Ahhh... Christmas at Bananarama! We missed a Montreal snow storm and had the IIHF Junior Hockey Tournament on the bar TV. Life is good. Jessica was serving primo breakfasts while Eddison, Steven, Sandra and the rest of the staff tended bar at Thirsty Turtle. Hope to see you all again very soon! The diving was tremendous with Martin lucking out and showing us wild dolphins on Christmas day - mask, snorkel, fins and in - how cool is that? Mal did a great job with the kids OW cert and my DM, Marco showed me a few sites I hadn't been to yet. He finds all the cool stuff. 14 dives over 8 days.

We enjoyed dinner Christmas day at the Vintage Pearl - the food and service were excellent. Top dollar but worth it. And no shoes allowed - perfect!

I must say the cruise ships are not a welcome site. The beach is invaded through the middle of the day and Lewis and Jeff are still scrubbing the control system to ensure resort guests are treated with the respect, space and service they deserve. We settled our grumpiness over some complimentary banana splits. Settled like gentlemen!

This is our third trip as a family to this wonderful resort which also manages Island Pearl where we've stayed in the ocean front bungalows (beautiful!). Our two teen girls learned to scuba with Mal and his excellent staff (Marco, Mark, Brian and gang) at the PADI certified dive shop the first year and we've come back to enjoy this beautiful slice of paradise again and again. The staff at the resort is excellent; friendly and accomodating and we are impressed that many of the staff have remained since our first visit (Carolina, Jessica, Shawnee) and recall us instantly! They all go out of their way to make you feel compfortable and by the end of ten days, we count all of them as family! The Thirsty Turtle with its friendly and good natured staff (Zebby, Steven, Angela) is the hang-out place for adults and kids, and the pizza bar was a wonderful addition. We enjoyed a fantastic meal (and we are foodies) at Vintage Pearl restaurant on New Year's Eve. The beach is absolutely gorgeous and wonderful diving and snorkeling right off the beach. The highlight this trip was swimming with dolphins in the ocean on our way to a dive site! Doesn't get any better than that!

We stayed at Bananarama with our two teens over New Years. The place is the perfect combo of just enough comfort, but still a local, casual and authentic feel, not some huge luxury resort. Bar is great, as is the pizza oven. Just simple, casual beach and bar food.

Most impressive is the service. They have been able to create a near-US level of service on Roatan, which is not the common experience in other restaurants and facilities on the island. Most of Roatan operates on "island time", which means it can take forever to get anything. Bananarama staff, on the other hand, were attentive and detail oriented. Any issues were handled with an efficient smile. And there were some issues, including frequent power outages due to a busy time on the island stressing capacity, but Bananarama kept it all together for us and gave us friendly and personal service. Security is also very good, and very visible. They do an excellent job of making sure they control access especially when the beach is filled with day trippers from cruise ships.

And the beach! Best in the world. Unbeatable clear flat water and clean fine sand which they maintain very well.

Visit this place before it disappears and gets turned into a huge, sterile, luxury hotel. Today Bananarama has a great combination of both casual comfort and charm.

Second day of a seven day stay, Totally enjoying the island, spent all day sight seeing, good to back in the room relaxing, getting ready for the night life in the west end. As for the Resort, its real nice, check in is easy, they were already expecting us when we arrived, we were given a tour of the property and of the activities that they offer, bar and resturant are right on the beach, clear blue water and nice cool breeze, no dress code required. Rooms are very comfortable, ac, microwave, minifridge, coffeepot, no tv but don't really need it. Great wifi...good for keeping up with family back home and posting pics.