Roatan and Utila, first trip to the Bay Islands

[ZwennK]

We are are group of three, set to make our first trip to Roatan and Utila this August. We have quite a bit of experience from Bonaire, Cozumel, and other places. But from glancing over a number of posts I feel that Roatan and Utila are a bit different from what we're used to. So here are a few questions that some of you might have an answer for.

• -Our plan is to do about three dives a day; maybe two boat dives in the morning, and a relaxed shore dive in the afternoon. From what I've seen in other posts there isn't much shore diving, though. What's the preferred place to stay for this kind of pattern?
• How are the boat dives typically run? 30 minutes and back on deck, or as long as there's air?
• Is there accommodation outside resorts? Or is it even recommended? We usually rent our own spot and don't need any of the amenities provided by a resort. Rinse tanks and drying racks would be nice, though.
• If booking a resort is the thing to do, what would be the recommended choice? We don't need valet diving, we take care of our own equipment.
• We'd like to use nitrox; is there any place that offers this by default? Or is it always an extra?

Any help and hints would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Doc]

I will speak of the diving,

if any bay islands operations, other than a cruise ship or some hideously unknown previously unheard of dive operation would limit you to 30 minutes bottom time? there’s gonna be a mutiny problem! Now- if everybody’s running out at 30 minutes…there’s another kind of problem….but suffice to say most dive operations on Roatan say 60 minutes or return at 300-500 psi at whatever…. so you’ve kind of self-limiting yourself by your own SAC ability.

It’ll be good,

Stay at your dive masters flippers just like you’re a puppy dog ….don’t feel the urge to go off “exploring” because you will find nothing.

They know where all the cool stuff is and - here’s a warning about dive masters - if they’re pointing at barracudas and crabs and lobsters that’s lovely. in roatan or Utila, A dive master better be showing you at least once daily a seahorse…. I would also like to see at least once a day if not every couple days pipe fish if they can’t find a pipe fish they’re not very good dive masters - anybody again can find a lobster- if you’re not giving that kind of “naturalist guide expert service”? Immediately switch go to a different dive op.

the second thing you mention is puzzling. After you assumably thought you were doing 30min BTs., somehow managing to tie that in to nitrox?

If you want nitrox, maybe you do, but for no particular technical reason. You’re talking about three dives (with SI) per day …there’s no technical reason…. because of the 3x profiles at the bay islands or Utila & Roatan ….to even need or require nitrox ? It might feel perky and happy and it gives you the cooler look because you got the yellow and green tank but actually no technical reason for nitrox

You’re not going that deep and your abilities will dictate your bottom times, but the best diving in the Bi? remember is it 45 to 60 feet of water, yes you can overstay your welcome at that depth but in many years of diving in Roatan, I have used EAN twice

“”

• We'd like to use nitrox; is there any place that offers this by default? Or is it always an extra?””

In the modern land based dive world, it is universally available. It is never “included” unless you have an answer to that truism…”no such thing as a free lunch”

Many day-Dive operations everywhere especially on Roatan scream the phrase CONCIERGE/CATERED diving ….what a load of fluff!

if you don’t have a dock or if you do have a dock and if the dive master carries your tanks out there and rigs them so you don’t screw it up. This is called CONCIERGE diving? get over it. They’re great dive operations to be had in Roatan and Utah but that whole mis-use of English has got to go You’re going to get 99% identical service but some dive ops have tiny boats (so they can revel in not being called a cattle boat, just overcrowded) and most everybody cuts up melon for you.

Enjoy what’s left of really good old-fashioned resort and day dive operations in the Caribbean! There’s not much of this left elsewhere and you’re gonna have a great time in the bay islands.

 

[Salamandra]

Roatan: this is based on West End and West Bay because that's what I'm somewhat familiar with: There are a ton of dive shops, some associated with resorts and some not. But people not staying at the resort will still come dive with a resort dive shop if they like it. I'm pretty sure most of the shops will be able to store your stuff for you as long as you're diving with them consistently. People definitely also stay at air bnbs and non-resort hotels.

