mbchiro
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Anyone have any thoughts on this resort?
Turquoise Bay Resort
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Stayed there a couple of years ago. It is pretty basic. I went with a group, it would not have been my choice if I was going on my own and making my own arrangements.
Stayed there a couple of years ago. It is pretty basic. I went with a group, it would not have been my choice if I was going on my own and making my own arrangements.
OP
mbchiro
Registered
thanks, there was a good deal there on Maduro and airfare out of CLT was a good deal.
Doctorfish
Contributor
I stayed there 2 years ago. Rooms were lovely and food was good. The dive op, Subway, was so so. not sure what is going on there now as Subway owner, Patrick Zing, was apparently murdered in December.
I stayed in summer of 2011. If you go in the summer there is hardly anyone at the resort so they are very neglectful of anyone staying there. Food was atrocious (an omelet with ham should not be one egg with cut up hot dogs on it). Staff was rude and acted as though they were inconvenienced by any request, even simple ones such as asking for a refill on water. Forget having alcohol there as the bar isn't staffed. The beach is tough to even call a beach. Forget soft sand and taking a nice walk. It's like walking barefoot through a hot parking lot.
The first day I got there the dive shop (Subway Watersports) was closed and it was around 3pm on a weekday. The boats are in real rough shape too. The blown out windshield was a real nice touch. The next day we caught them open (no staff to keep it open when they are out) and mentioned we might come down in the morning to check out their dive group and see what conditions were like. According to them that was an instant reservation which they were quite rude about. They claimed we held up the dive trip as they were waiting for us, although we never made any mention about going on a trip. We simply said we may come in the next morning to see the group going out, meet the staff, etc. So we ended up diving with Fantasy Island's dive shop. They were GREAT! Walk-in diving to the Prince Albert wreck was amazing. Very friendly staff and up-to-date with boats, equipment, etc.
I wouldn't go back to Turquoise Bay Resort if they payed ME to stay there. Subway Watersports is a little offshoot with erratic hours. I've also read in reviews that they charge HUGE additional fees (around 20% I believe) if you choose to pay by credit card. They want cash transactions only. I believe that was found on TripAdvisor. They wrote back to the guy and said that particular policy was on their website and that he pretty much should have read that first. Rude all the way around.
Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else.
The first day I got there the dive shop (Subway Watersports) was closed and it was around 3pm on a weekday. The boats are in real rough shape too. The blown out windshield was a real nice touch. The next day we caught them open (no staff to keep it open when they are out) and mentioned we might come down in the morning to check out their dive group and see what conditions were like. According to them that was an instant reservation which they were quite rude about. They claimed we held up the dive trip as they were waiting for us, although we never made any mention about going on a trip. We simply said we may come in the next morning to see the group going out, meet the staff, etc. So we ended up diving with Fantasy Island's dive shop. They were GREAT! Walk-in diving to the Prince Albert wreck was amazing. Very friendly staff and up-to-date with boats, equipment, etc.
I wouldn't go back to Turquoise Bay Resort if they payed ME to stay there. Subway Watersports is a little offshoot with erratic hours. I've also read in reviews that they charge HUGE additional fees (around 20% I believe) if you choose to pay by credit card. They want cash transactions only. I believe that was found on TripAdvisor. They wrote back to the guy and said that particular policy was on their website and that he pretty much should have read that first. Rude all the way around.
Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else.
I have been there twice. Great value for the money. Big rooms air condition and clean. Good food and we bought the nitrox and bar package which is a great deal. Dive shop manager is a Canadian female name is Kim. very friendly and helpful and works to please. I had a group of 10 in September 2012 and everyone loved the place.and the Subway..the dive shop. Short rides to dive sites unless you down toward West End to dive the wrecks. Great buffet for breakfast or eggs and omelets cooked to order. Diner normally included fish, chicken and pork. A great variety for week long stay. great staff, snacks at the bar after diving ...we taught the bar tender how to make orange crushes
Enjoy ..I think you like it
Enjoy ..I think you like it
I stayed there last January. Got back almost exactly 1 year ago today.
TB is a wonderful little resort on the North end. It’s a quiet, established resort withwell-maintained buildings and facilities. The grounds are lovely and the rooms are very nice. It fit my style perfectly. I did lots of diving, ate good food, drank acouple of beers and went off to bed to do it all over.
