If I wanted breakfast off site I would head down the lane to the local baleada shack and pick up breakfast. 5 baleada's with eggs, chorizo, chicken, beans and cheese for 75 lempiras (total)(about $3.50), and head back to the beach or porch.

Evening times we would walk the beach to Fosters, Las Rocas, where ever and grab supper and walk the beach back in the dark...

We enjoyed the ability to pick and choose where we would eat and the only time I put on flip flops was when we went to West End and when walking out the lane to the main road on WB.

Picked up a CD from Kristopher Goldman as well during an awesome jam session they were playing one night at Fosters

My non diving wife was very happy and we are planning a 2015 return trip