Most shops do a two tank morning dive (that may or may not come back to land in between - most dives are close to shore. They will also do a one tank afternoon dive if they have enough people. It's hard to go wrong. If you ask people for their recs, you will hear a lot of love for many different shops and resorts and I guess they probably are all awesome. Anthony's Key Resort and CocoView Resort are sort of all inclusive diving resorts that people also love.

Utila: many dive shops have associated hotels and hostels that you get a discount on if you are diving. It is possible to get much cheaper and simpler accommodations, but there are fancier places too. Overall though Utila is small. There are basically no cars, just golf carts and tuk tuks. Less to do when not diving, but also everything kind of close and convenient. It's a very different feel, with a lot more young people, backpackers, etc. I will say that on Roatan I feel young and poor, and on Utila I feel old and rich.

Utila diving is further from shore and they do two tank morning and afternoon dives, and it's also cheaper (prices almost always include gear rental, tax, and marine park fee, at least if you're paying cash). On the other hand, the cheaper diving is likely to be less luxurious and may also only promise 40-45 minutes of down time instead of 60 min. But there too, everyone has their favorite and there are lots of great shops and great DMs.

Money is a concern for me and I want to maximize underwater time, so I end up spending more time on Utila than on Roatan. But I love them both. I have also heard great things about Guanaja, though I've never been there.

 

[laurenceh]

If you want small group diving I really like We-Dive Utila. They have a nice big boat (its the team that used to run the dive operation at Utopia Village Resort (now closed) but they rarely have more than 5-6 divers because they are located on the Cays, rather than in Utila Town. In fact there's a good chance your group would be the only divers on board, Anke the Dive Master is great and has been leading dives on Utila for about 15 years, you will get all the bottom time you want with We-Dive Utila. Most people that dive with them are renting a house on the south shore of Utila. Check out the rental houses at Treasure Beach (www.facebook.com/utilabeach) or Sandy Cay (a private island with a house, you can rent the island).

 

[FezUSA]

See above for good diving info. We (our family) have our fave op (Sun Divers), and some friends have others, lots of good options.

For a place to stay outside of the AI/resorts, West End has lots of places. We have our own place at Cocolobo, lodge D specifically, and it's available for rent too. 5 minutes walk to West End where you'll find good dive ops, and good food options. If you like to make your own food, a stop at a grocery store to pick up your supplies and our full kitchen and BBQ will see you sorted too.

Superior House - Lodge D - Vacation Home in West End

 

[Midlomac]

I've hit your questions, listed below, on my experience at Cocoview; a popular Roatan resort. My responses are in italics. I did a week there early May, 2023. In summary, okay to do once, but won't be going back. Maybe I just got a bad week, but vis was poor, not many critters, and I won't be letting anyone handle my gear ever again.

