Infinity Bay Resort

[HowieDean]

At the apex of the property bubble 1br units were 350 grand... It's a nice place...
Beach is spectacular.... Banna-Rama dive shop is about 50 yards down the beach - good dive op - several vary nice resturants very close by...... If you want fancy and Roatan this would be your best bet............

 

[jerlane]

Dive Noob,
My wife and I stayed there two years ago and just loved it. Great staff and very nice accommodations. I wouldn't worry about AI. There is a nice kitchen in th eplace if you want to keep things on hand, but plenty of good places to eat in West Bay. We dove with Bananarama and were very pleased. It sounds like our dive backrounds are similar. It's nice to be able to sit by the pool or on the beach. The Palapa bar is a great place to hang out as well and has decent food. The Thirsty Turtle at Bananarama is also fun with great chips and guac and fabulous coconut shrimp. We usually like to go to new places, but liked Roatan so much that we are going back this spring. Please let me know if you have any other questions. BTW, there are a few units for rent through VRBO. I think we are going that route this time.
Oh-yeah, the reef is right off the shore in front of IB. One of our best dives was there and we enjoyed snorkeling there when we weren't diving.

Good luck!

 

[adjuster-jd]

Howie Dean - welcome back! Haven't seen you on SB for a long time. Are you still on Roatan? What has become of ILR, Captain Ed, etc?

 

[swimbody]

This is strictly my opinion but to truly engage in the Roatan experience you need to shed your association with "comforts of home". We visited Roatan for the first time August 08 and stayed at Cocolobo. It was surreal. We had to walk a bit everyday to get into "town" but on the way home it was a peaceful way to share the day's activities and discuss what we saw while diving. This next visit we are staying near the beach side of West Bay. We walked all up and down that beach looking at the properties, feeling the places out and overall type of person staying there. We walked past Infinity Bay several times during the course of our stay. I bought a Barena there as I stayed buzzed most of the time I was on the island and not diving.

I noticed a ton of obese Americans sitting under this giant wood and stone bar while at the beach it was an amazing day. The location of IB is top shelf as it sits right on the water. But it felt snooty. The locals told us that they filmed one of those fantasy couple swap reality shows there and that pretty much sealed the deal on us never staying there. IB is indicative of how the West ruins islands (see Cozumel). They sell 900 square foot condo boxes for $350,000 so you've got that going for you.

All I can say is that we did the rustic thing in Roatan and are planning to stay at West Bay Lodge in 35 days. I frankly am having a hard time sleeping because of how I felt while I was there. I have never had any vacation quite like Roatan and I owe it to our lodging. When you go back to a flat screen TV, a luxurious glass shower, cold stone marble floors and a constantly running AC, you become disconnected from the whole experience you were seeking. I venture to guess that a lot of folks leave Roatan after staying in a place like IB and shrug and say oh it was so so.

We stayed in a 5 star Radisson in St. Martin and we were totally isolated and it was snooty as hell. I left that island never wanting to return. So I'm a guy who likes the real island experience.

This is another viewpoint and something to put in the back of your mind. I hope you leave Roatan blown away. We were noob divers when we went there in 08. We dove to 130' and dove with the sharks at 70' in addition to the 10 dives we did while there.

I cannot wait to return next month.

 

[rboyer]

When I go to RTB I go to Bananarama everyday and shore dive and then hang out for a while...IB is very nice and so is the myan....Ill be there this Jan 2010 the 16th -30th

 

[Dive n00b]

When I go to RTB I go to Bananarama everyday and shore dive and then hang out for a while...IB is very nice and so is the myan....Ill be there this Jan 2010 the 16th -30th

Thanks!

I think we've decided on Roatan. Only decision now is between the Mayan Princess and IB. Since our tour operators only offer All-Inclusive's we are leaning towards the Mayan Princess since they seem to have more facilities namely restaurants.

Oddly we just saw a story about the owners of Bannanarama (Fellow Canadians) on this show called House Hunters International. Are planning on swinging by to say hello while in Roatan.

Can you please post a trip report when you get back in Feb? Also, where are you staying? Isn't Jan the rainy season? Do you know what the weather and conditions are like in early April?

Cheers,
Dive n00b!

 

[Mike]

Since our tour operators only offer All-Inclusive's we are leaning towards the Mayan Princess since they seem to have more facilities namely restaurants.

Restaurant (s) ?

I think there is only one unless they were hiding the other ones while we were there.

When we stayed there, we ate a few breakfasts there(nice table sits at the far end in it's own little place overlook the beach) and reluctantly a few lunches, other than that the pickens are far better up the beach and further into West Bay which is only a short water taxi ride away.

 

[RTBDiver]

If it is a sunwing tour I have read a lot of reports of unhappy people with the dining options, especially at IB but also the others and word is the dining part of the AI only includes buffet style dining. Again, this is all I have heard or read but no direct experience but you may want to look into it.
IMHO the only reason to AI in Roatan is if your doing a dive vacation and staying at a dive resort where meals and scheduling may be an issue, If just vacationing and wanting to do some diving it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to stay in a place with granite countertops, stainless appliances and all those goodies if your only going to be eating a buffet anyway.

 

[laserguyroy]

You might be better off trying to see if you can do air only through Sunwing, and book IB through vrbo if the AI is as poor as it seems to be on tripadvisor. In a more recent thread from rboyer someone is quoting a really low air only price out of Toronto.

I am staying at the IB Jan 16-28 and will try to remember to give you a trip report when I get back, if not while I am there. A friend booked a 3 BDR condo, (not AI) and had their friends have to drop out last minute, so I got to book a last minute dive trip! This will be my first trip to Roatan and I am looking forward to it!

 

[oldmaninthesea]

Hi So far no-one has mentioned Henry Morgan resort as a possibility for you guys. It is offered as a package out of Toronto on a weekly basis. We have been there 3 times and plan to return. I dive and my wife doesn't but she loves to snorkel. We find the place suits both of us. Most of the guests are Italian or Canadian and the dive shop is run by an Italian couple. The food is buffet style mostly, not gourmet but good enough. It is probably a 3 star resort by caribbean standards but quite well run. There are many reviews of this place on tripadviser if you are interested. You can ask me specific questions if you want.