Where and when? Cocoview (CCV) resort, July 2-9, 2011
Who? Me + 2 non-divers (spouse & child)
What did the non-divers do? They brought a laptop and some movies. They watched 1-2 movies a day, snorkeled, hung out in the hammocks, and did the dolphin snorkel. Snorkeling was really good (even though the visibility got murky in the afternoons). I am told the dolphin snorkel was awesome.
Arrival: We were sitting way near the back of the plane, and they eventually opened the rear door with a second stair to exit the plane. Immigration in Roatan is somewhat slow, and baggage delivery to the moving belts is even slower. That said, there are several porters in the baggage claim area, looking for specific resort tags (including Anthony’s Key and CocoView). The mural for Parrot Tree when you enter immigration is very nice. If your bags are the first off, don’t take them out of customs! Hover looking uncertain, and someone will come get your bags (because of the pink tags). If you’re the last out (like we were), you’ll see a huge pile of baggage with pink tags. Approach the pile, and your baggage will also get placed with the huge pile. You’ll have your carry-ons x-rayed when you exit customs. Your baggage will likely go on a truck, separate from the bus that you take to get to the resort. It will likely arrive at the resort after you do, and it will get delivered to near your room. Once at the resort, you’re handed a stack of forms (various releases, authorization for donations to marine park, etc.), along with the key to your room. If you haven’t been to CCV before (like me), there are a couple of “handy hints.” Send me a PM if you like for the handy hints.
The staff: Very friendly. Deb and Mitch (managers) will come by and introduce themselves to every table during an early mealtime. If something isn’t right, they will try to get it fixed. Deb gave the spouse & child advice on where to snorkel. Snorkelers are welcome on the dive boats, especially if the destination has a shallow reef top. However, my family gets seasick easily, so did not choose to accompany me. The kitchen staff was happy to get and prepare some fresh coconuts for us.
Accommodations: We were at Playa Miguel Beach House 9 (non-diver rate at Playa Miguel is substantially lower). This is almost the farthest beach house, and is about a 5 minute walk from the clubhouse and diving. There are bicycles available for guests, intended for the beach house residents. The bicycles are somewhat rusty, but you can find something that fits you. The bike ride is a couple of minutes, on a flat, gravel-paved driveway. Entry from the beach house to the beach is possible if you’re wearing crocs or other water sandals, as the shore is coral rubble. You can’t really swim easily from the beach houses to the CCV front yard, as it gets very shallow (1-2 ft deep?), but you can certainly snorkel in front of the beach houses. Spouse and child found a lionfish, several eels, and various other reef life in front of the beach houses. The bedrooms in the beach houses are typically air-conditioned, but the common areas (LR, K) are not. Spouse and child had issues with the geckos inside the beach house, and would prefer to pay extra to be in one of the overwater cabanas or bungalows (we assume geckos don’t like to cross running water). I had no issues with the geckos or itty ants (let’s face it: I was just there to dive, so as long as they don’t get into my regulator, I’m fine
). I found the bedrooms neatly made, and bathrooms clean. The hot water and water pressure were entertaining. Once I figured out that righty-tighty doesn’t necessarily apply to plumbing, I was reasonably OK.
Food: We had the CCV meal plan. Meals are at set times. There is a horde (especially the first couple of days) at the start of the meal time, but food is plentiful. If they run low on fruit at breakfast, just ask for more. Same thing for salad at the dinner salad bar. The food is not fancy gourmet, but it caters to “American” taste, and is good. Coffee/tea, ice, and water are always available. Ice tea and lemonade are always available at some point after breakfast. (good for rehydrating).
The diving: Outstanding. Be sure to read RoatanMan’s posts and advice regarding slowing down, and really looking. Visibility was generally pretty good in the mornings, and got murky in the afternoons. This was due, I’m told, to the sponges wanting to get frisky. I was assigned to the “Reef Nut” (smaller boat), with Captn Bob and DM Marcos of the creative hair. They are a riot. I buddied up with Rick Z (first time diving in 19 yrs, but a very experienced and knowledgeable diver) who was traveling by himself. We hit it off very well, and had a great time. For the first two days, we had a private boat, as the family group that was also assigned to our boat was out shore-diving. I did every single boat dive and drop off dive, and added 3 night dives. Had I had the energy and inclination (this is a negative for the Playa Miguel beach houses), I might have added a pre-dinner shore dive, and a pre-breakfast dawn dive on some days. I logged 25 dives (probably could have done 27-28 if I’d bothered arranging a private orientation on my arrival afternoon). I always found something interesting on each dive. See the photos in the link earlier. To me, the most interesting thing was to look for parrotfish getting cleaned (once I figured out that the parrotfish were not pining for the fjords). See the photo link previous post.
Diving accommodations: Very well thought out. All the tanks you want; dive from shore whenever; gear rinse tanks separate from camera rinse/soak tanks; lots of showers to de-sand and de-salt; plenty of space to gear up for shore diving. The water pressure does get creative at times. I might bring (and donate) some more plastic hangers next time.
Extra stuff: Scott and Patti Chandler were there, doing the Great Annual Fish Count. They gave a talk & showed some of the video they shoot in the Front Yard & Prince Albert area. They were running a daily and weekly fish spotting contest. I lucked out and won a T-shirt on my first full day, so stopped participating in the contest. I’ve got lots of fish ID’ed, and need to go to reef.org and log my sightings. They were a great addition, and I’d love to see them again. They were always willing to answer “what was that thing I saw”? One of the instructors who works with the dive shop had an ID book with her at most times, and was also readily accessible for questions. The managers (Mitch & Deb) had arranged to have a nurse available most days (Andrea), who helped treat one of our boat divers’ toes, and later, provided ear drops for many of us. The DM staff were very friendly and helpful. I started out with 14 lb; dropped to 12 lb within 1 day, and to 10 lb by the end of the week, with help and suggestions from the dive staff.
Gear issues: I had a 3/2. I think that for the water temperatures we were experiencing, a neoprene skin (0.5 or 1) would have been sufficient for me, especially if I bring or rent a shorty for the night dives. I could feel some thermoclines by the end of the trip, but I was nice and warm. I do need to get some lycra socks, as sand got into my booties emerging from the shore dive, and my ankles and my heel got nicely chewed up. Had I been there for more days, I would have started using moleskin (that I had packed), until someone told me that you could buy lycra socks. Next trip!
Conclusions: This is pretty much a live-aboard on land. The boat diving is very good, with choices of shallow reefs and sand cuts, and walls. (I prefer the former). That said, if you like walls and overhangs, those are also readily available. Lots of small fish, which I like. I enjoy trying to see what pops out of rocks and coral heads. I really need to have another midlife crisis really soon, so I can go again!
