Headed to Roatan in November

[svracing]

Hello All. Been perusing the forums about diving and vacationing in the Caribbean. Made the decision for Roatan. Flying out mid November for a week. The hotel is the Splash Inn, West End. Aside from the flight, hotel, and dates, we have not locked in any plans. Will be looking for a dive operator, and beaches to snorkel during the day. Restaurants and bars to purvey at night . Any experiences and recommendations are highly sought after. Also, a few examples of what we should expect to spend for food, drinks, and general time spent.

James

 

[diversteve]

Splash has their own on-site dive operator. DIVE Roatan Splash Inn Dive Resort Their prices are in line with what everyone charges. $35/dive is typical with discounts of $5-10/dive for multiple days/dives.

Weather might be an issue mid-Nov. What most operators do when they can't get out on the north side is move their boats and shuttle you to the south side where it's generally much calmer.

According to Half Moon Resort one of the best snorkel sites is just off their property.

The bay area just steps away from our resort is considered as one of the best places in the world to practice snorkeling;

It's on the east side of Half Moon Bay - the first left just past Half Moon Beach. You'll see the Stanley Sub hanging in it's house just off the resort. It's easily walkable from Splash.

IDK if they'd mind (or maybe you'd have to pay a small fee) but there's a small snorkel zone off Luna Beach Resort. Snorkel Map | Luna Beach Resort, Best Scuba Diving on Roatan

Food can be as cheap as buying from local street grillers or as expensive as a place like Ooloonthoo. (starts at $40/2 courses) It's been described as the best restaurant on Roatan. We paid around $15-25 for good meals everywhere. Restaurants we liked:

Argentinean Grille
Tong's Thai
The restaurant above Coconut Tree is better than average and has an ocean/Half Moon Bay beach view.
Rotisserie Chicken is really popular, great food. Small so you might have to wait for a table. I think it's just down the street from Splash also.
Sundowner's is a great beach/divers bar. Right on the water - one of few in that area. Pay in lemps, they have a terrible exchange rate.

All of the above described with a map: Eating In/Out | Scuba Diving | PADI | Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

There's two small stores nearby - one in the Coconut Tree building has snacks, alcohol and the basics. Woody's Market just a short block past there is the market in that area. Eldon's in French Harbor is a regular supermarket but that's quite a cab ride from the West End. Distance, not cost most cabs are reasonable. And all are negotiable - except the airport to West End ride - I think that's fixed at $20pp.

 

[svracing]

That is great information. It helps tie together the jumbled info I have been reading. The information on the Splash Dive operator helps the confidence of planning the trip without wife supervision . As far as the weather, a few months ago we traveled to Costa Rica with rain being the norm. We did have nice weather for the diving. Definitely looking forward to trying to sneak into those snorkeling spots.

How is traveling around the island? Are there any areas on the south side worth getting to, and snorkeling? Or is better to stay near hotel for free diving and leave the travel to dive operators?

Again, I really appreciate the information, and can't wait to experience Roatan, and report on our trip.

James

 

[Doc]

How is traveling around the island? Are there any areas on the south side worth getting to, and snorkeling? Or is better to stay near hotel for free diving and leave the travel to dive operators?

"Traveling around the island" is not all that easy. Roatan is a long, thin island.

A number of us draw a simple black & white line about driving a rental vehicle of any kind: do not do this. Research the question in this forum for details. If you wish to hire an English speaking driver for the day~ why not? Unfortunately, there aren't many places to go or much of interest to see if you did. (There are also not that many drivers who can actually communicate in English, either- pick wisely) You will be staying in West End, and that is the big draw for any visitor to the island of Roatan who is looking for some other diversion than diving itself. You'll have access to restaurants, bars, and many little shops- they are geared up to handle the pedestrians from the cruise ships, their divers, too.

Any given day-dive op will have largely the same list of dive sites that they service, some going a bit further than others- depending upon the quality of their boats- this is why I always advise people to look at the dive-op's website and study the boats. No pix? Hmmm.

There are no day-dive-ops that will take you from the West End and drag you all the way around to the real dive sites of the South Side (versus the standardized Mary's Place trip for additional charge). So far, the only way to dive the South side is by a weeklong stay at an AI which is located there. You may be able to access a good shore snorkel through a day-pass through Fantasy Island, but an immediate perception of the wind and wave would be ideal before you make the 45 minute journey from the West End.

Speaking of weather, the part you haven't heard it is that November can turn the West End operations completely off. Again, do a search in this forum for weather, but suffice to say, November is the rainiest month of the year. And although they are called "Northers", the West End gets shut down. A very few of the stronger operations can move their boats to the South side and if you can meet their boats over there, you can go diving. That, again, is a very few of them- and only if they have enough clientele to do that.