Mel Moncrieff

FromHighland,, CA
United States

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Reviews (3)

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Riu Hotel, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

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The Riu Hotel in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, is a large, luxurious, 5 star hotel in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica. My buddy Mike and I went there for both diving and topside adventure, and if diving is not your number one priority, I would highly recommend this resort. It is beautifully located on a nice beach, and has beautiful grounds and great food, with 4 restaurants which are mostly buffets, and a huge pool and beautiful gardens, and lots of activities. This is an all-inclusive resort, except for diving and motorized vehicles. so there would be a lot to do for nondivers. Food and alcohol are including in the price, and there is a well-stocked bar in every room. We signed up for 4 days of 3 tank diving with Caribe Divers, the onsite dive operation, and left 3 days for topside activities.

Neither the diving nor the dive operator lived up to our expectations, so this would not be a recommended location for hardcore divers. There is only one dive boat, and out of the huge resort, we averaged only 5-6 divers a day. On the first day we were told that we would have to stick closely to the divemaster on every dive and ascent when we got down to 1000 psi. The visibility averaged 30-40 feet, and there was very little coral. There were quite a few fish, including some big schools, whitetip reefsharks on most dives and quite a few octopi and eels, as well as a few eagle rays, but the lack of visibility and color, as well as the lack of diving freedom were the downside. Additionally, the dive shop is quite a distance from the rooms, and then there is another long walk to where you get on the diveboat, so for 3 dives/day, we were literally walking 5 miles, which is a lot when you are schlepping camera gear. The divemasters really catered to new divers, and did discover scuba trips at the same time that we were supposed to be going to good dive sites. On one occasion, I missed a dive because my tank was not swapped out, which could have been very dangerous for a less experienced diver. One divemaster, Brian, was a great critter finder and found us some wonderful Harlequin shrimp, among other things, and the diving around Catalina Island was quite a bit better than off the coast of the resort, so those were highlights. The diveshop did carry and rinse our dive gear every day and that was definitely appreciated.

On our nondiving days, we did a river float trip on the Tenorio River with Corobici Tours, and saw Howler Monkeys, crocodiles, and many exotic birds. We also went on a tour through the rainforest and saw more wildlife including sloths and colorful frogs. That day was the highlight of our trip. We also went ziplining on the Congo Trail Canopy tour, that we thought was an excellent value.

So in summary, I would say that the Riu is a great place to go, if you are interested in topside photography, or if you have a lot of nondivers in your group.

