sambolino44
Contributor
Just got back from my first trip to Roatan, and while the photos are still being sorted I thought I'd share a few first impressions.
We were there two weeks (21 dives), and stayed at Chillies and dived with Native Sons. I'm very happy with that choice. I don't know much about the other operations in the West End other than what I saw walking by, but this place fit my needs and expectations very well. The cabin was clean and comfortable (and relatively quiet as long as the neighbors kept their TV volume down, and until the roosters got started), and the service was great. This was budget accommodation (otherwise we wouldn't have been able to do 2 weeks), and also very low-impact environmentally.
The diving was fantastic, and many thanks to the DMs Alex and Andrea for being so helpful and accommodating (once we showed that we were basically competent, they would let us do our own thing, site permitting).
I have the highest praise for the owners Alvin and Mish! The way they run their operation is just what I was looking for. Alvin was happy to work with us to fit the dives to our diving style, plus, he's built the best dive boat around.
Now, some things I learned:
We took all our own gear except for weights and tanks. I bought a 3/2 full wetsuit just for this trip. Our steel backplates and large cold water wings are not the ideal rig for warm water diving. My trim was off the whole time; after a while I just stopped fighting to stay horizontal and would just hover vertical. Towards the end I started getting cold, so I added a 3mm shorty over my wetsuit. Next time I'd use a 5mm instead, and probably just rent a BC locally. Water temps were 81 or 82F the whole time.
It was sometimes nice to be the only people in the restaurant, but a bit disturbing to think that these businesses are just hanging by a thread and the whims of people who put too much stock in that stupid state department travel advisory. Alvin was nice enough to take us out in the big boat even if it was just us two, but once again, while it's a real luxury to have a big empty boat just for us, it's troubling to see everyone abandon this place.
Bottom line, I'd go back in a heartbeat, and highly recommend Native Sons diving!
We were there two weeks (21 dives), and stayed at Chillies and dived with Native Sons. I'm very happy with that choice. I don't know much about the other operations in the West End other than what I saw walking by, but this place fit my needs and expectations very well. The cabin was clean and comfortable (and relatively quiet as long as the neighbors kept their TV volume down, and until the roosters got started), and the service was great. This was budget accommodation (otherwise we wouldn't have been able to do 2 weeks), and also very low-impact environmentally.
The diving was fantastic, and many thanks to the DMs Alex and Andrea for being so helpful and accommodating (once we showed that we were basically competent, they would let us do our own thing, site permitting).
I have the highest praise for the owners Alvin and Mish! The way they run their operation is just what I was looking for. Alvin was happy to work with us to fit the dives to our diving style, plus, he's built the best dive boat around.
Now, some things I learned:
We took all our own gear except for weights and tanks. I bought a 3/2 full wetsuit just for this trip. Our steel backplates and large cold water wings are not the ideal rig for warm water diving. My trim was off the whole time; after a while I just stopped fighting to stay horizontal and would just hover vertical. Towards the end I started getting cold, so I added a 3mm shorty over my wetsuit. Next time I'd use a 5mm instead, and probably just rent a BC locally. Water temps were 81 or 82F the whole time.
It was sometimes nice to be the only people in the restaurant, but a bit disturbing to think that these businesses are just hanging by a thread and the whims of people who put too much stock in that stupid state department travel advisory. Alvin was nice enough to take us out in the big boat even if it was just us two, but once again, while it's a real luxury to have a big empty boat just for us, it's troubling to see everyone abandon this place.
Bottom line, I'd go back in a heartbeat, and highly recommend Native Sons diving!
