Dive Review of Subway Water Sports/Barefoot Cay in
Honduras/Roatan

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Subway Water Sports/Barefoot Cay, Jul, 2007, by Kevin Harvill, Scott Pillifant, tx, usa ( Reviewer 3 reports). Report 3653.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Experience has taught us that our group prefers a small, intimate resort with comfortable rooms, good food, easy access to good diving, short travel times, and a friendly, helpful staff. We made the decision to book eight nights at Barefoot Cay on the island of Roatan, Honduras. This trip proved to be one of the best and most memorable we've had. Thanks to Continental Airlines, we boarded a flight at DFW airport at 8:00 and landed in Houston for a one hour lay-over before proceeding on to Roatan for a 12:30 arrival. Since we were aboard 737s all the way, the airline allowed two 50 pound bags per person. Twice as much as is allowed on the small puddle-jumper planes we usually have to take between islands. Divers and luggage enjoyed a smooth journey all the way. We were greeted at the airport by a friendly American named John who described his role with Barefoot Cay as "airport flunkie". Turns out he and his wife Melisse are the owners of this small property on the south side of Roatan and their attention to service is top-notch. With two one-bedroom bungalows and two two-bedroom bungalows Barefoot Cay is intimate and quiet. The four of us were assigned the two-bedroom bungalow farthest down the beach and were we ever pleased. These accomodations are absolutely delightful. The bedrooms each have large comfy beds, TV, cold air conditioning, and huge open-roof, Balinese showers. Separating the bedrooms is a nice common area featuring a full kitchen with top-quality appliances and cookware, bar with stools, and sitting area. One entire wall "accordions" to one side, opening up a huge vista onto the patio, the beach and the sea. We took several evening meals right there on our patio. Earlier in the day we'd just let the kitchen crew know our wishes and they would bring the meal to us at about 7:00. Other evenings we'd secure the resort's king-cab pickup and venture out to one of the local restaurants. The View was a particularly nice mountain-top eatery with, well...a great view. The only snag we encountered was with the dive operation. First, let me say two things. 1.The guys on the boat, Kelly and Ben were great. They were a very good Captain/Divemaster team. We had a great time with those two guys. 2.The owners of Barefoot Cay were in the process of finding a new operator when we last spoke to them. By the time you read this, it may have been done. The snag? Just a dive operation owner who had terrible interpersonal skills. Among several things he tried to overload the boat a couple of times and held up our group's excursion for an extended period of time while waiting for another group of divers to join us. The extra waiting time precluded us from doing our planned land activities for the afternoon. All with a fairly surly attitude about the inconveniences. However, the diving was very good. If you don't do anything else, you must dive Mary's Place. This site is very close to Barefoot Cay. In fact, we could see the mooring bouy from our patio. Cracks, crevices, canyons, beautiful coral, sponges, lots of fish. We did this site three times during the week and no one complained. A couple of nice wreck dives, sea horses, moray eels, friendly Atlantic spadefish, and clouds of silversides kept things interesting. Another sight not to be missed is on the other side of the island. Get your captain to take you to Dolphin's Den. A very shallow dive , 38' maximum depth, with a series of short tunnels and windows through which shafts of light illuminate the way. Each dive site is unique and posesses it's own personality. We dove twice a day for seven days and probably only touched 25% of the available sites. The boat is docked right at the resort and rides to the dive sites are short. Almost every surface interval is made on dry land, either at Barefoot Cay or at the resort Fantasy Island where a cold drink and restroom can be had. Bugs. Let's talk bugs. Kudos to Barefoot Cay for keeping those pesky no see-ums under control. They rake the beach every day and spray some kind of bug killing elixer when you're off diving. Result? Two or three bites per diver all week. Then on the last day, when we went to the other side of the island...well, they make DEET for a reason, don't they. We had been lulled into a false sense of security from bug bites and none of us went prepared. We were eaten alive. I had those itchy red sores for three weeks after we returned home. There's plenty to do on Roatan after the morning dives. One afternoon we toured Gumbalimba Park. A beautiful, tropical forest filled with monkeys, parrots and gardens. But what we really went for was the zip-line canopy tour. Zipping through the trees at forty miles per hour and eighty feet in the air is an exhilerating and hunger-producing bunch of fun. There are several canopy tour areas around the island. We were told that this one is the best and to keep away from some of the others. A couple of things that Barefoot Cay could improve upon: the addition of a gear rinse tank and gear storage so you don't have to lug it all back to your beautiful just-cleaned room for a fresh water rinse. Last we heard these were in the plans. So, if you're looking for good diving, short flights (at least from Dallas), good food, comfortable rooms, and top-notch service look no further than Barefoot Cay.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Little Cayman, Cozumel, Utila, Grand Turk, Belize, Saba
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	83-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Subway Water Sports/Barefoot Cay in Honduras/Roatan

Subway Water Sports/Barefoot Cay, Jul, 2007,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Subway Water Sports/Barefoot Cay in
Honduras/Roatan