Nuubie indecision is killing me - coco, banana, west village, infinity.. argh

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Nuub

Registered
Messages
48
Reaction score
26
Location
SF Bay Area
# of dives
200 - 499
Help us make up our minds! I've just spent about five hours reading almost every thread comparing Roatan resorts... and not as many TRs as I'd hoped to find. so... About the only thing set is our flights - arriving 8/23 and leaving 8/31 - note EIGHT nights. :cool2:

... not sure on logistics yet! Suggestions appreciated! budget is a concern - and we need two bedrooms.. brother/sister

looking at coco AI (two separate units), infinity 2BDR condo+DIY food +Infinity Divers, west End village+DIY food +Infinity Divers or someone else, bananarama AI (owners villa!)+ bananarama dive op (AKR doesnt fit due to 2 BDR requirement).. adding up all the costs - lodging, dining and diving, it's tough math that depends on how often we dive. For us, at least 2x day probably three and a couple three night dives - which adds up to around 18). We LOVEd the UV night dive - is there any on Roatan? We plan to do a shark dive and probably the dolphin snorkel for topside 'no dive' day. We like the freedom of shore diving we discovered at Bonaire. We're not sure about feeling 'trapped' at an all inclusive; we actually like interacting with the local culture... see our review on Bonaire. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bo...13-long-post-not-just-diving.html#post6893514 to get a feel for what we like, if you're curious. I'm especially interested in hearing from folks who have been to both places...
 
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AKR has bungalow next to each other that share a common deck...perfect for two groups wanting privacy yet near each other. AKR also runs 2 for 1 or half price discounts. I had a great time there with my Gf when I returned from the Middle East after seven years. I think the next time I go to Roatan we are going to stay at Cocoveiw since my GF now dives.
 
If you're going to stay in the West End it makes no sense to dive with Infinity - they're in West Bay. That would be a cab or water taxi ride daily. No reason to do so when there's plenty of good operators in the West End. We liked/used Coconut Tree Divers but there's also Native Sons, Reef Gliders, West End Divers and about a dozen more.

Boat dives in the West End run about 10/$300. CTD did 3 dives daily - sometimes 4. One or two night dives but they'll know which shops are night diving the days they don't. The Shark Dive is booked thru dive shops who also do the ride since it's on the south side off the Airport.

There's almost no shore diving on Roatan except the AI resorts each have one. Most have some sort of resort on them but you can access a couple -#'s 4, 8, 9 on this list. The rest are private property. Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Honduras, Roatan, Caribbean

For more indecision, other 2BR places to check into. I've listed brief +/-'s of each.

Luna Beach Resort - full AI but they don't serve dinner. About a 10min. walk to the West End for that. Or the water taxi. They have 2BR beachfront rooms. If you really wanted to I suppose you could dive there once you snorkeled out - but there's a lot of water taxi traffic.
Coconut Tree Cabins - behind/across the street from Coconut Tree Divers. CTD has a 2+ story building so views are obstructed. Friends rented a decent 2BR with full kitchen for $80?/nt - older but clean. no pool.
Posada Arco Iris - across the street from the beach and fronted by their outdoor restaurant - Argentinian Grille. Full kitchen. The units are perpendicular to the water so you look through all your neighbors decks. The Grille makes noise till about 11 or so most nights. no pool.
Sunset Villas/West End Resort - 2BR condos set about a block back from the beach. Restaurant adjoining. If you look for Sunset Villas or Villa Tranquila on vrbo.com you can get a better deal than thru the Resort.
Villas Del Playa - being built last time I was there. Seems more upscale than anything I've mentioned.

Of all I've listed, Sunset Villas is probably the most similar to Sand Dollar on Bonaire. About the same size, pool, adjoining restaurant - just a few minutes from several dive shops.

If you plan to do some meals there's the CTD store or Woody's market about a block away. Probably the closest market from Infinity Bay also - I think there's a little store in West Bay that sells basics also but many people stop in French Harbor on the way from the airport - there's large, modern grocery stores there. Grocery Stores on Roatan Island

Roatan is not Bonaire. Driving isn't the best idea due to liabilities and just plain bad roads. We walked around the West End all week and took cabs around the island occasionally. Most are very reasonable and negotiable except the Airport to West End/Bay which is fixed - was $25.

West Bay beach is also the cruise excursion beach. So at least till around 4PM it's pretty crowded. Right out front of both Infinity Bay and Bananarama. Bananarama solicits cruise business - it's on their website. Everything in the West End is across the road from the beach - except for Sueno Del Mar and one other property more in the West End I can't recall the name of. Of course LBR or VDP are beachfront also.
 
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CoCo View is very well run. It is sometimes called a live aboard on land. You do 2 boat dives per day. Plus on the way back to the resort, you can opt for a drop off dive. You jump off the boat. Cruise along the wall and make an easy shore exit. So you can easily do 4 dives per day. If you want, you can do your own additional shore dives.

The he food is decent, if a bit basic. The over water lodgings are quite nice. The staff is excellent and the grounds are quite pretty. Getting off the resort takes a boat ride which is very short.

it tends to appeal most to people who want to dive early and often.
 
CocoView Resort is a great place IF and only IF you want to do nothing but dive. The shore diving is amazing (see all my videos) and the boat diving is great. It is exactly like a liveaboard but sleeping on land. You can dive 24/7 and there is no scuba police, dive your profile and plan, solo is fine.
The biggest issue with CCV is you must book ahead of time... during peak season they may be already booked for 2015 as they only have 20+ rooms total. It is cozy and small, divers there just to dive.

If that is what you are looking for, you will not find a better place to do it on Roatan or any other place in Caribbean.

