We just returned from our first Pura Vida Divers trip to the Reef House Resort on the island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras – and it was fantastic! Although this was our fifth trip to Roatan, it was our first visit to the Reef House Resort.
Looking back on the past week I can honestly say that of all our trips to Roatan, this one to the Reef House Resort was the most relaxing and enjoyable, and provided us with the best diving we have experienced on the island.
The diving at Reef House Resort was better than advertised – it was incredible! Their boast that the reefs and dive sites they take you to are pristine is absolutely true. We were amazed at the healthy condition and beauty of the reefs and walls of the dive sites we visited. For me, this was an underwater photographer’s dream. I was able to get with my point-and-shoot camera what I considered some great pictures of the reefs, walls, and little critters.
We did two boat dives each morning and had one boat dive each afternoon. The longest trip to any dive site during the week was probably around 25 minutes with 10-15 minutes being the average. When we arrived at the dock, whether morning or afternoon, our gear was on board and set up for us. All we had to do was attach our regulators, make sure we had full tanks, get into our wetsuits, prep our masks and get ready for fun. The crew always had fresh fruit for us between dives and plenty of fresh water.
When we got back to the dock, cleanup was easy; the resort has two large rinse tanks right on the dock and the gear storage area is right next to the rinse tanks. There was plenty of storage space for gear on the shelving units and large hanging racks for our BCDs and wetsuits. The only time the gear storage area is unlocked is right before the boat departs and right after the boat returns to the dock. The whole dock area, rinse facilities and storage area is covered so even when it rains you can get ready, clean up, or store your gear in comfort.
Our divemaster, Davitt, was as excellent as everyone writing prior reviews has said. Not only was he professional and friendly with a good sense of humor, he was able to find seahorses, nudibranches, and other macro life on every dive. He also spotted out plenty of good-sized lobsters and big crabs that, if we were allowed to catch them, would have made some great meals. The water was warm and clear with little or no current, which made it great for hovering and lining up that “perfect” photo. Best of all, Davitt made the dives relaxing and slow-paced so no one felt rushed to keep up or felt that they had missed an opportunity to see or photograph something of interest. All of our dives were multi-level profiles with maximum depths of between 70 and 80 feet, which gave us the opportunity to spend an hour or more on each dive touring with Davitt and then having time to explore on our own.
Reef House Resort has a “no-gloves” policy that they have put in place to help keep the reefs and walls of their dive sites healthy. Their feeling is that divers without gloves tend to not touch the reefs. I felt that this was a good policy to promote since I noticed the others in our group, and myself, were much more aware of our buoyancy and positioning as we took our photos or arranged ourselves to see what new and exciting things Davitt had found for us to look at.
The diving at Reef House Resort was memorable in one other way. On all our dives during the week we were the only ones at our dive sites. This was a pleasant departure from our past visits to Roatan where multiple boats from the same resort, or several resorts, arrive within minutes of each other and drop divers on the same site. With Reef House Resort’s dive sites, we didn’t have to compete with other groups to see things before other divers got there and stirred up the bottom or scared all the critters away.
One of the things that I really liked during the week was the easy entries and exits on the resort’s dive boat. Our tanks were set up in the middle of the boat leaving the sides open for easy back rolls into the water, or you could do either a giant stride or the Nestea Plunge off the back. The stern platform was slightly submerged which made it easy to get off and on the boat. I especially liked being able to take my gear off before coming back on board. Once the crew had your BCD and regulator you were free to either come aboard or spend some time snorkeling around the boat while waiting for the rest of the group to surface. We also had fun during the surface intervals jumping and diving off the roof of the boat. Some of us scored better than others on cannonballs and flops, while providing some good laughs for those watching our antics.
During our week at Reef House Resort we had a unique opportunity to participate in the Turtle Awareness and Protection Studies (TAPS) with biology professor Steve Dunbar from Loma Linda University in California. Reef House Resort is a partner in this project and has a large salt-water pool that serves as a swimming and snorkeling pool, and also a holding area for the turtles that are caught and studied on Roatan. As turtles are captured they are brought into the pool, weighed, tagged with GPS units and ID numbers, measured, and then released back into the ocean. TAPS also sponsors an “Adopt-A-Turtle” program that two of our group became involved with. On one of our morning dives Larry and Diane Leazenby assisted Steve in capturing a juvenile turtle, wrangled it onto the boat and brought it back to the resort. After the measuring, weighing and tagging, they adopted the turtle, naming it Espiritos Gratis (Free Spirit). Larry and Diane, along with their newly adopted turtle, also became part of a documentary on the TAPS project that was being filmed on location at Reef House Resort during our stay.
Now that I’ve described the great diving, let me tell you about the accommodations and dining. Reef House Resort is a small and cozy all-inclusive dive resort that has 11 rooms and can accommodate up to 22 divers at any one time. The resort is located on a small cay in the harbor of Oak Ridge. This provides a quiet, peaceful location, and a family-like ambiance not usually found in larger resorts. The resort’s location also provides a good measure of security. During our week we never once worried about our safety or the safety of our dive gear and rarely even thought about locking our room.
The resort has two types of rooms; nine “plantation style” rooms located slightly above ground level on one side of the main building and two larger, what I refer to as “loft” rooms, located upstairs on the other side of the main building. All the rooms at the resort are air-conditioned; have ceiling fans, cable TV and flat-screen televisions, plenty of storage for gear and clothing, hair dryers and individual restroom/shower facilities. All rooms are fronted by an ample deck area and there are drying lines and clothespins for hanging wet garments after the dives. The resort also has wireless Internet although the connection was not as fast as I am used to at home.
The resort’s main building houses the large family style dining room, a lounge area for reading and accessing the Internet and the kitchen facilities. Just in front of the main building is an “honor bar” where you can get sodas for 1 dollar, a beer for 2 dollars or wine/liquor for 3 dollars. You just write down what you take and then settle up with Mike at the end of the week. Just outside the bar is a covered patio area and a large sundeck. This is where we usually met for morning coffee before breakfast or for some relaxing time swapping dive stories with each other before or after dinner.
Prior to our trip, one thing that we read about in almost all the reviews posted on the Internet about Reef House Resort was the quality and quantity of their meals. The reviews were correct – the food was fantastic and the portions more than adequate with extra helpings available if you were still hungry. The staff at Reef House Resort went out of their way to make sure that everyone was happy with the food and catered to whatever dietary needs or preferences our group or the other guests had. Every meal was something different and everything was delicious. We were surprised that many of the deserts, cakes and pies, were baked or prepared by the owner of the resort – who we discovered was quite the excellent chef and baker. Just as an example, lunches and dinners featured a variety of fresh fish, shrimp, chicken, beef, pastas, vegetables, homemade breads and tortillas, kabobs…and my favorite – lobster. We always had fresh fruit along with breakfast and were served omelets, French toast and pancakes. Following the afternoon dives there were always after-dive snacks available such as fresh baked cookies, doughnuts and cinnamon rolls that held our appetites in check until dinner. I can definitely say that no one in our group ever went hungry during our stay!
Unfortunately, on our last day we had to abide by the rules and refrain from diving. However, we did have a lot of fun touring the island courtesy of the van and driver provided to us by the resort. We did some souvenir shopping at Coxen Hole and the West End and then enjoyed an exciting zip-line tour through the treetops.
