Our recent trip to Guanaja was excellent. We stayed at the Villa on Dunbar Rock (Home Page). We flew Delta from Chicago through Atlanta into Roatan. From Roatan we took a boat which was arranged by Denis (the guy who runs the operation on Dunbar Rock). It was big water heading over. The waves averaged about 12 feet but some were bigger. The captain had to throttle down the engine between some of the waves so we didn't go flying. It was very interesting to say the least. The captain definitely earned his money on this leg of our trip.
It took about 2 hours to cross on the the way there but we arrived safe and sound. On the way back, it was flat and only took about 1 1/2 hours. I believe it was 85 dollars per person (it seems so long ago already). I would say the boat was about 45 feet long. The ride there was an adventure in itself but I'm glad we chose to go this way since planes weren't flying between the islands due to the weather and we would have been stuck in Roatan. The small island hopper planes are also limited on how much weight they can carry and we had 5 divers with lots of gear so we may have been too heavy for the plane. I also heard they charge lots of money for excess baggage so the boat was the best way to go for us.
We dove every day despite a few rainy days. I like to think of it as a fresh water rinse. We dove the South side of the island for the first few days due to the weather. Denis said this side hasn't been dove in years so that was pretty cool. After a few day we dove the North end which is where they usually go. I did notice there were more fish on the North end, apparently because most of the island's population lives on the South side and they pretty much fish/hunt on this side out of convenience. We did a total of 24 dives of which 2 were night dives.
We dove the island's signature dives including the Jado Trader and the Pinnacle. A couple of my other favorites where Fantasy and Paradise. The swim-throughs were a blast. The fish population was diverse and plentiful, and the coral looked very healthy. Unfortunately there were a few Lionfish which the divemasters killed as we came across them. It's too bad they are so destructive because they really are a beautiful species.
The entire staff really went out of there way to accommodate us. They actually had lunch brought out to the boat for us so we could keep diving. Once the gear was in the boat they made sure there was always a full tank attached so it was really easy diving. We left most of our gear on the boat at night and they actually rinsed our gear and took care of everything. I like to do my own stuff so I was sure to double-check everything. They did a great job. The food was very good every day too. Breakfast always included home-made tortillas. We had plenty of fresh seafood throughout the week including a couple lobster dinners which were excellent. My wife doesn't eat seafood so they always had an alternative meal for her which was usually chicken or beef. She did her 100th dive on this trip and they even brought out a celebration cake out to boat. My favorite consumable was the coffee. It was very strong and a real eye-opener first thing in the morning.
We had a great time and I would definitely recommend this location to anyone. Pictures can be seen here: Picasa Web Albums - Fred - Guanaja Hondu...
It took about 2 hours to cross on the the way there but we arrived safe and sound. On the way back, it was flat and only took about 1 1/2 hours. I believe it was 85 dollars per person (it seems so long ago already). I would say the boat was about 45 feet long. The ride there was an adventure in itself but I'm glad we chose to go this way since planes weren't flying between the islands due to the weather and we would have been stuck in Roatan. The small island hopper planes are also limited on how much weight they can carry and we had 5 divers with lots of gear so we may have been too heavy for the plane. I also heard they charge lots of money for excess baggage so the boat was the best way to go for us.
We dove every day despite a few rainy days. I like to think of it as a fresh water rinse. We dove the South side of the island for the first few days due to the weather. Denis said this side hasn't been dove in years so that was pretty cool. After a few day we dove the North end which is where they usually go. I did notice there were more fish on the North end, apparently because most of the island's population lives on the South side and they pretty much fish/hunt on this side out of convenience. We did a total of 24 dives of which 2 were night dives.
We dove the island's signature dives including the Jado Trader and the Pinnacle. A couple of my other favorites where Fantasy and Paradise. The swim-throughs were a blast. The fish population was diverse and plentiful, and the coral looked very healthy. Unfortunately there were a few Lionfish which the divemasters killed as we came across them. It's too bad they are so destructive because they really are a beautiful species.
The entire staff really went out of there way to accommodate us. They actually had lunch brought out to the boat for us so we could keep diving. Once the gear was in the boat they made sure there was always a full tank attached so it was really easy diving. We left most of our gear on the boat at night and they actually rinsed our gear and took care of everything. I like to do my own stuff so I was sure to double-check everything. They did a great job. The food was very good every day too. Breakfast always included home-made tortillas. We had plenty of fresh seafood throughout the week including a couple lobster dinners which were excellent. My wife doesn't eat seafood so they always had an alternative meal for her which was usually chicken or beef. She did her 100th dive on this trip and they even brought out a celebration cake out to boat. My favorite consumable was the coffee. It was very strong and a real eye-opener first thing in the morning.
We had a great time and I would definitely recommend this location to anyone. Pictures can be seen here: Picasa Web Albums - Fred - Guanaja Hondu...
