Dive Review of Inn of Last Resort in
Honduras/Roatan

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Inn of Last Resort, May, 2006, by Leslie and Mike Bardelli, CT, USA . Report 2870.
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	My husband and I love the island of Roatan, easy diving, reefs teaming with life, photo opportunities especially macro everywhere and now easy to get to. On May 20th we arrived in Roatan for our 7th yearly trip staying at the Inn of Last Resort. In the past getting to Roatan was not easy. This year we took the new Delta flight out of Atlanta and were wonderfully surprised. The Atlanta airport is much better than Miami. The flights were uneventful with all luggage arriving with us. The one draw back to the bigger plane is longer lines to get into Roatan. They have a very slow immigration process and the Continental and Delta flights arrive back to back. The Inn of Last Resort is a small all inclusive dive resort in the Sandy Bay – West End Marine Park. The owners Donna and Andy Arcaya live at the resort and are involved with it’s day to day operation. The staff at ILR are always friendly and accommodating. If you need something just let one of them know and they will do there best to help you out. The resort is composed of 4 buildings in a rectangle with tropical plantings in between. 3 of the buildings are guest rooms and one is the lodge that houses the restaurant and bar. The guest rooms are large, with a queen and 2 twin beds. Rooms are air conditioned with 2 ceiling fans. Bathrooms are small but functional with plenty of hot water. One wall is an open closet with 2 sections, each with an area to hang clothes and 4 deep shelves. The Delta flight allowed us to arrive early enough to get in the water before supper. ILR has a lagoon that is shallow (2 – 8 FT) and if full of life. We always do a night dive just in the lagoon. As you reach the reef edge there is a white buoy that marks a shallow cut in the coral, inflate your BC, go through and you are on the reef. Here you can just head down and out and end up on the reef or head towards the boat mooring to Fish Den. Either way, it’s a great dive. In 7 years we have dove this dive many times and never tire of it. It is easy to navigate and full of life. The lagoon is also a great place to watch the sunset. My husband and I spend every evening sitting on the dock watching the sunsets. The meals at ILR are all sit down. There is a board in the lodge where they post the menu for the up coming meal. It is a fixed menu, but they are great at special dietary requests. I know this from personal experience. Just let them know when you arrive if you have any special food issues. The food is good with a healthful size portion. If you are a big eater, you can always ask for seconds. ILR has 3 boats all hold up to 20 divers, this trip we had 2 (private dive) to 20 divers, mostly 12 – 15. The boats are roomy with under bench storage and a flat area over the engine cover. They also have a dry box where they store towels. Each boat has 2 built in rinse tanks off the back, one designated for camera gear. Entry is Giant Stride with the boat captain helping you in and out of the water. The boats have 2 ladders on the back to get back on board. Gear is store in the dive shop that is a stones throw from the boats. The DM’s and Captains will take care of your gear after your first set up if that is you desire. The boats leave the dock for 3 single tank dive daily. The dives are guided, unless you want to stay under the shadow of the boat. The DM will brief the dive and give you max depth and generally dive time was 60 minutes, give or take. The only dive that they enforce a dive time is one of the deep wrecks, otherwise they have you back under the boat by 45 – 50 minutes and then you can play. The sites are generally a short boat ride away, usually between 2 and 15 minutes. Occasionally, the ride might be up to 25 minutes. The dives for the day are posted in the lodge. We stayed for 2 weeks with 12 ½ days of diving, did 42 dives and clocked over 43 hours of bottom time. Diver Heaven Life on the reefs is plentiful and healthy. Each year, we see something new to us. Expect to see the typical tropicals, Parrotfish, Squirrelfish, Blue Tang, Grouper, Damselfish, Butterflyfish. You’ll also see those that like to hide, Scorpionfish, Flounder, and Sand divers. Look close and see a wide variety of Blennies, Gobies, Slender Filefish, Lettuce and Harlequin Sea Slugs, Flat Worms. I love the macro life. Just hang on a sandy bottom, hold still and watch the life come out, Yellowheaded Jawfish, Corkscrew Anemones with Pederson Cleaner Shrimp and Snapping Shrimp, Giant Anemones with Spotted Cleaner Shrimp, Squat Anemone Shrimp and Banded Clinging Crab. We always enjoy our stay and this time was no exception. We look forward to our 2007 trip. If you have not tried Roatan before, be sure and put it on your short list of dive places to visit. Make sure that you check out and stay at ILR.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Jamacia, Grand Cayman, Curacao, New England
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth Max specified for each dive, time usually 60 minutes, liked you to dive with group
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 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		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Roatan is great for Photographers. Subjects abound. ILR has a large seperate rinse tank for camera gear. There are no facilities for film processing. Boat returns to dock after each dive so camera maintence, battery change can be done in your room.

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Dive Review of Inn of Last Resort in Honduras/Roatan

Inn of Last Resort, May, 2006,

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 Inn of Last Resort in
Honduras/Roatan