The food was very good. We were on the all-inclusive plan and sometimes we had a buffet and sometimeswe picked off the menu. Breakfast wasgreat. Ham and cheese omelets are myfavorite and I had one every day I was there. I thought the service was over the top good. I left my BCD at the shark dive (over an houraway) and found out after I got back to TB. We went to the front desk for help and they said they would see whatthey could do and said I could probably rent one for the next day’s dives. The next morning, while we were eatingbreakfast, our waiter told me they had something for me at the front desk. When I went to the front desk there was myBCD. Overnight, someone had driven twohours to get it for me. My onlycomplaint was the mosquitos and sand fleas. Bring your Cutter.
Subway is a 5 star teaching facility and there were plentyof DMCs falling all over themselves to provide service. The two regular boats were nice and wellmaintained. There was a third boat atthe dock that they were actively refurbishing. I remember, on our last day, they brought out a fourth boat and it was alittle rough. But the other two werefull with groups and there were just 4 of us and we were going to a specialsite so I didn’t think much of it. I’vebeen on worse in the Pacific and Cozumel. Having worked as a dive guide in Hawaii, I am very critical when I ampaying for dives and these guides were as good as any I’ve been with. Far superior to the guides on my last trip toBonaire.
All in all, Turtle Bay is the place I’d go with my wife tojust dive and relax.
TB is a wonderful little resort on the North end. It’s a quiet, established resort withwell-maintained buildings and facilities. The grounds are lovely and the rooms are very nice. It fit my style perfectly. I did lots of diving, ate good food, drank acouple of beers and went off to bed to do it all over.
The food was very good. We were on the all-inclusive plan and sometimes we had a buffet and sometimeswe picked off the menu. Breakfast wasgreat. Ham and cheese omelets are myfavorite and I had one every day I was there. I thought the service was over the top good. I left my BCD at the shark dive (over an houraway) and found out after I got back to TB. We went to the front desk for help and they said they would see whatthey could do and said I could probably rent one for the next day’s dives. The next morning, while we were eatingbreakfast, our waiter told me they had something for me at the front desk. When I went to the front desk there was myBCD. Overnight, someone had driven twohours to get it for me. My onlycomplaint was the mosquitos and sand fleas. Bring your Cutter.
Subway is a 5 star teaching facility and there were plentyof DMCs falling all over themselves to provide service. The two regular boats were nice and wellmaintained. There was a third boat atthe dock that they were actively refurbishing. I remember, on our last day, they brought out a fourth boat and it was alittle rough. But the other two werefull with groups and there were just 4 of us and we were going to a specialsite so I didn’t think much of it. I’vebeen on worse in the Pacific and Cozumel. Having worked as a dive guide in Hawaii, I am very critical when I ampaying for dives and these guides were as good as any I’ve been with. Far superior to the guides on my last trip toBonaire.
All in all, Turtle Bay is the place I’d go with my wife tojust dive and relax.
I gotta say, kinda suspicious that two brand new SB members give the first glowing reviews as their first post and within 13 hours of each other and after a less than glowing review.
scubakissed
Registered
Hello, my name is Kimberlie Dufresne and I am currently the manager at Subway Watersports at Turquoise Bay in Roatan. I started as the manager here in November 2011.
I just want to share with the board that we have made significant operational improvements since the last visit described above from the Summer of 2011. We have been working very closely with the resort manager to make both operations work smoothly and "together". We had a record number of dive packages sold since the resort started operating in 2006 and overall I think most of the clients were completely satisfied. You have the comments of these two new Scubaboard members that were here with us this past year – there are also many positive comments made on Tripadvisor about both Turquoise Bay and Subway Watersports.
I would also like to confirm our opening hours, which have been in place since I’ve been manager here. We open the dive shop doors no later than 8am and we close no earlier than 4pm, or until the last charter is back in and there is no more training going on or divers making enquiries.
2012 became a very crucial year, we catered to approximately 500 divers on dive packages from the resort plus several more from outside the resort. We're "new" in the business compared to FI, AKR, CCV, RHR but we're doing our best to offer a supreme diving service to the island visitors as the others have been doing for so many years.
