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Community Chat: Anyone been to the Bay Islands?
Bonaire Talk: Community Chat: Archives: Archives 2008: Archives - 2008-07-01 to 2008-07-31: Anyone been to the Bay Islands?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim McPeak (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1596) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 12:24 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kathi and I have decided to go to Roatan on Sunday. We just booked it yesterday. Everything fell through with her taking her niece away because of work, etc. Hence, we did some quick work and leave on Sunday. I was just wondering if anyone has been there and opinions. Of course, we remain loyal to Bon, as I shall be there within a month. My goal, before I check out, is to see a whaleshark. I understand that the Bay Islands have a good chance of seeing one. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By *Linda* (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2004) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 12:37 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wow Jim, that was some quick work on your part if you're going this Sunday. Sorry I haven't been there, but I hear you need plenty of bug spray/lotion. I wish you two many whale shark sighting!!!!! Take lots of pictures for us at home.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6604) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 12:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I heard lots of things Jim. Some that I remember, take lots of bug spray and the airline to the bay islands sucks badly (although I can not remember the name right now, like DAE).

Have a great trip and we want/need pictures.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim McPeak (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1599) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 1:06 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cecil actually we fly Philadelphia to Houston and Houston right into Roatan all by Continental. We leave at 0540 Sunday morning and arrive in Roatan 1220 PM. We are hoping to make a shore dive that day.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6608) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 1:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cool, TACA is the airline to avoid.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kathy Hall - Bonaire in September 08 (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #11085) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 1:34 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We loved Roatan, but I've heard it's "which side of the island you stay" on. Were were at CocoView, and it was awesome. Loved the diving, the channel walls are covered in cool critters, including seahorses of every kind and color. That's also the only place I've ever gotten to swim with dolphins in the wild. They follow the boats, and the captains would let us jump out. :-) Deeper diving than what's normal in Bonaire, most dives were around 80/90 feet. Lots of big critters and nice wrecks as well. And at CocoView the shore diving is awesome as well.

Only place in the world I was actually attacked by no see-ums. They're so big you CAN see them. Very lush and tropical, orchids growing up the palms, hummingbirds....just beautiful.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kathy Hall - Bonaire in September 08 (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #11086) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 1:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Btw, we flew TACA without any bad experience. Just runway is short, so expect the plane to be slamming on the brakes!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim McPeak (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1601) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 1:48 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We are staying at Fantasy Island, not that far from Coco View. I said to Kathi, if there is not a little guy saying "The plane...The plane " I'm really gonna be pi$$ed. LOL

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kathy Hall - Bonaire in September 08 (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #11089) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 1:57 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Coco View is right beside Fantasy Island, so you will be able to shore dive the Prince Albert from the same places we did. :-) Y'know, they filmed one of those reality shows...oh yeah, Temptation Island, on Fantasy Island. :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim McPeak (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1603) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 2:08 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Kathy. As always, you are very helpful.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Condos ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1548) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 4:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Jim.. we stayed at Fantasy Island the week of the first Gulf War (which was some time ago) & basically had the place to ourselves..It was brand new then. We enjoyed it, but unfortunately my wife contracted giardia there :-(.
Ergo we have never returned.

Have fun, enjoy your trip & will be interested in your trip report.
From my personal perspective, it doesn't compare to Bonaire (but admittedly I'm a bit prejudiced).

