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

Little Cayman, Cozumel, Utila, Grand Turk, Belize, Saba

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

[None]  

Overall Rating

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.

 

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