Dive Review of Inn of Last Resort in
Honduras/Roatan

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Inn of Last Resort, May, 2004, by Leslie & Michael Bardelli, CT, USA . Report 1332.
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	We stayed for the 5th time at The Inn of Last Resort (ILR) Roatan, Honduras from May 28th – June 12th, 2004. We chose ILR for our first trip in 2000 and have never looked back. The ILR is a 30-room resort that caters to divers. The resort itself is composed of 4 buildings. The main lodge houses the dining room, bar, gift shop and recreation area. The other 3 are guest quarters. The rooms are large, clean with a rustic feel. Each room has AC as well as 2 ceiling fans. Rooms can accommodate 4 with a queen size bed and 2 twins. The bathroom has a stall shower; overall it is small, but functional. The resort has a very homey feel. Everyone is very friendly. If there is anything you need, just ask any of the resort staff. There are plenty of animals to keep you company. Casual and laid back is the best description of the atmosphere. T-shirts and short are the norm. Shoes are optional. The walkways are either cement or wooden. If you are an early riser, take a book and find a hammock at the lagoon or lodge and watch the resort come to life. The spectacular sunsets are a daily occurrence. All your meals are included. The food is always fresh, very tasty and never buffet. Breakfast is ordered off a menu that includes typical American fare. Lunch and dinner are a fixed menu with a wide variety of entrees served. Some meals have a typical American flavor, but you will also experience a fair amount of island cuisine as well. Homemade desserts are served with both lunch and dinner. Sweet and Unsweetened ice tea are available at no charge. Tap water is safe to drink at the resort. Soda and bar drinks are an extra charge. No money is needed on a day-to-day basis. Everything is charge to your room and you settle up before you leave The resort has two 42-foot dive boats that are docked along side the resort. The dive shop is just a few feet away and has plenty of storage for your gear. The diving consists of 3 single tank boat dives a day. This year dive times were at 8:30, 10:30 and 2 PM. Once a week they do a night dive and eliminate the 2 PM dive. Occasionally they do a 2 tank AM dive, but it is posted the night before. Once a week they do a picnic at West Bay Beach, so you return to ILR after the 10:30 dive for a quick stop as they load lunch on the boat. The boat docks at West Bay Beach, where you have lunch and then your surface interval is yours to walk the beach, snorkel or just relax. Then at 2 PM it’s off for dive #3. The diving is mostly wall diving. For moored dives you can dive with the Divemaster or go unguided. For a drift dive or one with no mooring then the group stays together. The reefs are teaming with life. This was our fifth trip and we still saw several creatures we had never seen before. There is a fair amount of large grouper, snappers, turtles, spotted Eagle rays, Green Moray as well as smaller morays, but the macro life is very abundant. Dives were generally 60 minutes in length. The Divemaster in his briefing gives you a maximum depth, but you are responsible for your own profile. Maximum depth is 130 feet and back on the boat with 500 PSI. The boats are spacious with plenty of storage under the bench seats. There also is a large engine cover that is used for dry storage. They also have a box with towels where you can store your shirts, glasses, etc. You load your gear on in the AM and it stays for the day or until your done diving. The boat has 2 sets of rinse tanks for masks and fins and the other is dedicated for camera gear. Boats have large platform off the back for Giant Stride entries and well as 2 ladders for getting back on. The boats are covered so there is plenty of shade aboard. The lagoon is a short walk from the main resort and a nice shore dive. The pier has an area with shade cover and hammocks, lounge chairs in the sun and steps down to the water. You can swim, snorkel as well as dive here. The lagoon itself is about 10 feet deep and is full of life. This trip we saw an octopus, squid, flying gurnard, and juvenile fish. There is a white buoy marking a shallow cut in the coral. Once through the cut, follow the natural ruts in the sand and you will come to a site known as Fish Den. It is a very easy site to navigate and full of life. Parting advice for traveling to Roatan. A well-packed carry-on is your best friend. A little of everything that you might need to survive 24 hours, clothes, OTC & precription meds, , dive computer, regulator, etc. is your best bet. Wear bug repellant. Depending on the season and the winds, no-seeums can be a problem. I swear by Cactus Juice. It works well for me and it’s sold at ILR. Lastly, have a great time. After 5 visits we still look forward to and thoroughly enjoy our vacation. What more could you want, blue sky, warm, blue water, great food, great diving and a few new friends.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Flordia Keys, Grand Cayman,
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, noCurrents
Water Temp	81-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth and time limit per site, back on boat with 500 PSI.
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
UW Photo Comments	Roatan has wonderful Macro life. I love to photograph. Take home 17 rolls of film. ILR has no developing facilities on site. Boats have large dry area for camera storage as well as special camera rinse tank.

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Dive Review of Inn of Last Resort in Honduras/Roatan

Inn of Last Resort, May, 2004,

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