Eric and Carly White were more than accommodating, and polite in every way. The pictures posted on the VRBO Web-site reflect the property exactly. We loved staying in the Studio Casita. It had everything we needed. A propane grill on the deck should you need to cook anything, plenty of pots, pans, coffee maker, toaster oven, dishes and silverware in the home. We didn't find that we needed anything extra.
Now for the bonus part of the stay. I was a brand new diver (with some serious open water swim anxiety despite being a 2x Ironman finisher and triathlete) obtaining my Open Water and then an Advanced Open Water Certification during my stay on this property. Having Blue Island Dive Shop on location couldn't be more ideal. I witnessed other people who had to drive to the dive shop, carry all their belongings, and what a mess when they might forget to bring something. It was super to sit on the front porch deck, watching the ocean sway, watching the staff as they would arrive every morning in the most quiet manner, and then begin preparations for loading the boat with BCD's. tanks, cooler full of ice cold drinks and fresh cut fruit for after each dive. In general they would make sure that we had everything we needed to have the most successful dives. As soon as we finished our morning ritual of coffee and breakfast on our porch, we would put on our bathing suits and walk over to the dive shop. The Dive Shop Manager and Dive Master Instructors were second to none. It was super nice getting to know them and certainly having the same instructor for all the dives was a super confidence builder for me. We did a total of 10 dives in 5 days with the last one being a Shark Dive Encounter which was pretty cool too.
As of 4 weeks ago, Eric opened up a restaurant on property called Salty Mango Grill. It's only open for breakfast and lunch so we would pre-order our meals the night before for breakfast and lunch. In the morning, everything was ready before our first dive, and then lunch would be waiting for us in between dives. The food was great and inexpensive too.
Getting around in a taxi is easy but always make sure to negotiate your price before get in the cab. Grocery stores are a short drive away. And the location to West End/West Bay is good too. After having been in that area, way too many people, to much building in too small of spaces, we were ecstatic to have our own private slice of heaven at Blue Island Divers. It coudn't have been more perfec