• -Our plan is to do about three dives a day; maybe two boat dives in the morning, and a relaxed shore dive in the afternoon. From what I've seen in other posts there isn't much shore diving, though. What's the preferred place to stay for this kind of pattern? - Cocoview offers daily two morning boat dives, two afternoon boat dives, and unrestricted access to their front yard diving, which includes the wreck the Prince Albert, and also a DC3 plane. Both have been purpose sunk there for easy access, and are pretty shallow. These dives are particularly good at night, when you get some interesting critters on them; i.e. octopus out hunting,.. Some folks go out in the front yard early in the morning to see the reef "wake up"/ see the sea life coming in. Getting out and back from the front yard requires some very shallow (meaning 3 feet or less depth) finning across sea grass for about 150 yards, during which you need to keep an eye out for urchins (one guy accidentally kneed one and it readily went right through the extra rubber there into his skin). The second boat dive of each morning and afternoon trip is ALWAYS a drop off at either the reef to the left or the right of the resort, and you do a swim in from there; including the shallow finning mentioned above. After about the third time of doing this it got very tedious. Wish I would of known it beforehand.
• How are the boat dives typically run? 30 minutes and back on deck, or as long as there's air? - 30 minutes is about the max boat trip to any sites. Usually they're about 15 minute ride each way. dm tells you when you're 5 minutes out, so you can gear up. Bottom time is up to you, but the DM typically leads the group around, points out where the seahorses are, and anything else of particular interest. A swell had come in teh week before, and vis was at the low end by all reports from folks who had been there a lot (most divers are repeats) and at best was about 60 feet. Also didn't see much of any significant life; for the full week, two turtles, two eagle rays, about three morays, a remora (that attached to my arm for a bit), and one sleeping shark.
• Is there accommodation outside resorts? Or is it even recommended? We usually rent our own spot and don't need any of the amenities provided by a resort. Rinse tanks and drying racks would be nice, though. - Cocoview only catters to folks staying there (you take a small boat ride to get to it and has it's own 24 hour armed security patrol. I didn't feel the need to go exploring).
• If booking a resort is the thing to do, what would be the recommended choice? We don't need valet diving, we take care of our own equipment. - Only have the one Roatan experience of Cocoview. Resort is nice; people friendly, rooms are generally good, meals are okay (tell them in advance if you have food issues - I'm pescatarian and thought there would be good fish every night - WRONG - ate a lot of red beans and rice, and the one night they did have fish it was only so so). Know that they expect you to tip heavily at the end of the week; like 20% of your full resort package. They live off the tips. They offer what they call conceirge diving, but strongly recommend against letting any of them handle your equipment. My first day of diving I was setting up my gear in the area where you keep your dive equipment and the captain rushed in and said "No, no, we do that, we do that", grabbed it and took it to the boat. Suited up and jumped in at the first dive site and didn't go down, even though I had done a predive check the day before in the front yard to know what weight I needed for what I was wearing and carrying. Then grabbed my weight pockets only to realize one was gone. Captain had put the weight pockets in their holders, but didn't FULLY click the clip into place, and when I stepped off the back of the boat and hit the water it slipped out and went down to the bottom, which was 170'. I had felt that they were there during my predive check, but didn't take them out and re-click them. A second diver on the boat had the exact same thing happen to him on that dive, but he exited over the side of the boat and his weight pocket landed on the reef at 40 feet, so it could be recovered. Also had an "assistant" DM put my regs on backwards, and on another dive turn my air back a quarter turn. I've decided going forward on all dives, I'm the only one who's handling my gear.
• We'd like to use nitrox; is there any place that offers this by default? Or is it always an extra? - Nitrox is extra: $135 for the week, I believe. Make sure you calibrate the sensor yourself.

 

[laurenceh]

"Midlomac" - That's a shame about your experience with vis and sea life - we were on the neighboring island of Utila from May 13th - June 10th, the visibility was 120ft+ everyday and there was tons of sea life (by Caribbean standards). We've been diving the bay islands regularly since 2005 and it was one of our best dive experiences there in at least a decade.

 

[Doc]

Only have the one Roatan experience of Cocoview.
[/LIST]

Overall a good perspective of CCV.

Caveats:

The introductory video that everybody is required to watch specifically details the fact that if you do not want them to touch your gear, there’s a way to have it however you like. Otherwise they will always carry tanks, even gear if you wish, but mount your gear for you? Your decision….All you gotta do is ask. but that was in the video, and sometimes we’re pretty sleepy, or worked up when they play that video on the arrival night.

Also covered: Boat Dives #1 & #3 are suggested to be a max 60’BT unless the group otherwise agrees- there is no 30 minute limit.

“Making sure to calibrate your own nitrox”?
Yes, that was in the video, too. Industry standard.

All Moorings are in 30-45fsw. Not 50, much less 170. DMs are quite good at finding anything they are set after. All you gotta do is ask.

