Hey guys

Each year I organise a dive trip for 20-24 people all of whom are connected in one way or another to Ocean Explorers dive centre in Sint Maarten.

For 2027 we’re considering Roatan. I’m looking for recommendations: resort or liveaboard? Good operator? Good resort? Best location? Best time of year? What to avoid?

The clientele are looking for 3-4 star quality.

Any ideas, tips, recommendations would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

While I love CoCoView resort, your clientele might not. If you want to eat, sleep and dive, CoCoView is the place. The staff are wonderful and knowledgeable, but it isn't fancy. For me, at least, it is more of a macro dive area and doesn't have huge quantities of large fish, although we do see rays, turtles, parrotfish, toadfish etc, you aren't going to be wowed by the fish life. Squid and eels are common as well. The cabins are nice, clean and comfy but not fancy. The food is plentiful and very tasty but again, not fancy. That said, I have already booked my 19th trip there for March 2026, so it is my favorite place to dive.

I visited CocoView in June.2026 and concur with SwiftFF5's assessment of the facilities and the staff. GREAT staff - very friendly and helpful. Divemasters and Captains were also great, and it was fun talking with the resident photographer. Accommodations are ok and clean but not fancy. Food is plentiful and lunch and dinner menu changes daily. Again, very good for the typical American palate, but not fancy. Dive boats are a type I'd not seen before (repurposed US Navy I was told). Rear giant stride entry and ladder for return assuming relatively calm water (which we had one day). The rest of the week we boarded post-dive in a mid-ship tunnel through the hull with a ladder. Very interesting and it worked pretty well in ~2m waves.

I plan to visit Anthony's Key resort (on the other side of the island) in Sept.2026 and will follow up.

Sea Grape.

I've been to Coco View many times and have great friends there for years. It's very relaxing diving and a very social way of doing things so you make good friends on the boat. I have wonderful memories - on one trip I was fortunate to be there the same week as Stan Waterman . Still diving and telling so many stories from the past. Any of you that don't know Stan's story its worth a read. He was a pioneer , film maker but most of all a storyteller. Sadly Stan passed away - he was a true renaissance man. Diving the West End while you're on Roatan is worth it. A little Bohemian village. It's worth a day off the resort property. I spent the day there at West End after I'd been doing a veterinary spay surgery clinic on that end of the island with a great group of people. After the vet clinic work , we went zip lining and just walked around . I got the very best grouper photo ever that I had canvas printed but sadly lost the file somehow. Wally aka Tiger

Not Roatan but Utila. Whaleshark. Very elegant and enthusiastic free diver , a good friend. It's a bucket list dive. Special day.

Wally AKA Tiger

I’d concur that CoCoView is a solid 3-4 star dive resort and I can’t wait to get back. They may have trouble accommodating 30-40 people, though.