Infinity Bay June - Looking for Input/Comments

[D2H2]

My wife and I will be staying at Infinity Bay in June. We spend about a month each year (total) diving in the Caribbean, but have never been to Roatan much less IB. We are both experienced divers but not technical divers. We prefer a Jimmy Buffett kind of night life to hard rock night clubs. Our plan is to dive for 8 days and go sightseeing for 3. A few specifics in terms of questions for which we would appreciate answers/comments:

- Any pointers for how to navigate through the airport - what should we definitely do or not do
- Recommended places to eat nearby or food stores
- Comments on the quality of shore dives from IB
- Tips on dealing with the resort staff and IB facilities
- Sites we should definitely see
- Areas on the island we should avoid - other safety concerns
- ATM availability and is it safe to use an ATM card to obtain lempiras
- How hard is it to take the water taxi to West End and is it worth the trip
- Anything else that you think would be helpful or that you wish someone had told you prior to your first visit

Thank you in advance for your answers/comments!

 

[lthomas132]

Infinity Bay are the newest and probably nicest condos on the island. Nice choice. The IB people should be picking you up at the airport, no problems. Several restaurants down the beach, not any stores to speak of except back up on the main road at a small shopping center. Ask the driver at the airport to stop on the way at a store. Avoidances: don't drive at night, stay out of Coxen Hole, it's nickname is "The Hole" for a reason. Don't know about ATM's, I just take plenty of cash, smaller bills. Dollars are preferred, don't mess with lempiras, it's a zillion to 1 nowadays. Water taxi's run during daylight only; stand on a pier and wave at the small boats, one will pick you up, $5 one way to West End. Don't drink too much, it'll ruin your diving but try the 15 yr. old Flora de Cana rum. It's the smoothest that you have ever had! Have fun!

 

[RTBDiver]

Infinity Bay are the newest and probably nicest condos on the island. Nice choice. The IB people should be picking you up at the airport, no problems. Several restaurants down the beach, not any stores to speak of except back up on the main road at a small shopping center. Ask the driver at the airport to stop on the way at a store. Avoidances: don't drive at night, stay out of Coxen Hole, it's nickname is "The Hole" for a reason. Don't know about ATM's, I just take plenty of cash, smaller bills. Dollars are preferred, don't mess with lempiras, it's a zillion to 1 nowadays. Water taxi's run during daylight only; stand on a pier and wave at the small boats, one will pick you up, $5 one way to West End. Don't drink too much, it'll ruin your diving but try the 15 yr. old Flora de Cana rum. It's the smoothest that you have ever had! Have fun!

OK, Lets start at the top, IB is not newest or nicest thought it is nice, in the years since it opened the developers of IB have opened newer nicer place still on same beach and the Golf course condos are certainly newer and higher end as long as we are mentioning newer and nicer, IB May pick you up at airport if you booked through them direct, if you booked VRBO they may not, depends on whose listing, if your using the IB shuttle from the airport then you will not be able to ask the driver to stop at the store unless you happen to be the only one on the bus and even then he may not be allowed to, Few refer to to the town of Coxen hole as "the hole" such as this poster suggests but I have only been around these parts since 98 so I may be too new for such things, lots of great little places to eat and of course the best hardware store on the Island are there . DO NOT use ATM's unless you set one up special with limits as there is an abundance of cards being compromised, Water taxi's are $3 not $5, though some may choose to pay more, these rates are posted, if your wanting to try the higher end Flor de Cana rum then why bother with 15 year when 21 is readily available at similar pricing? Pretty much no one shore dives from the area, it's the kind of thing if you wan't to shore dive West Bay they want to charge you even for that and have a divemaster go with you, there was even reference a while back about some law making it needed

 

[lthomas132]

OK, Lets start at the top, IB is not newest or nicest thought it is nice, in the years since it opened the developers of IB have opened newer nicer place still on same beach and the Golf course condos are certainly newer and higher end as long as we are mentioning newer and nicer, IB May pick you up at airport if you booked through them direct, if you booked VRBO they may not, depends on whose listing, if your using the IB shuttle from the airport then you will not be able to ask the driver to stop at the store unless you happen to be the only one on the bus and even then he may not be allowed to, Few refer to to the town of Coxen hole as "the hole" such as this poster suggests but I have only been around these parts since 98 so I may be too new for such things, lots of great little places to eat and of course the best hardware store on the Island are there . DO NOT use ATM's unless you set one up special with limits as there is an abundance of cards being compromised, Water taxi's are $3 not $5, though some may choose to pay more, these rates are posted, if your wanting to try the higher end Flor de Cana rum then why bother with 15 year when 21 is readily available at similar pricing? Pretty much no one shore dives from the area, it's the kind of thing if you wan't to shore dive West Bay they want to charge you even for that and have a divemaster go with you, there was even reference a while back about some law making it needed

SOMEONE really like to dispute others! Geez, guy, get a life!

---------- Post added March 12th, 2015 at 05:49 PM ----------

the best hardware store on the Island are there . DO NOT use ATM's unless you set one up special with limits as there is an abundance of cards being compromised, Water taxi's are $3 not $5, though some may choose to pay more, these rates are posted, if your wanting to try the higher end Flor de Cana rum then why bother with 15 year when 21 is readily available at similar pricing? Pretty much no one shore dives from the area, it's the kind of thing if you wan't to shore dive West Bay they want to charge you even for that and have a divemaster go with you, there was even reference a while back about some law making it needed

Yea, the people that go diving on Roatan are ALWAYS looking for a good hardware store, and yes, the water taxis will charge you $5 if you are the only one on the boat!

