From June 20th through June 27th, my wife and I (along with four of our friends and fellow colleagues) had the privilege of staying at the Blue Bahia in Roatan. I want to first start off and say “yes there were an abundance of sand fleas”. I will also say that it’s not just at the Blue Bahia. We went several places and found the sand fleas to be a “horrible nuisance” (this included West End and at a small diner which was beach side in Coxen Hole). Bottom line, bring Deet (or plan your vacation in the early spring). It seemed they (sand fleas) were everywhere.
With the issue of sand fleas out of the way, I want to preface this review by stating that we spent a week in the cities of Santa Barbara and Las Mesas (on the Honduran main land) taking part in a medical mission, so when we got to the resort we were very glad to see some luxuries (hot water, AC, etc) but I waited to write this review so that it was an honest look back at the vacation.
The Blue Bahia is not a mega resort…if that’s what you want, with all inclusive food and drinks…go somewhere else. Instead the Blue Bahia is like home away from home, the resort is small, quant and friendly. The bungalows are very comfortable (We stayed in The Loft). I know they are all air conditioned and the one we stayed in had fridge, coffee maker, and a supply of utensils, dishes, etc, you could even flush the toilets!
And yes, there were six of us and it was still comfortable. The pool was steps from our door.
Kent and Lisette were wonderful. They made sure we were comfortable and our needs were met. Lisette gave us the “ins and outs” of the island and made several trips into town with some us to shop for some incidentals, snacks and food. They even arranged for our laundry to be taken care (remember we spent a week on a medical mission). They employ a wonderful staff (Amado, Felipe, Sonya, Alex, and Daniel) and they were always working to make sure your experience was a pleasant and enjoyable one. They arranged fishing through Early Bird Fishing Charters, a canopy zip line tour, and even a driver. Octopus Dive School is also on site to care of your diving needs and again the entire crew was excellent. They made sure your dive experience was a positive and safe one.
The food was very good and the prices I felt were fair for the quality and portions you received. Kent takes a lot of pride in his cooking (along with Daniel and Alex). It’s primarily American fare with some local additions. There is everything from Smoked and BBQ ribs to fresh fish to some very good salads. We even went out on a fishing trip for 4 hours, brought back 25lbs of Black Fin Tuna and it was turned into two wonderful meals. The lunch meal was a combination of garlic and a teriyaki grilled tuna steaks with some very good side dishes. For dinner Kent and the crew prepared Sushi and Sashimi with the tuna. It was incredible. They even worked hard to make sure the vegetarian in our group had some options to choose from (they even went to the store and purchased several items as well to have on hand for further variety).
I will say there was construction going on the whole time we were there (and its very close to wrapping up). Was it noisy at times, yes, but I applaud what Kent and Lisette have accomplished in the few years they have been on the island (they are building an addition to one of the bungalows to further make the resort better and more comfortable). They have also become active in the island creating jobs, opportunities, and are working to make the island a great place for the locals.
As for the day to day life, they allowed us use of their computers so we could stay in touch with our family (and we did call home as well). One side note about calling home, you can pick up a Tigo re-loadable cell phone for about $50 (minutes included) and it works great at no cost to your family at home.
. Each morning there was fresh fruit, cereal, coffee and juice for breakfast, and the conversation was always good. Even on their one day off…they made sure your needs were being met.
These folks went out of their way to ensure we had a great time. Thank you Kent Lisette, Sonya, Alex, Daniel, Amado, and Felipe! Chad and Peri…part of the Arizona Gang! We look forward to a return trip!

Roatan – Blue Bahia June 14 – 21 2008.

My wife, son and I stayed at the Blue Bahia Resort, a small “boutique” resort on Roatan the week of June 14 through 21, 2008. My wife is a non-diver and my son and I are divers. Our stay at the Blue Bahia was like visiting relatives, only you are treated like royalty! Kent, Lisette and the entire staff of the Blue Bahia always go out of their way to make sure you have what you need.

We stayed in the Kings and Queens, which was a 4-star unit. As the name implies, the unit has two bedrooms (one king bed & one queen bed) as well as a nice kitchenette and bathroom. It was not spacious, but was big enough for the three of us and all of our diving/snorkeling gear! The air conditioner was working so well that we had to turn the temperature up so that we would not freeze!

The pool looks just like the picture on their website. It was just steps from the front door of our unit and with a wonderful view of the ocean! There was not much of a beach to lie on, but who would want to anyway with all the sand fleas! Make sure you take lots of bug spray! Most of my wife’s time was spent either beside the pool or in the restaurant/bar while we were diving.

Not enough can be said about the food. It was definitely 5-star! Kent and his two local chefs, Daniel and Alex, will blow you away with their menu. There was nothing on the menu that we did not like! If you wanted something not on the menu, they were happy to prepare for you. They even accommodated a guest that was a vegetarian, going to the local grocery store and purchasing special veggie burgers just for her.

Breakfast was included with the unit and consisted of the usual fare. We had cereal, toast, fruit, juice and coffee each morning. Myra would greet us each morning with a big smile and a good morning! If you wanted eggs and bacon or pancakes, you just needed to ask Myra and she would happily make them for you. The wait staff (Sonya, Melissa & Jaime) was always going that extra mile to make sure you had something to eat or drink. By the end of the week, we had become friends with all the staff and enjoyed many laughs together.

