This was the ideal stay for our family. We have 12 and 14 year old boys. There were so many positives I don't know where to start. We stayed on the upper level
*Best area to stay on beach...with pretty much a private beach on the main beach
*2 bedrooms -1 king and 2 twins- nice sized with air conditioning
*Kitchen with appliances, refrigerator, oven, stove,coffee maker, etc
*Pretty newly furnished bathroom
*Ruth, Brad, and Shanna the property managers were super helpful and made our stay super comfortable. Were available to answer any questions. Shanna met us when we got there and showed us the ropes.
*They also set up the transportation for us to and from airport. Marty our driver took us to Edmonds the local grocery store to shop for our place. It was perfect!
*Marty also took us on a 1/2 day tour of the island...To the Sloth Sanctuary where we saw great Sloths, monkeys, and parrots. We also went to South Shore Zip lining...definitely a favorite!
*Right outside of our place, the water taxi's are lined up to take us to West End.
*We always used Andy, Captain of Island Princess. He was fun, so great with my kids, and honest. We decided to let him take us on a day trip to other parts of the island and do some different snorkeling. He took us to the local village of Punta Gorda...also a favorite. We got to see how the locals celebrate and relax on a Sunday and had some great food!
*We enjoyed going to Inifinity Bay Hotel , next door, for drinks at night. The bartender Ziggy was awesome!
*Some other places in West Bay for recommendations since Monkey La La is so central...Bananarama, Bleachers, Argentina Grille, and Bite on the Beach, were favorites for food and drinks...all vegetarian friendly.
*The Banana Doughnut man is a must...he walks a long the beach daily in the afternoons.
*Some things to be aware of but totally not a big deal..it's just island life....electricity went off a couple days....we were at the beach or went to the hotel...so not a big deal. Cannot put toilet paper in the toilets...which is most of Central America. Lots of sand fleas and mosquitos...just come prepared with repellents....not so much at the rental but when you go out to restaurants, etc.
*Some recs for West End ..a 10 minute water taxi ride from our place....Sundowners for drinks and food...there is a "Playground" sail boat you can jump into the water from...my kids played for hours on this; Calelu's for breakfast...delish! Palapa Papas was fun too..there is a launch pad ...pricey I thought though but kids had fun.
*West bay Divers was awesome for our first time going scuba diving...Kieran and Alexis were so patient with us. My younger son backed out after the lesson and I panicked after going down for the first time. Kieran and Alexis were so caring and great. Zack, the owner charged us accordingly which was really nice. Ari, my younger son was still able to snorkel.
*The best snorkeling was right in front of us...we saw a turtle, and eagle ray, and a beracuda!
I cannot say enough. We are already making plans to go back and we have been home only 2 days!