Visited on 07/2016 - Submitted on 07/20/2016

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Anthony's Key Resort

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Anthony's Key Resort (AKR) is a great, well-established and well-respected resort that offers guests the best of what the Honduran Island of Roatan has to offer.
The resort is first class, compared to other resorts I have visited on this island and also in this neighborhood. It is in good repair, has beautiful grounds, and a great dining area with good food. Other resorts in the area that I have visited have been run down and had problems with hot water, plumbing, mildew, etc. This resort is very well maintained.
You have a choice of hilltop rooms or rooms right on the water, on a small island a couple hundred feet from the resort. The hilltop rooms start at S168/night, and the rooms on the water (key rooms) start at 214/night. We stayed in hilltop superior room and were very happy. These rooms are closer to the resort, dive shop, and dining areas, but the key rooms are conveniently serviced by a water taxi that is available 24 hours a day. The hilltop rooms are accessed by beautiful wooden walkways through the lush jungle and lined with beautiful flowers, where agoutis (local rodents that are almost like a cross between rabbits and squirrels) and colorful birds can be seen foraging in the bushes. The meals were good and plentiful, with a wide variety of continental and local cuisine that included fresh fruits and vegetables, and wonderful, homemade ice cream.
The dive resort and fleet of boats were well-run and well maintained. The dive masters and boat crews were personable and once they were comfortable with your diving skills, were happy to let you dive your own profile. They approached life with a relaxed, Caribbean vibe, that, as an experienced diver, I appreciated, but were always attentive and ready to help those newer to the sport. The only complaint that I had was that they did not always seem as diligent at finding and pointing out critters, as say dive guides at a resort like Crystal Blue in the Philippines.
The diving itself was good, with quite a bit of variety, but there were not as many large schools of fish as I would have preferred. This is probably partly due to over-fishing and partly due to the invasive lionfish, but dive guides are attempting to train local predators, such as moray eels to eat the lionfish, and seem to be having some success. I definitely saw fewer of them around AKR than in the Bahamas, for example. There were many turtles, and some very interesting canyons and swim throughs, my favorite one being Spookie Channel, and of course, the well-known Mary’s Place. They offer 3 boat dives a day, and unlimited shore diving, but I did not take advantage of the shore diving during my trip, and I heard from other guests that it was somewhat lackluster. I did spend one day snorkeling under the dock where the dive boats are kept, and found quite a few interesting critters. AKR does offer two exceptional experiences at an extra cost: a shark dive and a dolphin dive. The shark dive was very well run and featured beautiful Caribbean Reef sharks that you were allowed to swim around with for 20 minutes or so before the feeding actually commenced. There were probably 10-15 sharks in attendance. The food is kept in a five gallon bucket that is opened by pulling on a rope, towards the end of the dive, so that the divers get a chance to swim with the sharks first, and so the sharks don’t get accustomed to actually being fed by divers—a good and safe arrangement in my opinion. The dolphin dive features dolphins that have been raised in the dolphin research center that is onsite at AKR, but occurs in open water. The dolphins are introduced to the divers in their fenced off lagoon and demonstrate a series of tricks and behaviors, including some amazing vocalizations, before being released into the open ocean for the 40 minute dive experience. This was a great experience, and I was able to get a few good shots of them swimming by, which, to me were much more interesting than watching them do tricks.
Overall, this is a great destination for guests who want a nice resort, good food, and good value, and easy diving, and is also good for photographers, especially those wanting to shoot wide angle and see dolphins, turtles, and sharks. It might be more disappointing for those expecting a lot of macro subjects, or reefs teaming with large schools of fish, although the reefs themselves appeared to be in good condition for the most part. In my opinion, it was definitely money well-spent.

Visited on 04/2013 - Submitted on 01/28/2014

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Blackbeard's Cruises (All Star Liveaboards)

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I really enjoyed my Blackbeard's trip, especially considering the price--under $1000.00 for a week of liveaboard diving. Blackbeard's is especially good for those on a limited budget, and for those who want to see sharks and go on a great shark dive.
The crew of Blackbeards were great--there are way fewer crew members to passengers on a trip in this price range, so it is better if you are more independent with your equipment and with diving, but they were fun and worked hard to make sure all the guests had a good time. Also, you were allowed to dive your own profile. The food was simple but good and plentiful, and was augmented by freshly caught fish on a couple of occasions (they allow fishing off the back of the boat, when motoring to new dive sites). Alcohol is included in the price, and there was a nice beach barbecue on one of the evenings.
The accommodations are tight, as one would expect on a trip in this price range. You have a small bunk area and share the bathroom with 10 of your new, closest friends. I didn't mind this at all, as I was there to get in some good, affordable diving and hoping to get some good images of sharks. My only concern would be for photographers with equipment, as they are not really set up for large camera rigs. On my trip, there was one bunk that was not filled, and the crew let me keep my camera gear on that bunk, which was very helpful.
There are typically 4 dives offered per day. When I was there, nitrox was not available, so 4 dives is probably a good limit. Also, the compressors take quite a bit of time to fill all the tanks. The walls in the Bahamas tend to start deep, at around 70-80 feet, so we would alternate one deep dive, then a shallow dive of perhaps 30-40 feet. There was quite a bit of variety in the diving, and they have a nice, smaller version of the Blue Hole that was a lot of fun. They did have a large number of invasive Lionfish, so there was not as many of the typical Caribbean reef fish as you might see in Cozumel, for example.
The best part of the trip was the shark dive. They freeze a large bucket of fish parts into a big "chumsicle" and drill a hole through it and string it on a cable. I think this is a much better and safer approach than hand-feeding, and the sharks circle around and lunge at the frozen bait, making for some great action and photo opportunities. I was even able to get a couple of images of blood on their teeth.
Overall, I would say that this is one of the best values in diving for the money. If you want to see sharks, and get a good variety of diving, and don't mind roughing it a bit, this is definitely the place to be. If you want to be pampered, or if you are a photographer with a lot of equipment, then you might want to consider the Aquacat that dives the same area, but has much more room and individual state rooms, bub costs over twice as much.

Visited on 06/2010 - Submitted on 01/27/2014

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