Griffins
Registered
Just got back from a week at Reef House in Roatan, and it was probably one of the most relaxing, laid back vacations we've ever had.
We flew LA to Houston to Roatan, all pretty smoothly. Customs and Immigration in Roatan took minutes, and as soon as we walked out of customs we were met with a rep from Reef House. He grabbed our bags, we had about a 5 minute wait for a van, and we were off. We (wife, 15 year old son, and I) were joined by another diver from New Jersey and 2 sisters from Texas.
It took about 30-40 minutes to get to the dock, where we were loaded onto a boat for the 5 minute motor to the island where Reef House is. It was a nice seque and we got a nice glimpse into a village largely built on stilts over the water.
At the dock we were met by the manager, Davey. While his family has owned RHR for about 6 years, he'd only taken over about 6 months ago. Check in consisted of him showing us to our room and then meeting us at the bar for the nickel tour a few minutes later. Super easy. He offered that we could grab a couple of tanks and dive right off the beach but we opted to wait until morning.
The rooms are situated in an L shape around a small central sandy courtyard, a porch goes around the area with lounge chairs and a line for hanging wet clothes, wetsuits, etc. Rooms are rustic but clean, with AC and ceiling fans and a small tv. Wifi was good and I was able to post pictures on facebook every day to make sure everyone back home was sufficiently jealous.
Our group for the week consisted of 5 non divers and 7 divers, although not everyone went on every dive. There were 3 other divers the first 2 days, and then we were joined by another diver for the last 3. Within an hour of arrival everyone knew each other by name and we were lucky to have such a great group.
Meals are family style, everyone sits together and you're served by the kitchen staff. The food was great- BBQ'd steaks, shrimp, fish, chicken dishes, etc. Portions were large and I ate much more than I do at home. We'd let them know in advance that my wife is a vegan and they cheerfully went out of their way to accommodate her. Meal times were 8am, 1ish (depending on when the boat got back) and 7pm. Davey mentioned that he'd had to make some changes in the kitchen staff when he took over and they were certainly for the better, based on previous reports.
The bar is well stocked and on the honor system- grab a beer, mark it down on your sheet and it's done. I was shocked to get the bill at the end of the week, it was so low. They are either charging cost or just slightly above.
Diving is just as hassle free. We went out at 9am every day for 2 tanks, and 2pm for a 1 tank dive. While you could also do beach dives if you wanted we had a lot of wind/swell the first part of the week and opted not to.
BC's would be placed on tanks when you got to the boat, you'd grab the rest from the locker room 10' away and the boat would set off.
A lot of very positive comments have been made about RHR's dive staff- Captain Choco and Divemaster Davit. I'd have to say they were understatements. In 30 years of diving I have never had a more attentive crew- everytime I got in the water Choco was handing me my camera, and I never came up without him standing on the step with his hand out to grab it and my tank. Davit has eyes like a hawk and could spot a seahorse from 20' away. Both were personable and fun.
Over the course of the week I made 17 boat dives (one was a nite dive) plus 1 beach dive on the house reef. We only repeated one spot and that was on request, and in a different direction than the original dive. At no time was the length of dive limited by anything other than the amount of air left in your tank, and we never felt rushed. Water temp was generally around 80 degrees, and the dive depths ranged from max's in the 80-100' range, although you could certainly do less on all dives and not miss anything. We'd generally go down the wall for the first part of the dive and then finish up over the top in about 30' before making a deco stop.
The reefs were in great shape and there was an incredible variety of life- much more than we saw in Bonaire a few years ago. Nothing big other than one eagle ray, but tons of smaller stuff along with a lot of morays, often free swimming.
While there my son also completed his advanced open water, with Davey arranging for an instructor for him. I was very satisfied with his abilities and focus on safety (especially on the deep dive) and was very happy with the course, as was my son.
Between the pace and quality of diving this was one of the most relaxing vacations we've ever had, and while we tend to not go back to places I think we could well make an exception for RHR. It's not fancy but very comfortable and very reasonably priced.