If someone kneels on…anything… the PADI Buoyancy clinic… CCV offers it for free as mentioned in the video.

Every shore entry presents different obstacles. I’ve never seen a simpler shore access than CCV. It’s essentially a sand floor swimming pool with road signs, If you go off-roading and make contact with the bottom? Maybe that’s why Mother Nature made it hurt?

As to being a pescatarian (fish eater..,your buddies !!!) if you ask the office, they’ll feed you fish three times a day. No exaggeration, they will feed almost any diet. I watched on guy get shrimp or lobster each meal. In his omelet, too. All you gotta do is ask.

I am a card carrying CCV Fanboy, but if you read my response to the OP, i did not recommend it for him.

No one place is perfect for everybody, but i use the general resort experience provided by Coco View as my worldwide standard. There’s better diving in other Oceans and Seas, but CCV sets a very high bar in resort & dive-op performance.

Basing water and viz conditions on a short stay? Hmm.

 

[Midlomac]

Good perspectives above from a more seasoned CCV diver. Mine was only for a week, but the condtions were consisent over the 29 dives I made. Plenty of other places I haven't dove yet that I want to, so that's enough for me. On the dive where my weight was lost the boat was moored at 45' - 50', but due to unusual currents (unknown to the crew at the time, or at least nothing was said) the back of the boat was over the reef wall (just my luck), and since that's where I stepped off from the weight went all the way down. I was on a different boat the rest of the week, and the DM there (Gringo - a top notch DM in my view), was adamant that he could find the weight. We did a second dive there that week, and neither of us was able to find it (along with everyone else on the boat who was keeping an eye out). Gringo said that occassionally at that site the currents come from an unusual direction and the back of the boat is out over the wall, which is what happened with me. He and I went down to 120' looking along the wall, but still couldn't see the bottom. When we were back on the boat he said the bottom there was about 170'. Neither of us had any further interest.

The experience has made me think, though, that what you think you're jumpimg in to may not be what it is. Everyone thought the bottom there was 50' (they said so in the briefing), and the majority of folks entered with negative weight (true pretty much the whole week). I don't do that unless there's a good reason for it (i.e., need to get down quick due to surface conditons, catch a down line quickly due to currents,..). And if I do, there's a discussion beforehand on how me and who I'm diving with are going to handle it. This reaffirmed that decision for me. If you went off the back, bottom was 170'; wether you knew about it or not.

After seeing there wasn't much fish on the menu for the week, I mentioned I was pescatarian to the cook staff to see if there were other options, but just got an "Oh,.." and a blank stare. Thought I was talking with the right folks, but should have mentioned it on the registration, or as Doc mentioned, visited the office. They really do want to accomodate.

Left off that they do have a lion fish hunting class, which upon completion allows you to go hunting in the area (and you get to keep the Hawaiian sling they issue you). At the end of the week they take all that was caught and make a communal ceviche. If you do take the class/go hunting, make sure you're really aware of your surroundings; easy to get locked onto the lionfish and forget the environment. On a second drop dive coming back one afternoon, a diver went after a lionfish and got tangled up in a bunch of blue sponge and ended up ripping it off the wall. Needless to say, he was continually reminded of it the rest of the week.

Lastly, the music at the club house was outstanding. Particularly a threesome group that when asked who they were gave the impromptu answer of "The Cocoview Players". Best musicianship / guitar playing I think I've ever experienced first hand (and yes, I've been to concerts). Probably the most memorable part of the trip for me.

 

[Midlomac]

"Midlomac" - That's a shame about your experience with vis and sea life - we were on the neighboring island of Utila from May 13th - June 10th, the visibility was 120ft+ everyday and there was tons of sea life (by Caribbean standards). We've been diving the bay islands regularly since 2005 and it was one of our best dive experiences there in at least a decade.

Thanks. Have a potential to dive Utila (friend of the family has a place there), and sounds like its worth looking in to. Who's your favorite operator there?