We just got back on Saturday from another wonderful week staying and diving with The Blue Angel Resort. This is our second time back (spent last Thanksgiving there) and just booked another stay in April 2013....yes!
Accommodations: One of the reasons we enjoy staying at The BA is because all rooms face the water. Love the view! Also, although the rooms are a bit spartan, they are absolutely CLEAN. The floors are polished concrete which allows for us to rinse our gear in the shower and then hang everything out on the balcony while dripping water everywhere yet not causing any damage. We just take our towels and mop up the floor when finished. The rooms are large; there's lots of hot water; the air conditioning works well; the restaurant serves great food; and best of all....the employees are helpful and friendly. We feel like part of the Blue Angel family when staying there. A big plus this year was that we could get internet service in our room (3rd floor) and didn't have to go to the lobby to access the wireless. Nice improvement! I know some people complain about the street noise but it sure didn't bother us. We ran the air conditioner in the evening, closed the bathroom door (noise comes in from the window), and we had no problems sleeping. We also like having a small refrigerator in the room since we tend to stock up on pop and other goodies.
Diving: As stated, we arrived on Saturday (late afternoon) and were really excited to dive on Sunday. It didn't happen....a Norte blew in and closed the port for the entire day :depressed:. Oh well, Mother Nature had her way. We had a good time anyhow...wandered around town with our dive buddies....found a FABULOUS chocolate shop (on 3rd..I think)...and had a great dinner at Rolandi's. Other than Sunday, we dove everyday the rest of the trip.
We were lucky to have Captain Alberto and DM Jorge the entire trip. What a great team they make! We love that Jorge lets you dive your own dive; however, he expects you to monitor your air and use a safety sausage when ascending. We did two night dives and the one on Villablanca was fabulous! Spotted eels, many octopus, huge lobsters and crabs, etc. The day dives were excellent, too, however the water was chilly (for wussy me) when it was around 76 degrees....but I was happier when my computer read 82 degrees. Hence, the temps varied during the week and from dive site to dive site. What did we see: turtles, nurse sharks, eels, splendid toad fish, one reef shark (a lady on another boat saw two schools of about nine reef sharks each!), lots of pretty fish, huge groupers, etc. The visibility wasn't as good as last year but I expect it was because of the Norte. There was considerable wind last week and we were lucky to have only missed one day of diving.
Recommendation: For this time of year we really needed to have something WARM to put on during the surface interval and the boat ride back to the dock. Honestly, almost everyone who only brought a light jacket frozen! I had a polartec shirt and still was cold. Those who had the scuba boat coats were much better off than the rest of us. (BTW, we just ordered coats since we'll be going back next year at the same time.) During the SI, some people jumped back in the water to stay warm.
Another recommendation: Go to O'Hana's, which is owned by instructor Mateo (Chicago Matt) and his wife. They now serve Chicago style deep dish pizza and everyone who ordered it raved about it! My hubby likes thin crust and lots of ingredients in his pizza, and he wasn't disappointed! He ordered a small and ended up taking half of it back to the room and ate it the next day.
All good things must come to an end---someone said that---and our trip ended and we arrived back in the US safe and sound. The dive gear is cleaned and hanging on the Palo Verde tree in the backyard to dry. My hubby went back to work today and I go back tomorrow. Christmas is less than a month away. But the next trip to The Blue Angel is booked and I'm counting the days until April 5, 2013!
Safe diving!
islanddream
Accommodations: One of the reasons we enjoy staying at The BA is because all rooms face the water. Love the view! Also, although the rooms are a bit spartan, they are absolutely CLEAN. The floors are polished concrete which allows for us to rinse our gear in the shower and then hang everything out on the balcony while dripping water everywhere yet not causing any damage. We just take our towels and mop up the floor when finished. The rooms are large; there's lots of hot water; the air conditioning works well; the restaurant serves great food; and best of all....the employees are helpful and friendly. We feel like part of the Blue Angel family when staying there. A big plus this year was that we could get internet service in our room (3rd floor) and didn't have to go to the lobby to access the wireless. Nice improvement! I know some people complain about the street noise but it sure didn't bother us. We ran the air conditioner in the evening, closed the bathroom door (noise comes in from the window), and we had no problems sleeping. We also like having a small refrigerator in the room since we tend to stock up on pop and other goodies.
Diving: As stated, we arrived on Saturday (late afternoon) and were really excited to dive on Sunday. It didn't happen....a Norte blew in and closed the port for the entire day :depressed:. Oh well, Mother Nature had her way. We had a good time anyhow...wandered around town with our dive buddies....found a FABULOUS chocolate shop (on 3rd..I think)...and had a great dinner at Rolandi's. Other than Sunday, we dove everyday the rest of the trip.
We were lucky to have Captain Alberto and DM Jorge the entire trip. What a great team they make! We love that Jorge lets you dive your own dive; however, he expects you to monitor your air and use a safety sausage when ascending. We did two night dives and the one on Villablanca was fabulous! Spotted eels, many octopus, huge lobsters and crabs, etc. The day dives were excellent, too, however the water was chilly (for wussy me) when it was around 76 degrees....but I was happier when my computer read 82 degrees. Hence, the temps varied during the week and from dive site to dive site. What did we see: turtles, nurse sharks, eels, splendid toad fish, one reef shark (a lady on another boat saw two schools of about nine reef sharks each!), lots of pretty fish, huge groupers, etc. The visibility wasn't as good as last year but I expect it was because of the Norte. There was considerable wind last week and we were lucky to have only missed one day of diving.
Recommendation: For this time of year we really needed to have something WARM to put on during the surface interval and the boat ride back to the dock. Honestly, almost everyone who only brought a light jacket frozen! I had a polartec shirt and still was cold. Those who had the scuba boat coats were much better off than the rest of us. (BTW, we just ordered coats since we'll be going back next year at the same time.) During the SI, some people jumped back in the water to stay warm.
Another recommendation: Go to O'Hana's, which is owned by instructor Mateo (Chicago Matt) and his wife. They now serve Chicago style deep dish pizza and everyone who ordered it raved about it! My hubby likes thin crust and lots of ingredients in his pizza, and he wasn't disappointed! He ordered a small and ended up taking half of it back to the room and ate it the next day.
All good things must come to an end---someone said that---and our trip ended and we arrived back in the US safe and sound. The dive gear is cleaned and hanging on the Palo Verde tree in the backyard to dry. My hubby went back to work today and I go back tomorrow. Christmas is less than a month away. But the next trip to The Blue Angel is booked and I'm counting the days until April 5, 2013!
Safe diving!
islanddream