 

[NWA395]

D2H2,
Stayed in WB June 2014 and returning July 2015. We did not stay at IB

IB dive op ran big boats from what we saw, if this is not what you are looking for there are plenty of dive ops in the area. I would recommend communicating directly with the dive op with any questions you may have...(air hogs, smb's, cost breaks for 20+ dives etc.) so you go in with realistic expectations.

Bananarama has some type of entertainment every night. Plenty of places up and down WB that have nightly entertainment.

My wife and I walked WB every night when to or from dinner... no issues there, bring a small flashlight if you feel the need.

Water taxis for us were 3$ each to WE. Very easy to get, but only during daylight hours.

We brought small denomination US$$$, some local places we received lempiras in return, no big deal there.

Local Baleada stands or Tampico you can get great food for just a few bucks.

Our last trip I packed 3 swim suits and 5 t shirts, plus a checked bag for dive gear. Never put on a pair of shoes for the entire week.

Enjoy the trip and relax...... My experience was that any everyone (local, staff, tourist) returned the vibe that was given... Obviously we had a great time and are returning..YMMV

The diving was fantastic

 

[D2H2]

Thank all of you for your comments. I certainly understand that different folks have different views of the same experience, so getting different opinions is helpful. The threads on this site that mention some of the Dept of State warnings are making us a bit apprehensive. Our favorite Caribbean dive destination is Cozumel. We try to dive there once or twice a year. It is as safe as almost any US location and we always enjoy our time there. Just hoping that Roatan is safe as long as we use common sense.

We did book directly with IB, and they indicated that they will pick us up at the airport. It would be great to be able to stop at a store so we can pick up some food supplies, but understand that may not be possible depending on the circumstances. If not, we will grab a taxi later. Can anyone recommend a good grocery store?

We usually dive with Aldora while in Cozumel and they provided excellent concierge diving. We are looking forward to Infinity Divers providing a comparable experience. We would certainly appreciate any comments from anyone else who has been diving with Infinity Divers and especially from anyone who has been diving with both Aldora and Infinity Divers.

I have seen a number of good comments regarding Bananarama, so we will definitely give it a try. As I indicated, we aren’t party animals but do enjoy good beach/Caribbean/Buffett kinds of music – especially if it is live. Can't wait to try the Flor de Cana rum. We usually drink margaritas, so rum will be a nice change!

Thanks again for your comments and hope that all of you are thinking happy diving thoughts!

 

[RTBDiver]

Eldons and Plaza Mar are THE Grocery stores, good bad or indifferent, they are about a 30 second drive from one another sohit one then the other. Eldons is a little nicer and more USA style carrying a lot of typical brands found at home, Plaza Mar is a bit more local but still has a large selection

 

[diversteve]

There's' one shallow beach dive off West Bay. IIRC it's not by IB but farther down towards the point. Which would make some sense as several of the better boat dives are there - Texas, Bucho's etc. Coz drift divers will feel right at home there - the only drift diving we did all week.

Large food stores are in French Harbor or Coxen Hole primarily. Popular Grocery Stores on Roatan Island Just essentials can also be purchased at the two smaller stores in the West End, Woody's or the Coconut Tree store. One of the water taxi stops is the dock in front of CT, Woody's is short walk away to the left. Too far for frozen stuff but everything else should be fine - there's a lot of water taxis. Also there's food trucks parked along the road daily in the West End - nicer looking produce/fruit etc. Even the fish looked freshly caught.

I suggest you eat a couple times in the West End, larger selection of restaurants there than in West Bay. I also suggest you not try to walk back - the road between them goes inland and there have been reports of robberies in one area. A cab would be a safer alternative since I believe the water taxis stop at dark. Cabs can also be found pretty late in the West End - at least till 10 or later - they also congregate in front of Coconut Tree since that's also the main entrance into the West End. 30 Best Roatan Restaurants on TripAdvisor

Vintage Pearl in West Bay is supposed to be very nice - it's at Bananarama. One of arguably the best Indian restaurants in Central America is Ooloonthoo in the West End. Resv. required. Argentinean Grille for steaks - in both the West End West Bay now I believe. The West End location is at Posada Arco Iris on the main street near Woody's. Rotisserie Grille is also very good, not fancy and limited tables. We also liked Tong's Thai - better than avg. food and great view.

One "Jimmy Buffett" place on a much smaller scale is Sundowners Beach Bar in the West End. https://www.facebook.com/sundownersbeachbar From Tripadvisor: The best way to describe West End would be to call it a "Jimmy Buffet" type place complete with small, open walled bars, and local bands. http://roatanguide.net/drinksandnightlifeinroatan/

Bring bug repellent - preferably something Deet or Picardin based and don't drink the water...

Just about every cab is negotiable except there's fixed rates to the airport and a few other major destinations.

Xbalanque are arguably the nicest condos on the island. Pristine Bay isn't too shabby either. Both are easily nicer than IB. It just is...

 

[D2H2]

Thanks RTBdiver - Eldons and Plaza Mar sound a bit like the Mega in Cozumel….though I'm guessing they may be a bit smaller.

Appreciate the info and the links DiverSteve. Nothing beats links that send you directly to the best sources.

 

[lthomas132]

Thanks RTBdiver - Eldons and Plaza Mar sound a bit like the Mega in Cozumel….though I'm guessing they may be a bit smaller.

Appreciate the info and the links DiverSteve. Nothing beats links that send you directly to the best sources.

Much, much smaller. More of a large convenience store or as we used to call Super Duper's. You will find that, unlike others that will post here, Roatan is much more 3rd world that Cozumel. I began my diving experience in Cozumel in the 70's when Cozumel was much more like Roatan is now, but that is part of the quaintness as far as I am concerned.