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Dive Review of SunDIvers/Beach House in
Honduras/Roatan

SunDIvers/Beach House: "Roatan", Feb, 2014,

by Sandra Maruszak, NH, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 7860.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments First time to Roatan. Friend had recommended The Beach House. Great location (close to town, oceanfront, next door to dive shop), clean, good continental breakfasts. If you stay there, there is no need for a car--you can walk to restaurants, dive shop etc and if you want to go further, taxis are easy to get. We chose SunDivers because of their location (next door to The Beach House) and they dive in small groups. The guides (Martin, Sofia and Mel) are passionate (they are all part owners of the business), skilled guides/divers and very flexible. They didn't hover, but happily pointed out things if you asked. It was amazing the tiny critters they found for us! For folks that needed extra support, they happily offered it (a person we stayed with dove for their first time with them and they were over the top happy how Martin kept her anxiety controlled). My husband and I are more experienced and like photography so they let us (safely) do our thing. We will absolutely dive with them again. Boat and rental gear were brand new (we brought our own gear, but it looked great). My only fear in saying how wonderful they are is word will get out and they will be full next time we go!
I felt safe in Roatan, but I would not leave objects out on the beach. People noted that their flip flops, sunglasses etc disappeared when they went swimming. A guest left her room unlocked and a local boy stole her electronics (witnesses saw the boy leaving her room but they couldn't recover the items). I kept our room locked at all times and never left anything out of sight, and was fine, but a local boy did grab my husbands sunglasses and started running away before we stopped him, so it's a nuisance.
A true treat was getting to snorkel with a whale shark--not a common event there, so it was very special. SunDivers went out of their way to make that happen as it was not part of the regular dive trip.
I see The Beach House is for sale. Kate did a great job running it, so hopefully it stays just as good!
Electricity sometimes goes out--during our trip it was only a few hours on two days, but they say sometimes it is more frequent. We ate out every night and thought the food was excellent (but don't expect the Ritz). We didn't get sick from food or water. Hotel and restaurants automatically provided bottled water to drink (they recommended we not drink tap water). Everyone speaks English and you can pay directly with American dollars. I'm told the ATM at coconut tree divers is most reliable. You can get some groceries but it's sparse. Bugs were non existent our trip, but I'm told can be very bad. I took Malaron without any issues. No need for fancy clothes.

We ate:
Argentinian Grill--good meats
Thai Place large servings and good food
Rotissarie Chicken Inexpensive and good;our favorite--great desserts LightHouse more expensive, nice setting, food good,service was SLOW
EarthMama Good smoothies and wraps
SunDowners: one of the better monkey lala drinks (I think I had one almost everywhere) Next to dive shop. Put lunch order in immediately if you're diving in the afternoon--food was sometimes very slow to come out (1 hr+). Quality was good. I would jump off boat and immediately order, asking them to "rush" it if I wanted to go on the afternoon dive. One time they didn't get food out in time and they held the dive boat for me so I could eat.

All in all, amazing trip and I can't wait to go do it again!
Websites SunDIvers   Beach House

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Belize, Bonaire, Cozumel, DR, Keys, Jamaica, Puerto Rico
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 79-80°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 4
Water Visibility 90-120 Ft/ 27-37 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Normal safety, take nothing, don't touch reef. Had to be guided, but given a long leash to do your own thing if you were experienced
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks 1 or 2
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments Cameras could be stored in separate waterfilled box and they were happy to give it to you after you entered.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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