My husband and I just returned from Portofino and we had a great time. The staff were very nice and helpful. We did open water referral with Dive Master Roberto at Portofino right at the hotel dock; he was a great teacher and very knowledgable. He took us out, just me and my husband, which was really special. It was fun and we learned a lot. He tolerated my nervous behavior with a great deal of patience. We also did a snorkel at Hol Chan and Shark alley which was really fun. Thanks Roberto! The bartenders were funny and nice (Rafeal and Orvelle). The waiters were great (cant remember all names except alex). And the ladies at the front desk were very helpful and friendly (yolanda and ?cant remember her name). Even the other guests seemed to be extra friendly here (hi to Bob and Marianne if you are reading this, hope you got the heavy duty bug spray I left at your door! and thanks for the nice note). Also, when we first arrived, we got a fantastic welcome from Kentucky! The cabana we stayed in was perfect, great big king bed. We had to move after the first night due to being in the cabana close to kitchen and were woken up at like 5 am to cleaning sounds. But they moved us right away so no other issues. Slept great after move. I only gave this resort reluctantly a 4 rating because I did not like the food here. There are limited food options close by so it is pretty much necessary as part of staying at Portofino to eat there as well. Some of the guests liked the food so maybe I just had bad luck. I had a shrimp dish that was very over cooked and flavors off. I had chips and salsa one night for a snack it was really embarrassing how awful it was (broken crushed chips and salsa tasted really old and sour). I couldn't eat it. Eggs in the morning were never as I ordered but it was not the waiters fault because I heard him ask the cook correctly. The only good item I ordered was the quesadillas however to be fair I did not try most of the food due to a couple bad experiences. In town, there were some good options for meals. We didn't have any bad food in town. Mata Chicas is walking distance about 20 min walk south on beach. Fish tacos there were very good for lunch. Jamaican place 10 min walk south had really delicious wings (you could easily miss the place)! I wish the resort had BIKES to use or rent and also "to go" snacks available to purchase (although the nicest girl at front desk offered to give me her own granola bar one day which was very generous). We didn't have any trouble catching a free ride into town with Mo the boat captain and never had to pay the water taxi. We just looked at the boat schedule on the black board in the morning to plan the day. Mo pick us up and dropped us off at the airstrip at arrival and departure with no extra fee and was no problem. Overall, I would recommend this place mostly because the people here are so very friendly!