Upachaya pontoon snorkel in roatan

[snorkler]

Has anyone taken the Upachaya Pontoon Snorkel Tour in Roatan? If you have, could you give me some information. Was it hard to get to the Independent Tour Parking Lot? We will be on the Holland America Ryndam and I was also wondering which port in Roatan we will be going into........Coxen Hole Port or Mahogany Bay Port?:confused: Thanks for any information anyone might be able to give me. Elaine:)

[snorkler]

We were on the March 16th sailing of the Ryndam and I wanted to tell everyone what a great time we had at Upachaya. Our hostess was Barbara, the owner of the resort. First, we went to the shed where they keep the snorkel equipment and then we went on a great snorkel with one of her employee's. Threre were 6 of us from the Ryndam. He took us all over the reef, and we saw spiney lobsters, a very large baracuda, eels, octopus, a very large sting ray and beautiful brain coral and georgeous purple fans. One of the girls had a camera, and he took pictures of all this for her. He also took us to the edge of the reef, where the water drops off to 100 feet deep! :eek: After the snorkel, Barbara had a little lunch for us. It was Rice and Beans, Cold Slaw and Watermellon. The food was delicous. It only cost $65.00. We thought it was very reasonable and would recommend this excursion to everyone who likes to snorkel. Elaine:)

[dixiechick]

During a recent cruise to the western carribean, we were the most excited about snorkeling the 2nd largest coral reef in the world in Roatan, Honduras. In total there were 3 couples on this private excursion (Upachaya Pontoon Snorkel Excursion - $68/person) which had come highly recommended by another local tour company. I don't normally write negative reviews, but this was a little out of the ordinary. A driver met us just outside the port dock and insisted we leave at the departure time (10am) as communicated to all of us in the emails from the owner of the Upachaya Resort/Bed and Breakfast. The driver told us we needed to be at the resort by 10:30am. We arrived at the resort (please note there are lots and lots of stairs so this would not be the place to go if you have mobility issues) where the owner gave us a little tour of the small resort. She then proceeded to tell us that we were very early and the snorkeling tour would not start for another 1-1/2 hours! But we were welcome to have a beer and sit by the pool. None of us were happy and asked her why in the world would she tell us to be there so early. She apologized but said she had sent out an email to all of us changing the departure time. All of us said we did not receive it (seemed odd that we from Alabama, another couple from Australia and the other from the U.S. never got it). She said we should have checked our Spam folders (which we subsequently did and no email). To her credit, she did offer to get us a cab to return to the ship and refund our money, but we all decided to since we were there, we would stick it out since we all wanted to see the reef. In my opinion, the owner got a little defensive and promptly left us for over an hour to fend for ourselves. The pontoon boat (very nice) finally arrived and a loadful of passengers got off. The part of the reef they take you to is about a 2 minute ride from the resort. Maybe due to the wind, or the part of the reef they take you, but we only saw one stingray, a couple of sea turtles and very, very few tropical fish. Not would I would call scenic at all compared to other places we have snorkeled. Our guide, a certified diver, was very nice, but insisted we stay very close together and follow him. So we spent a lot time trying to avoid bumping into each other (which was impossible) and watching the guide rather than enjoying the snorkeling. After the snorkeling, they serve you a light lunch of salad and chips, not the best in the world.

When we returned to the ship, other passengers raved about the beaches and snorkeling within walking distance at a very nice beach at the port. Wish we would have chosen to stay at the beach.

[Guest 2000]

I am sorry your excursion did not go as you wished.

 

I have snorkeled many bits on the reef about Roatan, by boat and swimming to the reef, both east and west, off of Fantasy Island and Cocoview. I truly believe the best snorkeling is within the Roatan Marine Park which runs from West Bay to Sandy Bay. From Tabyana in West Bay the reef is only steps from the beach, one does need to keep in mind West Bay Beach is the premiere beach on the island.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Guest 2000