Why You Should Dive Roatan With Native Sons in West End!

[gkrane]

I guess the OP is one post and gone member. Or employee of Native Sons.

 

[Stout]

That was my take, given the newness of the video in the OP.

I'd check them out if I was on Roatan though. They seem like my kind of operation and I doubt I could handle one of these resorts with their 3+ dives per day as I've blown a hole in my eardrum on three separate time times.

 

[scrane]

I sent an email to them asking a few questions and one of them was about shore diving since the website says the reef is a short 5 minute swim from the shore. Here is the response in case anyone else was interested.

If you are staying at Chillies our recreational day dives are
all at $30. Night dives are
$40 + $5 for a light. All prices include equipment and there is no reduction in cost if you have your own. We don't do shore diving here as the swim to the reef is quite a distance in full gear. We are also in a marine protected area and we like to keep an eye on divers to make sure they are being well behaved!

I definitely do not want to pay for rental gear I wont be using, and I sure don't feel like I need someone to keep an eye on me to make sure I am behaving. If they had shore diving it might have been a factor considering the small cost savings but with no A/C in the rooms......Big X in the negative column.

I did some cost comparisons for a stay of 1 week for 2 divers:

Hotel Chillies and Native Sons (West End)
Lodging $385 No meals (No A/C)
Diving $980 Includes 3 boat dives per day and 1 night dive
Food,Drinks, and Spending money for the week $1000 ( may be high on the estimate but from what I understand it isnt that cheap to eat there)
No Tax if paying cash. 19%-23% if using credit card.
Total $2365 cash/ $2814 with credit card. Unsure how much airport transfers will be

Media Luna (South Side)
$2500 for 2 divers which includes:
All Lodging with A/C
All meals including non alcoholic and alcohol, beer and wine
5 days of 3 Boat dives per day plus one night dive
Unlimited Shore diving during shop hours which I think is 6 pm (Half Moon Bay Wall is house reef)
19% Tax Included as well as round trip Airport transfers
$400 Spending Money (Just a guess since meals and drinks are covered)
Total $2900.00

Los Rocas (West Bay and Dives the Northern Sites)
$1200 for 2 divers which includes:
All Lodging with A/C
Daily Breakfast
5 days of 2 boat dives per day (No Shore Diving)
Airport Transfers
$300 to add the 3rd boat dive daily for 2 divers for 5 days
Food Drinks and Spending Money for the week $800 (estimate since breakfast is included)
$285 for the 19% tax
Total $2585.00

I hope this helps anyone who is looking for a comparison betweeen these three places.

I think your lodging price at Chillies is a little high. A few weeks back I paid $25. /night double. West End is a pretty cheap place to eat. Chillies has no food service. For me, more than $20. /day eating is pretty extravagant. Also, I don't drink, so that "non alcoholic and alcohol, beer and wine" is of little value to me.
If a person wants a real budget stay with their diving Chillies can't be beat. But you do have to be a little young at heart. Nobody's going to volunteer to carry your bags (or backpack).
I think its pretty safe to say no-one does any shore diving in West End except maybe next door at AK in something called the "Backyard Lagoon". Lots of boat traffic. And I think its the marine park that specifies that divers must be accompanied.
Anyways, different strokes for different folks.

 

[gkrane]

I think your lodging price at Chillies is a little high. A few weeks back I paid $25. /night double. West End is a pretty cheap place to eat. Chillies has no food service. For me, more than $20. /day eating is pretty extravagant. Also, I don't drink, so that "non alcoholic and alcohol, beer and wine" is of little value to me.
If a person wants a real budget stay with their diving Chillies can't be beat. But you do have to be a little young at heart. Nobody's going to volunteer to carry your bags (or backpack).
I think its pretty safe to say no-one does any shore diving in West End except maybe next door at AK in something called the "Backyard Lagoon". Lots of boat traffic. And I think its the marine park that specifies that divers must be accompanied.
Anyways, different strokes for different folks.

The lodging price I put in my post was the price provided to me by Chillies, not an estimate. I am looking at other lodging alternatives as no A/C really isn't an option for me. I will be going in June or July and that is just too hot in a humid climate. I've pretty much come to terms that there isn't any realistic West End shore diving. I guess I will just have to add more boat dives if I stay in the West end as they are fairly inexpensive. I did some additonal research and it looks like there are a lot of great places to eat on the West End that wont break the bank so I think my food, alcohol, and spending money estimates are high. Did you dive with Native Sons? If so how was your experience with them? From what I have read it seems like they are a little more open to allowing divers to dive their tanks and do their own thing.

 

[gkrane]

Actually after being in contact with native sons they are some of the most responsive and informative ops out of all of them on the west end. And i think i contacted all of them.

