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Dive Review of Subway Watersports/Turquoise Bay Beach and Dive Resort in
Honduras/Roatan

Subway Watersports/Turquoise Bay Beach and Dive Resort: "Roatan December 2022", Dec, 2022,

by Jon Hoffmann, GA, US (Contributor Contributor 15 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 12313.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments Getting There:
Delta only operates nonstop flights between ATL and RTB on Saturday. One must complete the online pre-check form and health form before departure. Both forms are not very user friendly and require some added work to obtain the appropriate Honduran state being visited, the official airport name, etc. Either a vax card or negative COVID test completed with 72 hours of departure are required. Upon arriving at the airport, the COVID requirement documents were hardly reviewed and arrival passengers were asked to wear a mask. But the COVID protocols were basically a joke as few of the airport employees were wearing masks and most arrival passengers discarded their masks as well upon seeing the lax environment. Turquoise Bay provides transfers to the resort and we were met promptly and loaded on a comfortable bus for the ~30-minute ride to the resort. For departure back home, bring snacks, a good book, or have a data plan on your phone. The departure process at the airport is unorganized so you want to have plenty of time. There are limited options of bad food at the airport and the departure terminal didn’t have enough seats for everyone. Saturday is turn over day and the departure times for the airlines seem to be compressed together. The free airport WIFI was difficult to connect to and not worth it when you finally succeed. The long wait for boarding seemed even longer when bored and uncomfortable.

The Resort:
We booked a reasonably priced all-inclusive package that included 3 dives a day. I had visited Turquoise Bay in 2016 and the rooms haven’t been updated since then. The rooms are tired and basic but well air conditioned. Because the resort is all inclusive, the buffet food choices were limited, but generally acceptable. There is an expanded and well airconditioned bar area with unlimited local alcoholic beverages. The people of Honduras suffered significantly under a draconian 2-year COVID lock down and they are grateful for the return of tourists- and the resultant incomes. All staff were friendly and attentive. The beach area has been upgraded significantly since my last visit, but the downside is that the resort also now caters to day visitors from the cruise ships on Monday through Thursday. However, it wasn’t inconvenient for us as the cruise ship crowds were generally loaded back on to busses about the same time we returned from the afternoon dive. That left us with plenty of cabanas, over water palapas and other facilities to ourselves. The resort had some unexpected surprises with a mini zoo complete with horses, deer, tropical birds and a botanical garden. We wandered into those areas by accident and were given a private tour. However formal tours are arranged daily at the front office. Horseback rides are also included if desired. Molly, the resident donkey, was still present from my prior visit and is always entertaining. Bring DEET and apply liberally every afternoon/evening as the no-see-ums and mosquitos were stealthily but left ample evidence of bites on every guest. We had room #9 which had a good ocean view and about a 3 minute walk from the dining area/bar. Room #1 is closest, but I suspect less peaceful. Rooms with numbers above 12 would be further up the hill with little or no view of the ocean. The dinner menu had a different theme every night and entertainment, such as local dancers, was provided several nights.


The Diving:
The on-sight operator, Subway, provided a great experience. Nitrox was for $139 for the week. Tank fills were always over 3,000 and as high as 3,250. Nitrox was 31-34. The boats were comfortable with camera tanks and most dives are a 5-15 minute boat ride leaving at 8:30, 10:30 and 1:30. Generous locker space was provided and the staff set up our gear and changed tanks the entire week making things hassle free. Our guide for the week, Nelson, was highly experienced and allowed us to dive any profile we wanted, except deco. The diving on the North side provides excellent topography with canyons and swim throughs. But the fish life is sparse compared to the south west side and overall much less than 6 years ago. The locals were only allowed to leave their homes 1 day ever 2 weeks during the COVID lock down, and it is obvious that many had to fish illegally for survival. Thus, much less to look at under water. The North side also seems to be more exposed with rougher seas to make reboarding the boat more challenging, and surge was present every dive. The Mayan Princess is the sister resort to Turquoise Bay and on one day, we made our way to the West End of the island with a wreck dive and a couple reef dives with substantially better fish life. The water temp was a consistent 83 degrees.
Websites Subway Watersports   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean, Costa Rica, Thailand, Micronesia, Maldives, Indonesia, PNG, Palau, Malaysia, Philippines
Closest Airport RTB Getting There Direct from ATL

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, cloudy Seas surge
Water Temp 82-83°F / 28-28°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters N/A Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments [None]
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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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