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #11699) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 4:12 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jim, my wife got deathly sick. We never will go back.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rog & Karen ~ guess where we are? (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #574) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 4:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jim, we were in Roatan about 10 years ago and stayed at CocoView. Loved the diving, you went out in the AM and PM and did a dive and then on the way back if you wanted you could jump and follow the wall back to CocoView. Good vis and lots of fish. All inclusive except for your alcoholic beverages. On our off dive day we flew (small, small plane) to LaCieba and did a river rafting trip. Lots of fun!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim McPeak (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1608) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 5:06 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Giardia. Oh boy, that's not good. Jerry, did Louise get it as well?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Freddie (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #10467) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 5:13 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Jim we have always stayed on the Other side of the island at Anthony's Key and we considered it almost home.. you will be disappointed in the coral and the fish life there but please do go to the WEST END and have some fun......Mary's Place, the Pinacles are two great dives there.. I love the caves that you dive into at Mary;s place...have fun

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rog & Karen ~ guess where we are? (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #576) on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - 5:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Oh yeah! The Caves are great...need good buoyancy!!!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ginger Stuart Schafer (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 6:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We went to CoCo View in Roatan last year, and it was great! The dives were wonderful, and the staff was great, too! CoCo View has its own message board, which was great for finding out information about CoCo View as well as the whole island. Just go to their website and click on the "Chat" button. The chat group isn't as large as the Bonaire Talkers, but it is still very informative.

Just a few things:
No see ums: are BAD there. You really can't leave your room without spraying yourself. Some of those 100% Deet products (yeah, bad for the environment, I know . . . but you can wash off before diving) are a MUST. I'm from a rice farming community, so I am well familiar with and immune to mosquitos, which aren't as plentiful in Roatan as the boards seem to imply. But, the no see ums are quite bad.

Driving: The CoCo View board strongly suggested not to drive, or to hire a cab or driver if you want to go into town because of some strangely strict liability laws in Honduras. We stayed at CoCo view the entire time, and we only left to do a dolphin dive and zip line canopy tour. Both trips were done by driver arranged by CoCo View. After having been spoiled in Bonaire a few years ago, we did miss driving around and experiencing the whole island.

Island Adventures: I did the dolphin snorkel at Anthony's Key Resort, and it was fun. Cheesy, but fun. We took the standard cheesy pics while holding the dolphins, then snorkeled with them, It took a very long time for the dolphins to begin coming around us, but once they did, it was really neat. You could touch them as they went by, and they liked to play with the sea grass--you'd pick it, and they'd come swooping in to grab it from you. The dolphin snorkel pen was pretty murky, so you couldn't see them until they were right up on you. They also have a dolphin dive, which is not "hands on;" rather, it is in the water. We didn't do it, though.

The zip line was a lot of fun, too. We did one called the Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm a bit of a chicken, but once I made the first platform jump, I was hooked. I have a video of the zip line on my myspace, if you want to see it!

To compare Roatan w/ Bonaire is difficult because part of what I love so much about Bonaire is above-water. I liked that we could cruise around the island, go to different restaurants, etc., on our own in Bonaire. We put 500 miles on our little Toyota truck in 9 days! Because you don't travel outside of your resort as much in Roatan, you tend to do more diving than you do in Bonaire. A “usual” day involved five dives, and a few in our group awoke at 5 a.m. to fit in six of them. We did so much diving that my ears weren't the same for three weeks after returning home! I would go back to Roatan if the chance arises, but Bonaire is the first "repeat" trip that we've done and plan on doing again, if that tells you anything.

Have fun in Roatan!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By joe brannan (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #462) on Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 11:38 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I can't not respond. Been to Roatan 4 times, dove 4 times, drove 3 times, never stayed in formal lodging and we love the place. Of course the fact that I can leave my house in Victoria Tx at 8 am, drive to Houston and still be on the beach in West End by 4 pm the same day...ROCKS. The beaches are mostly better than Bonaire. There's almost no shore diving except at cocoview but boat dives run from 18-25 dollars each depending on the package. There's a ton of topside stuff to see if you remember you're driving in central america. It's not the kind of fringing reef system found on Bonaire, but some of the walls are incredible, lots of color, good coral health, some big critters. Bonaire will always be my first choice for caribbean diving, but Roatan is a close second.

cheesit
joe

oh yeah....the no-see-ums.....try not to be outside between 45 minutes before and 45 minutes after sunrise and sunset....and bring deet/ I've never had a problem and I'm for sure not compulsive about keeping sprayed

 


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