Sorry this is a little long winded, I'll add some pictures later today.
We flew LA to Houston to Roatan, all pretty smoothly. Customs and Immigration in Roatan took minutes, and as soon as we walked out of customs we were met with a rep from Reef House. He grabbed our bags, we had about a 5 minute wait for a van, and we were off. We (wife, 15 year old son, and I) were joined by another diver from New Jersey and 2 sisters from Texas.
It took about 30-40 minutes to get to the dock, where we were loaded onto a boat for the 5 minute motor to the island where Reef House is. It was a nice seque and we got a nice glimpse into a village largely built on stilts over the water.
At the dock we were met by the manager, Davey. While his family has owned RHR for about 6 years, he'd only taken over about 6 months ago. Check in consisted of him showing us to our room and then meeting us at the bar for the nickel tour a few minutes later. Super easy. He offered that we could grab a couple of tanks and dive right off the beach but we opted to wait until morning.
The rooms are situated in an L shape around a small central sandy courtyard, a porch goes around the area with lounge chairs and a line for hanging wet clothes, wetsuits, etc. Rooms are rustic but clean, with AC and ceiling fans and a small tv. Wifi was good and I was able to post pictures on facebook every day to make sure everyone back home was sufficiently jealous.
Our group for the week consisted of 5 non divers and 7 divers, although not everyone went on every dive. There were 3 other divers the first 2 days, and then we were joined by another diver for the last 3. Within an hour of arrival everyone knew each other by name and we were lucky to have such a great group.
Meals are family style, everyone sits together and you're served by the kitchen staff. The food was great- BBQ'd steaks, shrimp, fish, chicken dishes, etc. Portions were large and I ate much more than I do at home. We'd let them know in advance that my wife is a vegan and they cheerfully went out of their way to accommodate her. Meal times were 8am, 1ish (depending on when the boat got back) and 7pm. Davey mentioned that he'd had to make some changes in the kitchen staff when he took over and they were certainly for the better, based on previous reports.
The bar is well stocked and on the honor system- grab a beer, mark it down on your sheet and it's done. I was shocked to get the bill at the end of the week, it was so low. They are either charging cost or just slightly above.
Diving is just as hassle free. We went out at 9am every day for 2 tanks, and 2pm for a 1 tank dive. While you could also do beach dives if you wanted we had a lot of wind/swell the first part of the week and opted not to.
BC's would be placed on tanks when you got to the boat, you'd grab the rest from the locker room 10' away and the boat would set off.
A lot of very positive comments have been made about RHR's dive staff- Captain Choco and Divemaster Davit. I'd have to say they were understatements. In 30 years of diving I have never had a more attentive crew- everytime I got in the water Choco was handing me my camera, and I never came up without him standing on the step with his hand out to grab it and my tank. Davit has eyes like a hawk and could spot a seahorse from 20' away. Both were personable and fun.
Over the course of the week I made 17 boat dives (one was a nite dive) plus 1 beach dive on the house reef. We only repeated one spot and that was on request, and in a different direction than the original dive. At no time was the length of dive limited by anything other than the amount of air left in your tank, and we never felt rushed. Water temp was generally around 80 degrees, and the dive depths ranged from max's in the 80-100' range, although you could certainly do less on all dives and not miss anything. We'd generally go down the wall for the first part of the dive and then finish up over the top in about 30' before making a deco stop.
The reefs were in great shape and there was an incredible variety of life- much more than we saw in Bonaire a few years ago. Nothing big other than one eagle ray, but tons of smaller stuff along with a lot of morays, often free swimming.
While there my son also completed his advanced open water, with Davey arranging for an instructor for him. I was very satisfied with his abilities and focus on safety (especially on the deep dive) and was very happy with the course, as was my son.
Between the pace and quality of diving this was one of the most relaxing vacations we've ever had, and while we tend to not go back to places I think we could well make an exception for RHR. It's not fancy but very comfortable and very reasonably priced.
Sorry this is a little long winded, I'll add some pictures later today.
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