WEST BAY BEACH: After scuba diving with West Bay Divers
After scuba diving with West Bay Divers (located on the property of Grand Roatan Resort) I decided to do a little snorkeling in the area.
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This would be the very first cruise that I did not take my fins with me. I figured I wouldn't need them since the dive shop provides these for the dive and there really wasn't any need for them anywhere else. It would save on some weight and added space in our luggage. I honestly felt lost without them.
This meant while snorkeling I would need to kick with my feet...which provided to be somewhat painful without a fin. So, I stayed really close to the shore and floated and walked while looking down.
This is a picture of a flounder (with the eyes on the side of it). I caught it out of the side of my eye and by the time I tried to take a picture, it was swimming off. Of course the pic turned out crappy.
Then I spotted Patrick. I went over to say hello and get a picture.
There was a family near me and I heard the 2 girls say "I found a starfish!!!" But they hadn't. They were just joking. So I went over and showed them mine that I really had found. They checked it out and then it was released.
So, Sakari was near by and I told her "follow me". I went back over to the girls and their dad and said "Did you find anymore starfish?" They replied "no". So I told them "I found something better than a starfish. Have you ever seen a mermaid?" They thought I was nuts until up popped Sakari. They were so excited!!
Mermaid modeling....
I arrived back to the dive shop and the hubby was just hanging out. Prior to me going out to snorkel, our driver was there and was picking up other people to take to the port. He ask if we wanted to go with them or stay a bit longer. Sakari wanted to stay and that's why we decided to stay longer and we'd catch him on the next round. He gave us a set time that he'd be back and it was getting close to that time.
Our instructor had signed and stamped our books/page.
We had been talking about Sakari taking her scuba classes and they were very encouraging about her (and us) getting certified. I was showing them her book and I pulled out her PADI seal cards. When I pulled out the Master PADI seal card that PADI sends to you once you complete the course....I dropped it. It's a hard plastic card (like a credit card) and wouldn't you know that it went STRAIGHT down, without flipping over, turning or anything, and of all places to fall...it went straight into the crack of the floor decking!!! What's the chances of that??? Only me. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I went around to the front of the little office area to see if the deck was open from that way. Nope, it was a cylinder block. The staff checked out the boards and they were nailed in and not screwed in. There was just no way to get her card. I was so upset that I did this and once I told Sakari what had happened she was upset as well.
The staff did mention that I could contact PADI and ask for a replacement card and just pay the fee and they'd send us another. THANK GOODNESS! Now that I'm talking about it, I still need to do that.
The hubby went down on the beach and flagged down an ice cream guy. He knew that his girls were not in the best mood now after the PADI card issue.
I ended up with some type of pineapple and ice cream and man it was SO GOOD!
We showered and put dry clothes on and our driver picked us up on time.
The ride back to the port was fairly quiet and we were all a bit tired.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Everyone on here always talks about what a nice beach West Bay is. For me personally, I don't find it anything fantastic myself. The beach itself is very narrow and not much room between the water and the beach clubs. It gives you very little room to put out a towel or whatever. The beach clubs have things roped off and to me, that makes the place not so appealing. I always like the wide stretch of beaches with natural shade like palm trees you can sit under and this place is taken up by beach clubs. Vendors will hassle you over and over all day and even come back to ask you again to purchase their products, go on a tour, or braid your hair. It's never ending. I have also seen (in the past) the vendors come out into the water while you are swimming to try to get you to buy items. It's just ridiculous. Also, it's a very popular beach, which means it's very crowded. So, unless you are coming here for the snorkeling or diving (which is some of the best), I personally would never come here for a beach day myself. But that's just my opinion.