I noticed a post raising a question about how things have been running since Patrick’s tragic death this past November. Things are running just as he would want them too, as smoothly and as busy as ever. It is business as usual and the team here at Subway Watersports have not slowed down for a second. We are all very passionate about what we’re doing here and we will continue to carry on with Patrick’s legacy. He was an amazing man and he built this company over the past 12 years to what it is today. We certainly aren’t going to let it tumble to the ground now that he’s gone. We are working harder and more than ever to continue it’s success and to give our local employees no reason to worry about their jobs or our upcoming guests to worry about their vacations.
We are still a PADI 5 Star Resort and Instructor Development Center as well as Roatan’s only National Geographic Award dive center. Aside from catering to the Resort guests, we are also conducting monthly IDC’s with our in house course director. We are also working closely with many of the rental homes in the area. We are working weekly with the cruise ships, doing everything from diving, DSD’s, referrals, snorkeling, kayaking and canopy tours (always kept separate from the resort business) – Aside from the Resort guests, cruise ship guests and private homes, we also have a very popular Divemaster internship training program. We receive anywhere from 30 -50 DMT’s per year.
So, please rest assured that we are a very solid dive shop and we are working very hard every day to make sure all of our guests are happy and safe and enjoying their time with us. We are making small improvements every day and will continue to move onwards and upwards and deliver the best quality of service possible to everyone that steps foot through our doors.
We invite you all to come for a visit.
Sincerely,
Kimberlie
I just want to share with the board that we have made significant operational improvements since the last visit described above from the Summer of 2011. We have been working very closely with the resort manager to make both operations work smoothly and "together". We had a record number of dive packages sold since the resort started operating in 2006 and overall I think most of the clients were completely satisfied. You have the comments of these two new Scubaboard members that were here with us this past year – there are also many positive comments made on Tripadvisor about both Turquoise Bay and Subway Watersports.
I would also like to confirm our opening hours, which have been in place since I’ve been manager here. We open the dive shop doors no later than 8am and we close no earlier than 4pm, or until the last charter is back in and there is no more training going on or divers making enquiries.
2012 became a very crucial year, we catered to approximately 500 divers on dive packages from the resort plus several more from outside the resort. We're "new" in the business compared to FI, AKR, CCV, RHR but we're doing our best to offer a supreme diving service to the island visitors as the others have been doing for so many years.
I noticed a post raising a question about how things have been running since Patrick’s tragic death this past November. Things are running just as he would want them too, as smoothly and as busy as ever. It is business as usual and the team here at Subway Watersports have not slowed down for a second. We are all very passionate about what we’re doing here and we will continue to carry on with Patrick’s legacy. He was an amazing man and he built this company over the past 12 years to what it is today. We certainly aren’t going to let it tumble to the ground now that he’s gone. We are working harder and more than ever to continue it’s success and to give our local employees no reason to worry about their jobs or our upcoming guests to worry about their vacations.
We are still a PADI 5 Star Resort and Instructor Development Center as well as Roatan’s only National Geographic Award dive center. Aside from catering to the Resort guests, we are also conducting monthly IDC’s with our in house course director. We are also working closely with many of the rental homes in the area. We are working weekly with the cruise ships, doing everything from diving, DSD’s, referrals, snorkeling, kayaking and canopy tours (always kept separate from the resort business) – Aside from the Resort guests, cruise ship guests and private homes, we also have a very popular Divemaster internship training program. We receive anywhere from 30 -50 DMT’s per year.
So, please rest assured that we are a very solid dive shop and we are working very hard every day to make sure all of our guests are happy and safe and enjoying their time with us. We are making small improvements every day and will continue to move onwards and upwards and deliver the best quality of service possible to everyone that steps foot through our doors.
We invite you all to come for a visit.
Sincerely,
Kimberlie
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Great to have you on ScubaBoard! TBR is in a great location for seeing a very interesting zone of Roatan's diving. They are smart to have Subway as a provider for the dive op.
Here's their/your website: Roatan Dive Shop | Scuba Diving at Turquoise Bay Resort
Is Osman still one of your DM's?
Here's their/your website: Roatan Dive Shop | Scuba Diving at Turquoise Bay Resort
Is Osman still one of your DM's?
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