Coco View 
Roatan – November, 2010
Nineteen divers and two vacationers made their way to CocoView resort on Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras this past November. The group hailed mostly from Pittsburgh, with a couple from California and Texas. Everyone flew Continental through Houston, an easy trip. Half a dozen managed to make it to the dock in time to do the required orientation dive the day of arrival; they were able to jump on the dive boat the next morning. The rest of us did our orientation dive the morning after arrival, which was a good move for the newer divers.
We all had over-the-water cabanas, with porches,
screened windows, wood floors, air conditioning, refrigerators, ceiling
and floor fans, lots of shelves, a few hangars, a desk, and several low
tables; there was plenty of room for spreading out. The bathroom had a
huge sink counter and plenty of hot water
It was the rainy season, and we did get a fair amount of rain, but luckily hurricane Tomas veered away from Honduras. The rain kept us from getting sunburned and also kept the dreaded no-see-ums down; as soon as the weather turned nice, they began their attack. Regular application of bug repellant with DEET, along with long pants and tops in the evening, works well.
CocoView has five boats, each one a different color for easy identification. We never had more than 10 on our boat; even with the maximum of 16 divers it would be roomy. There is a large camera rinse tank and camera table towards the stern. Morning dive briefings were held at 8:30am on the boat before starting the engines, and we left on time each day. Dive sites were seven to 25 minutes away. We had smoother than normal seas because the wind was blowing from a different direction than normal. When the seas are lumpy, it’s a breeze to board the boat via the ladder in the center of the hull. After the first dive and an hour’s surface interval, we had the choice of a drop dive anywhere along the wall or on the Prince Albert wreck, or we could skip the second dive and head back to the dock. The same two-dive routine was scheduled each afternoon at 2:00pm, so we dove on the Prince Albert wreck twice a day, plus during our two dusk/night dives. The conditions varied each time, with better or worse visibility. After a couple days we knew where the two resident green moray eels were most likely to be; there was also a small plane wreck nearby, and one diver spotted an eagle ray there one afternoon.
The diving was good. We saw several big green morays
besides the ones on the wreck, large crabs, a good number of seahorses,
and lion fish have definitely arrived in Roatan. At Calvin’s Crack our
guide found two uncommon large eyed toadfish. Mary’s place, a canyon
dive with several swim-throughs, was the prettiest site, and we saw
three eagle rays at White House. The optional shark dive was thoroughly
enjoyed by two of our group, and the dolphin dive at Anthony’s Key is
also available at an additional fee.
Night diving couldn’t be easier—gear up, walk to the water and head to the Prince Albert wreck. The first evening we didn’t see much, but the second attempt produced a bonanza of several large lobsters and dozens of small crabs of all types. And we were out of the water in time for dinner!
Speaking of which, the food ranged from good to excellent. They have a fairly new chef, and he’s doing a great job. All the meals are buffet-style, with plenty of food and lots of choices, such as cereal, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast, meat, soup, salad, and rice and beans for lunch, and meat, fish, salad, pasta, vegetables, and of course, dessert for supper. Coffee, lemonade, water, and ice tea were always available.
There’s plenty to do out of the water, too, such as being fascinated by the hummingbirds and fruit bats at the feeders, trying to have a conversation with the birds and the bunny on property, flying in a seaplane, doing an island tour, zip-lining in the jungle, flying to the mainland to visit Mayan ruins, playing pool or table tennis, listening to Doc talk about the local history and politics, taking a photo class, or learning how to improve one’s buoyancy. The local children put on a very entertaining dance production one evening, and the bar was always popular. Oh, and there’s that hammock thing.
As far as I can tell, everyone had a great time, except maybe Sherri, who slipped and fractured her arm. CocoView has figured out how to do pretty much everything right—now if they could only eliminate the sand fleas! The orientation dive isn’t required if our return is in less than five years, so I guess we’ll be heading back to Roatan before then.
______________________________________________________________