Kent, Lisette, Felipe and Amado were always checking to make sure you had everything you could possibly need. One morning Lisette drove me to the local grocery store to pickup some snacks to have in our unit. Felipe helped my son flag down a bus to drive him into West End to do some souvenir shopping and advised him on how to barter with the taxi on his return trip to the resort!

The onsite dive operator, Octopus Divers operates under the same motto as the Blue Bahia, "it is all about the customer". Kent has completed the resort by adding such a great operator. They are very safety conscience and know the dive sites. They use a small boat and the maximum divers we had on any dive was six. They making diving a pleasure.

There is a barrio between the Blue Bahia and Anthony’s Key, which was fun to walk through on an evening beach stroll. We ran in to several groups of local school age kids walking home from school. We were always greeted with a happy “¡hola!” as we strolled down the road toward Anthony’s Key.

The snorkeling off the dock was absolutely fantastic! We saw the same marine life as I see when diving. The water off the beach is full of turtle grass, which is essential to preserve the ocean/reef and juvenile fish. Just past the turtle grass was a sandbar filled with starfish and up-side-down jellyfish. They were just sitting on the sand pulsating. We found out later that they have algae on their bottom sides. They lay on the sand so the algae is turned toward the sun to get nourishment. Past the sandbar is the reef; full of amazing coral and fish, and not that far of a swim to reach!

I’m torn with giving the Blue Bahia such a truthful review, because I’m afraid that when we return in 2009, the resort will be booked up! They are not the mega 5-star resort; they are a delicious “boutique” resort that is perfect for anyone looking for some quiet time with extra special personal attention!

With so many glowing reviews of Blue Bahia, I thought this place would be paradise. Sadly it was not. The owners and staff are all very nice and so it is difficult to write a negative review, but I need to be honest.

The resort is a small quaint place on the “beach” in Sandy Bay. The “beach” was very disappointing – it’s small, not very pretty, and cars drive on it day and night. Between that and the horrible sand fleas, it is impossible to spend any time on the beach. I think that’s why the locals use it as a road. We stayed in the “penthouse”, which is the most expensive room there. It is directly above the restaurant, which was noisy at times. The room is a little small and not designed well. There is no dresser and only a tiny closet, so there is no where to put your clothes, scuba gear, etc. I had to live out of my suitcase. The private rooftop deck was not very pretty, with a 3 – 4 foot solid wall around it so you couldn’t see the water/beach. I heard from another guest that the other rooms are bigger and nicer. There’s a small pool on the property that was nice, but not much room to lay out in the sun. The restaurant on-site was good – breakfasts were made by a very nice lady who would cook you whatever you wanted, as long as they had it. Lunch and dinner were a la carte off a menu with specials available. The prices were reasonable and the portions were large, however most items are platters of either smoked meat or fried foods, which got a little heavy after 10 days. I would have loved a simple sandwich or something. Restaurant staff was excellent – very prompt (for island time) and as nice as can be.

We had several main issues with this place. (1) Construction: We were not informed that the building next to ours would be under construction for the duration of our stay. So Mon – Sat from 7 AM – 5 PM there would be constant hammering, sawing, and noise from the generator when the power was out (see #2). We had sawdust blow on us at the pool and onto our dive gear when we were at the dive shop. There was no apology or accommodation made by the owners for this major inconvenience. To make matters worse, there was a pier being installed on the adjacent property, so we had to deal with constant noise from that as well. It was never quiet there, except late at night and on Sunday, which made it impossible to relax. (2) Power Outages: Maybe it was just a bad week, maybe not, but the power went out at the resort almost every day we were there. It would be out for hours at a time – the worst day it was out from 10 AM – 5 PM, came back on for an hour and was out again until about 10 PM. That meant no A/C, ceiling fans, hot water, or light. Our room would get very uncomfortably hot after just a few minutes, and if we tried to open the windows, the breeze could not get in and the bugs would devour us (see #3). They need to invest in a generator since it seems like the power is very unreliable. (3) Bugs: I have traveled to several spots in the Caribbean, and bugs are a fact of life. No big deal, a little insect repellant at night and you are fine. Well not here! If you went outside anytime, day or night, anywhere on the property, without a thick layer of DEET, the no-see-ums and mosquitoes would feast on you. You had to wear long sleeves, and many of the divers just kept their wetsuits on after dives to fend off the bugs. But the worst part is what I think were sand fleas. I never saw one, but several days into our stay during the middle of the night I started getting bitten, despite wearing DEET to bed. I woke up with 20 – 30 bites that itched horribly. Each day after that, I’d get 20 – 30 more of these kind of bites, and even two weeks after returning to the US, the bites are still there and still itchy.

I also want to point out some shortcomings from what was advertised on Blue Bahia’s website. We were not offered a free call home, nor were we offered an island cell phone to use while we were there. There were no “good night goodies”, and despite their motto “Its all about you” it was not about us at all – it was about getting your money. The accommodations were far from first class. For what I paid to stay there, I expected something better.

I really would not recommend this resort to anyone. It’s a shame because they have a great group of people working there, but if they want to stay in business they need to make some improvements. There are much nicer places to stay for roughly the same cost (like Anthony’s Key). If we return to Roatan, we will definitely not be staying at the Blue Bahia.