Link to all my videos from last summer: https://vimeo.com/album/2443620

robin
 
Another Cocoview fan, here. Is that what you meant by "Coco"?

...adding up all the costs - lodging, dining and diving, it's tough math that depends on how often we dive. For us, at least 2x day probably three and a couple three night dives - which adds up to around 18). We LOVEd the UV night dive - is there any on Roatan?....

It's actually pretty easy math.

In terms of economy, going AI is the only way this will work. Buying dives in that quantity from a West End Day Dive Op will bankrupt you. The only place on island to get more than one night dive on that list would be CCV. The photo pro there does have UV Lights for night diving. The West End dive ops offer only a once-a-week boat night dive for a fee... if they get enough to sign up for it.

Again, from the list, if you want night diving, CCV is for sure the place. I do 5 to 7 night dives every week. It's pretty easy and very close-in. I understand your interest in that time of the day!

Understand that one way or the other, by taking your requirements literally, you are talking two rooms. CCV can do this if you rent a Beach House, but are you sure that you just can't do one room with two beds? Every room there has that set-up.

18 dives, multiple night dives... math aint all that hard.
 
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Thanks for the information all! Actually we did do the math, at 15 dives + 1 nite dive, they are all (adding RHR) within $500 of each other (or $250/pp). We've accounted for AI food vs. DIY, Dive packages, with and w/o nitrox. with nitrox, Wifi (must - we live in a connected age), TV no TV, local flava versus resort seclusion, etc. It's looking like it's coming down to the kind of experience we want..
Cocoview has (2) rooms for us, but we've have to move the last day and pay the upcharge for the whole beach house. We're brother and sister - we like each other but i snore a lot! Having to move, plus the extra cost of that one night might be the deal breaker there... while we're far from being party animals, we actually *like* mingling with the island scene and people watching.

>Good to know that there is a UV night dive at Coco! (Nice DIY UV article there, BTW Doc!)
We have not found it advertised anywhere on RTB. Also good point on shops getting enough people to nite dive. We found a couple that advertise two a week - if enough people show up. And shore diving any other way other than an AI is inconvenient, and while possible, good publicly accessible sites look hard to get to < please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Thanks for the information all! Actually we did do the math, at 15 dives + 1 nite dive, they are all (adding RHR) within $500 of each other (or $250/pp). We've accounted for AI food vs. DIY, Dive packages, with and w/o nitrox. with nitrox, Wifi (must - we live in a connected age), TV no TV, local flava versus resort seclusion, etc. It's looking like it's coming down to the kind of experience we want..
Cocoview has (2) rooms for us, but we've have to move the last day and pay the upcharge for the whole beach house. We're brother and sister - we like each other but i snore a lot! Having to move, plus the extra cost of that one night might be the deal breaker there... while we're far from being party animals, we actually *like* mingling with the island scene and people watching.

>Good to know that there is a UV night dive at Coco! (Nice DIY UV article there, BTW Doc!)
We have not found it advertised anywhere on RTB. Also good point on shops getting enough people to nite dive. We found a couple that advertise two a week - if enough people show up. And shore diving any other way other than an AI is inconvenient, and while possible, good publicly accessible sites look hard to get to < please correct me if I'm wrong.


Brother and Sister.... I would share a room. If you are diving enough, you will sleep like a log. Seriously, my husband snores and he does not keep me awake at all on a dive vacation as we are both so tired we drop off immediately every night. Plus, the rooms at CCV have a/c and that low hum tends to drown out the noise of a snorer enough for me.

And if you want SHORE DVING.... you can't beat this! That blue area is the reef which starts at 12' deep and goes down to 100' deep if you want. There is a huge wreck, the Prince Albert, as well as a plane wreck, and 2 wonderful walls, or just stay in the shallows and check out the garden eels, squid, and fishlife.
CCV2013_topside404.jpg

There is a rope that leads you out to the reef from that platform, just follow it out, then back. There are even markers underwater to lead you back to platform. Seriously easy diving.

this video shows the way out to the shore dive area:
[vimeo]70004682[/vimeo]


robin
 
those are some incredible videos and photos, Robin and Ron! Not just of Coco view - I spent a few good hours reading and looking through all of them!
 
And shore diving any other way other than an AI is inconvenient, and while possible, good publicly accessible sites look hard to get to
Pretty much. Cocoview has the best - Fantasy Island also has access to the same area. Anthony's Key has IMO what would charitably be called a marginal shore dive off the key. And they're not really public either.

The Sandy Bay reef - in fact all the reef along the north side - is either inacessible or a very long swim out - like 300 yds or more.

Spooky Channel is really only possible from private property - BIBR changed their business a few years ago (some sort of school now IIRC) so one access is gone. The other off the B&B dock is only possible if you contact the rental agent and no one is staying in any of the houses in the compound. We tried but they were.

The Seagrape site is one way - you enter there off a higher platform and I've read it's rough/impossible to get back up. Ironshore there is about 6-10' tall. So you drift around the point into Half Moon Bay and get out there.

Half Moon Bay's dive is an average snorkel depth. Someone occasionally posts details about one shallow site in West Bay not on the shorediving.com list - I think it's the east point of West Bay itself. Pretty sure I just covered all of the access points. It's not that there's no public access - all the beaches are public - it's that there's no dive off them.

If you want "the freedom of shore diving we discovered at Bonaire." go to Curacao. IMO it's better diving. After a week on Bonaire it all seemed to run together. The entries are certainly a lot easier - most off a sandy beach. And many dive sites have operators and restaurants on-site. Plus the all important restrooms.
 
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