Let me first state that I did not actually stay at this hotel, I did however use the facilities of the dive shop.

I stayed at the Spanish Bay next door and as they were not running a trip to Stingray City when I wanted to go, I booked with Dive Tech, based at the Cobalt.

The dive shop is very well stocked with goodies and they appear to have a workshop and the facility to fill lots of cylinders, so no waiting for fresh tanks to be bussed in.

The staff were a bit off hand with the four of us that came over from the Spanish Bay. I can't understand why, we filled up their dive boat and spent our money like the rest of the clients. Don't get me wrong, they were not nasty or rude, just not very enthusiastic or friendly. I appreciate that they deal with thousands of clients, some of whom must be a pain in the butt, but a smile costs nothing and goes a long way to improving your feeling about the whole experiance. Lets not forget, when you go diving, you are trusting your life with these people. OK, we were only at 12 feet, but if I was doing a massive Nitrox dive , I might be more concerned. Two of our party were newly qualified the day before and were looking for just a little bit more encouragement and help with kit assembly etc. We all forget stuff, especially when we are newly qualified.

We loaded our own kit onto a pickup and were bussed to a marina in the lagoon for the transfer to the boat. I don't mind carrying my own gear, but if you really want a little man to do everything for you then give up diving!

On the boat, the captain (Mark) was excellent, he didn't eat all the oranges and they were appreciated to remove the taste of the sea. Zelda the dive guide was magic, she really knows how to get the best out of the rays and Psyco the eel. She manipulated them with squid to allow us to get good photographs and really played to the camera.

This is truly the best 12 foot dive in the world. I am a bit of an air monster, but managed an hour on the bottom with 1200psi (80 bar) left on the boat. Just a pity that my camera ran out of film faster than I ran out of air.

All in all a good dive centre, but a bit stuffy with outsiders, might have been different if we had been resident. If I had been an American, I might have been upset by this, but coming from the UK, I see poor service every day and it just washes over me now.

Mark Nottingham UK

Just wrapping up a 4 day trip at Cobalt Coast with several friends, and it is unanimous in our group that this is an outstanding dive-theme resort. While it is true that non-divers will find only minimal activities within the hotel, those who dive will find knowledegable dive masters, convenient logistics, the ability to go on your own at any point and take advantage of some pretty outstanding shore dives right off the resort, and well appointed dive boats. The wall diving around both West and North sides of the island is nothing short of spectacular, provided the diver is comfortable diving to 90 - 110 ft, which our entire group was fine with. The rooms are spacious, clean, and comfortable - the meal plan was a great deal, and those who wrote that the food is not up to par need to check themselves for permanent nitrogen narcosis.......our entire group, which is fairly particular about fine cuisine, found the food to be very well prepared and tasty. Servce was prompt and helpful throughout the resort, and Arie himself adds a great hospitable presence that makes you feel like you have been personally invited to his country lodge. He could not have been more friendly, helpful, or welcoming to our group, and was willing to help in any way possible with our stay - from arranging travel to busing our breakfast table himself - we thought he was an outstanding host...... DiveTech has a group of expert divemasters that is as strong collectively as almost any group we had experience with, and were nice folks as well.....offering to help in BCD repair, shore dive specifics, or tailoring the boat dive locations to the desires of the group that day. Bottom line - if you are looking for a dive-theme vacation, Cobalt Coast is an outstanding choice......we loved it !!

Scott from California

There with husband and 11 yr old son who is certified, but not allowed to go below 40'. I had spoken to Nancy about that prior, and she had assured me that there would be coral for us at 40'on each boat trip. Well, there wasn't. On a couple of dives, we hovered above a coral bed that was 60-80'. I had explained to her that we were deliberating between Cobalt Coast and Roatan where we knew we could find 40' dives, and she assured me that we would be happy at Cobalt Coast.

I found some of the dive guides rude. One cut up the oranges in between dives and didn't pass them around, but rather ate them all himself!

DiveTech overcharged us at the end, and it took a little effort to help them to understand that. Also, my dive gear rental appeared on the Cobalt Coast tab as well, so had I not been observant, I would have been charged twice.

Did really enjoy the spacious rooms.

There's not much to do there. Couldn't even find someone there who knew how to run the spa.

We elected to take the meal plan because we didn't rent a car. The food was not very good at all. No garlic! A "Chicken Caesar salad" with no garlic in the dressing. The croutons were "spiced" with cinnamon. I personally, enjoyed the wait staff, and the relaxed mood. We weren't going anywhere, so weren't in a hurry. Almost every night, we were the only ones there eating dinner. It was kind of sad, but I wondered why they didn't take the hint and do something about the kitchen!

Arie is a really nice guy.

Final frustration: I had asked the office staff if they could print me off 3 boarding passes. They did one, but wouldn't do the others. That's 3 pieces of paper!!!!! So, I showed them...I asked Arie if I could get them printed and he said "absolutely!" Now, denying a guest 3 boarding passes when they have just spent $4500 there is just plain bush!!!

We just returned from the perfect dive vacation. Cobalt definately put the bar up high! DiveTech has a lot to do with it. The dive boats and crew were wonderful. Awesome dive sites in Cayman and worth paying a little extra. (Cayman dollar = $.80 USD) Breakfast at Cobalt was included and a nice start to a day of diving. My husband did a shore dive off the dock at Cobalt and loved it.

Cobalt and DiveTech take care of everything! Just be sure to get a rental car so you can sample the wonderful restaurants nearby. Best cuisine we've had on vacation in a long time!