 

[diversteve]

Unsure how much airport transfers will be

The ride Airport -> West End is fixed - last I checked it was $25 each way. Just about every other fare is negotiable b4 you get in. Once a driver asked me what I wanted to pay - evidently $10 was good for him to drive me to Coxen Hole. Back we paid more but someone else called that ride for us.

 

[scrane]

I usually go to Roatan in the low season of October, so generally there are few divers on the boat. In this case Native Sons is very flexible and leaves you alone as long as you have demonstrated confidence and skills on the first dive or two. So, if you have a computer they won't be fussy about depth, but they will want to have you reasonably close by for safety/ liability concerns. It comes to how much trust they have in your capabilities. Dives are typically 60 minutes, sometimes 5-10 minute more, seldom less. Depths run to about 110-120' max . They are not a production line dive operation. They go out of their way to offer individual attention and advice.
Boat rides are short. You can dive walls, wrecks, cracks, sand, or shallow coral. In Cozumel they will take you to the same string of reefs in the afternoon because they are close. In Roatan everything's close so you are not so restricted. In the morning, sometimes they will stay out between dives and sometimes they will return to base for a few minutes.
The guy who runs the operation is a local guy and somewhat a legend in the dive community. The captains are locals, but the dive masters are imports. Eddy's been there four or five years and he's still smiling! They are doing their best to bring local divers into their operation. When I was there, there there was a nice local guy who was alternating between working on his divemaster training and driving his cab.
Anyways, I like the place. I used to alternate diving Splash Inn and NS, but the dive master I liked at Splash moved on so now I just dive with NS. There are a lot of operations on the strip. but Chillies and NS is easy, and easygoing, and fun. And cheap.

 

[Doc]

$205 per day is how I do Roatan:

-Airport Transfers, all luggage handled, airline reconfirmations

-AC room, daily maid service, hot water showers and bottled drinking water, right on the Ocean

-3 full meals a day, buffet, 3 entre choices, all you care to eat

-4 boat dives each day, unlimited real-deal close-in shore diving (27 dives/wk for me)

-Comfortable 55' boats with 14 divers max, DMs carry your gear, unless you direct otherwise. Guests carry no tanks. No cruise ship pod people.


I like a lot of diving. Buying them in a Ten Pack would get expensive. I really enjoy night diving- the shore dive here lets me do one or more each night, versus (maybe, if weather and demand is good), one during a week.

When I'm doing 5 dives in a day, I manage a nap after lunch, one before dinner. I have no time nor any desire to cook or go here- or there for food. Never went hungry, always gain 3-6 pounds

Vacation? Time itself has a value. I balance this objective cost and value with the thought in mind that I don't want to dive back home in Chicago. For those who want to do 10 dives in their vacay, my model doesn't work for them- ala carte would be way more cost effective.

So... If I get 27 dives, if you figure that at $30 each, the going pkg rate as described in previous posts, that results in an average 7 night stay daily value of dives of $115.

So, $205 - $115 = $90 per day paid for food and room, one that is ON the Ocean.

$205 per day is a good value for me.

 

[Colo Hippie]

Living here on the island I can tell you EVERY dive op in West End runs almost the identical business model. Scrane, that includes NS. They are all on a schedule, otherwise they can not afford to stay in business, also they all go to pretty much the same dive sites every week. Some will go to some alternates or if you request a specific site that is not on there list they will go if you pay extra or if there are enough divers on the boat to cover the extra gas and time they will go. I have also observed and verified that when a dive site is requested that does not have very specific topography the dive op may tell you your diving the site you want but in reallity you are on a site that is similar but closer to the dive shops dock.

I know of one dive op on the West end of the island that truly does not run on a schedule and will go to any site you want and allows 60-70 min dives. However just like all the others you may be paying for some gas if it is further away. I am not going to identify the shop but for anyone coming that is diving alacart and wants the name just PM and I will provide the info.


Doc - your model works great for you and provides you with what you want on vacation, dive, dive, dive. What that model does not provide is getting to see and experience everything this wonderful island has to offer. Unfortunately, for those coming here for a week of diving their time is limited and consumed primarily with the diving.

 

[CajunDiva]

So true! Even though we are ALL divers, we're still different people with different styles who enjoy different things.

Some want nothing but dive, dive, dive! Some want to do 3 or 4 dives in a day and take the evenings off to relax. Some are good with a couple of dives in the morning with the rest of the day to explore the island.

Some want to stay at an all-inclusive resort that takes care of the details for them. Some want to stay at an accommodation and select the op they want to dive with. Some want to stay in town so they can check out the night life (night life???...Roatan???)

Regardless, no matter what your preferences for any of the above, Roatan is a great place to go diving! And there's something available to please any taste...