Dive Review of Cabanas on Clark's Cay in
Honduras/Guanaja, Bay Islands

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Cabanas on Clark's Cay: "Four Star Resort, Three Star Diving", Jan, 2022, by Gary & Robin Schiendelman, PA, US ( Sr. Contributor 29 reports with 44 Helpful votes). Report 11844 has 4 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Just before the Covid lockdown in 2020, we visited Villa on Dunbar Rock and had toured Clark’s Cay on our last day. These sister resorts are only a 5 to 10 minute boat ride apart. We liked what we saw and decided to plan a 10 day visit to Clark’s Cay since Covid continues to limit our travel options. As we are fully vaccinated, entry into Honduras was easy with no pre-departure testing needed. We flew from PHL to RTB via DFW with no issues. Since our international flight landed in RTB after 2pm, we were not able to take the regularly scheduled puddle jumper to Guanaja. We chartered a Cessna which was a little more expensive but had the upside of allowing us a much higher baggage limit. Upon landing in RTB, we were soon met by our pilot who urged us to hurry as weather was closing in. We managed to fly into Guanaja in the rain and just before the island disappeared into the clouds. The tiny terminal building has an airstrip on one side and a boat dock on the other so once we landed, it was just a short walk to board the boat that took us on the 15 minute ride to Clark’s Cay. We were greeted by the manager, given a quick briefing of the resort and shown to our room. The cabana’s are all doubles, We were in #8 which is ocean front. The room was very comfortable with plenty of room, a comfortable bed, nice shower and outdoor deck with chairs and a clothes line. One word of caution is that you can hear your neighbor. We had a single diver next to us for only a couple of nights but we could hear him talking on the phone, walking around and hear the shower running. Not too bad but if there were a “loud” talking couple next door, we would have been unhappy. Meal are served at the outdoor bar/restaurant which was very nice. After each meal, you are given a “menu” for the next meal. There were 2 choices of main course and they also gave the option of small, regular and large portion sizes. Food was varied and the meals ranged from fair to very good. They seem to be rotating staff so everyone gets a few days of work each week. Some of the waitstaff were outstanding and some were just ok. Alcohol was also included in the package, although there was an upcharge if you wanted “premium” liquor. You can see the resort on the website for a good idea of the layout. The lazy river/pool was nice and the hot tub was great. They were always agreeable to adjusting the temperature of the hot tub which was nice. Dive dock is behind the restaurant where they keep all of your gear for the week. One of the highlights is the “concierge” diving. They pick up your gear the first morning from your room and you never need to touch it all week. Even wetsuits are rinsed and hung up at the end of the day for you! That is a really nice touch that we appreciate as old folks! The dive staff were all accommodating if anyone had special requests or needs. We did have the same dive crew for the entire stay. Dives are 3 per day. Two in the morning and one afternoon. Once per week, the afternoon dive is replaced by a night dive. Dives are on both sides of the island so it gives some flexibility to try and get good conditions. Boats are large and comfortable with water and cookies/fruit served between dives. Most sites are within 15-30 minutes. Diving was not as good as we remembered from 2 years ago. There seemed to be far fewer fish. We saw the resident nurse sharks (definitely used to being fed lionfish). Eagle rays on one dive and a turtle on one dive, a couple of barracuda and nothing else large. The coral was healthy in some areas and not in others. Some places showed lots of bleaching and algae cover. Vis was not great but that was due to the weather. We had rain on and off most of the time we were there (which did give some awesome sunsets and rainbows). Dives were about an hour. DM’s were nice and slow. They did encourage you to stay with the group. Another storm came in on the day we were to return home which didn’t allow the Cessna to fly us back to RTB. After being packed and waiting for a couple of hours, it was finally determined the pilot wouldn’t make it so we had to stay an extra night. Fortunately, we were able to reschedule our international flight for the next day. Not the worst thing to happen but it did wind up costing us for an extra night at the resort, extra parking, etc. We filed with insurance but so far haven’t received compensation. The resort did go out of their way to help us with the change of plans. We really wanted to like the diving enough to make it worthwhile to go through the extra time, cost and hassle of the puddle jumper from RTB. The resort itself is worth it if you are looking for a small, intimate experience. The concierge service is awesome and worth 5 stars. We’re not sure though if the diving is good enough to make us go back.
Websites	Cabanas on Clark's Cay
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Isl, Red Sea, Maldives, South Africa, Mozambique, Cocos Isl, Galapagos, Socorro, Palau, Var Caribbean locations, New Jersey, Florida, No Carolina, Philippines
Closest Airport		Getting There	US to RTB, then small plane to Guanaja
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy	Seas	calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp	79-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	25-60 Ft/ 8-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	60 minute dive time,stay with dive guide
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	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	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Rinse bucket on the boat for cameras.

Report currently has 4 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Cabanas on Clark's Cay in Honduras/Guanaja, Bay Islands

Cabanas on Clark's Cay: "Four Star Resort, Three Star Diving", Jan, 2022,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Cabanas on Clark's Cay in
Honduras/Guanaja, Bay Islands