Caribb-LEM Mark II: March 7th-17th 2015 - details here!

[HankLloydRight]

I know it's all speculative at this point, but are you thinking of also a charter plane from Houston/Atlanta/Miami to Roatan, and then from there to Utila?

Just looking at those dates (I know, also very tentative), Miami is the best option for me compared to the other two.

Edit: Maybe Taca Airlines can charter a flight for all of us directly from Miami to Utila??


You can pretty much count me in for this. It will be even MORE fun to actually be SCUBA diving for fun, and not going through the certification classes.

[buffo]

Hi Hank!

We are looking at lots of options... The original idea was if everyone could meet up at a single airport that served as a hub for one of the airlines that flies to Roatan (Miami, for American Airlines, Houston for United Airlines, Atlanta for Delta Airlines, etc), then we could all catch the same "last leg" flight and all land together at Roatan. That way someone could meet us there and we'd all clear customs together. Then we'd all board the same charter flight from Roatan to Utila. (Note: The flight from Roatan to Utila is really short; just a few miles longer than the hop from the port city of La Ceiba to Utila that we took last year, and much, much shorter than the flight from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba.)

But it might not work out, since it could be really expensive for someone on the east coast to fly all the way to Houston before flying to Roatan, just as it might be more expensive for someone from Oregon to fly all the way to Miami before flying to Roatan... We're still looking into flight info to make this easy for everyone.

We could just leave it open for everyone to book their own flights, and that may still be an option for those who want to do that, but there is a huge benefit to getting everyone together in one group. We just need to figure out if we can do that affordably.

I agree that the diving is going to be great. I'm not taking any classes this time, so I am going to dive my ass off! I knocked out 14 dives last trip, and I hope to top that next year. (Looking forward to a couple more night dives this time around!)

Right now I'm figuring that you, Brad, and Jonathan are in for sure. I've been working on Daniel Briggs, but he just can't commit this far out. Beyond that, there are several new people who are seriously considering it this time, including a few people from outside the US. Even though it's almost a year away, it's already shaping up to be bigger than the previous two!

Adam

[buffo]

Part of the problem is that it's *very* affordable to fly to San Pedro Sula (SAP) airport. So even though you have to book a second flight from San Pedro Sula to Utila and back (which usually costs ~ $220 for the round trip ticket), it's still normally cheaper to do that than it is to fly direct to Roatan. (And then you still have to take a charter flight from Roatan to Utila and back.)

So yeah, we are still working on this...

Adam

[HankLloydRight]

Just poking around myself a bit more (I have lots of miles on United and American), it's actually *very* affordable (miles wise) for me to fly United NYC->Houston->Roatan for just 17,500 miles each way! So it would be really easy for me to meet you in Roatan for the last leg to Utila around 2pm. It's a full day of travel any way you cut it, so going from NYC->Houston doesn't bother me any.

Yeah, I'd **MUCH*** rather fly from NYC->Houston->Roatan->Utila (3 legs) than to NYC->Miami/Atlanta/Houston->San Pedro Sula->La Ceiba->Utila (4 legs).

I don't know if anyone remembers from last time, but I had about a 3 hour wait at La Ceiba for the 4-pax Cessna to make a second round trip to/from Utila, because there were too many people going to Utila (the first group of people left right away!). That was rough, because the terminal was essentially closed, and no cell service, and of course no internet. So all we could do is.. well, nothing really.

[Bradfo69]

I'll make this easy. Put me down to arrive a week before ya'll, and that's one less to have to figure out. I'll be on the beach waiting for you.

[platinum]

I'll make this easy. Put me down to arrive a week before ya'll, and that's one less to have to figure out. I'll be on the beach waiting for you.

Seriously. Also, let's go for a full two weeks this time, at least.

- J

[HankLloydRight]

As long as I have good internets, I'm game!

[buffo]

I'm surprised there is so much interest in a longer stay. The last two times we did this, I was the only one who wanted to extend! But yeah, we do have a plan for a longer stay option, it's just that we didn't think anyone would want it so we didn't even consider it this time. Guess we will have to revisit that decision!

One nice thing about a longer stay is that things don't need to be quite as hectic. There were lots of other activities that we never even tried (like a "movie night" out behind the resort in the parking area in front of the dive shop), and I know I would have loved the chance to do some more diving. (Really want to do some more night dives!)

So if there is enough interest, we can look at extended stay options. We already have a plan for 7 and 10 day stays. Should we look at a full 2 week option, or is that too much?

Adam

[HankLloydRight]

I'd consider 10 days, sure. 14 might be too much.

[Bradfo69]

Truthfully I was kidding about an extra week. I don't know that would be theoretically possible. 10 days perhaps since we're already technically at 8.