Returned from Fantasy Island Roatan

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greatwhitepoke

Registered
Messages
39
Reaction score
0
Location
Oklahoma
# of dives
50 - 99
Just got back(12-19-09) from FI Roatan so I thought I'd give a quick review for you guys from a 1st timer with not very many dives under his belt.

1st, It's not 5 star by any means but the resort and room was clean and comfortable. The staff was very good at keeping the room picked up, the grounds raked and trash removed. The food was not very good and I left with the feeling it's due more to budget than anything. I say this because the last 2 nights it was much better than the rest of the week. The last night in paticular they served some excellent fried fish while most other meals the fish was edible at best. The wait staff was always great the entire trip throughout the resort. If I had any complaints it was with the tour director rarely to be found and not very organized when he was:no:. Bar staff was great :D thanks Jonel.

As for the diving we were not very pleased with the equipment we were rented. Again we don't have many dives so I'm just speaking from someone not very experienced point of view. I had to exchange my 1st set of regs due to my main 1 blowing by. The 2nd set had leaks and backup would freeflow at times but I could get it to shut off with a couple of raps. My wife changed hers after a couple of days because the mouth piece was pretty chewed up and was given a set with a hose to her BC that looked questionable at best. Well, it blew out on her the 2nd dive but fortunately it was on the boat and the DM had a spare hose.

As far as the diving went we were very happy. Top side was a little rough the 1st few days and we had a few rain showers but not a big problem. The boats were easy to get into and very comfortable. Captain Rocky had plenty of water, fresh fruit and a dry towel handy at all times. DM Miguel was a very good guide and both guys were pleasant and fun to be around. All the dive sites were within a few minutes of the dock which was also nice.

Below surface was fantastic. Lots of healthy coral and marine life. Some of the coral seemed to be endless. The best stuff seemed to be above 50' so I was always a little more shallow than the rest for most of the dive. Although we had some dives we found to be more enjoyable than others they were all very similar in terrain, marine life and coral, coral, coral. Vis was good on most dives, in the 80' range but we did have a couple dives where it dropped to about 40 or 50'. Some of our favorite site were Marys Place, Too Tall Too Small which we did both day and night. The night dive was great with several octopus to be seen. Other favorites were Gold Chain, Forty Foot point and the sunken ships. PA was always stirred up so that took a little away from it but it was still good. We dove it 3 times with 2 being at night. Anka's place was crazy with a huge chunk of wall missing due to earthquake.

That's all for now, hope it helps anyone planning to head down there and I also hope I didn't step on any toes of the people who go all the time. We will do it again for sure but we need to check a few other places before we do. Also, take plenty of cash because everywhere down there charges a 20% credit card fee and we never felt like we would come up missing money the wrong way.
 
Yeah, the dive operation didn't impress me while I was there. I was thankfull I had my own equipment. But you get what you pay for and at that low a price you can't expect too much...:popcorn: I would definetly recommend anyone going there to bring everything except weights and tanks.

Great report!:coffee:
 
Yes, it was an inexpensive trip and we got in 19 dives for the 6 days. The overall experience was good but they should invest a little in their equipment.
 
Yes, it was an inexpensive trip and we got in 19 dives for the 6 days. The overall experience was good but they should invest a little in their equipment.

Good observation...thanks for pointing that out. I refuse to dive with rental gear anywhere, so have never experienced that aspect of Fantasy Island.

I agree with you about the food, but the last time we were there it seemed better. I'm not a big fish eater, but the days I tried it I thought it was really good :idk: I have seen so many different opinions of the food...some love it - some don't. Bottom line is that the value is so incredible I don't expect gourmet cuisine and the variety is so great that I can always find something I like.

Thanks for taking the time to write about your experiences :D
 
Yes, it was an inexpensive trip and we got in 19 dives for the 6 days. The overall experience was good but they should invest a little in their equipment.
Well, they could, along with more employee investments to service it all better, if the market would bear it. How do we shop for trips tho? Aren't price comparisons high on the list? I'll bet they get asked price questions a hundreds times as often as they get asked for details about their rental gear. Yes, it should be safe to use, but much of that needs to be confirmed before you get on the boat. What if you cannot find decent rental gear before the first boat? Push vs Shove. :idk:

I've never used resort gear. My bud did on his first trip but bought a whole new setup on return because of similar problems in Cozumel. I wouldn't want to dive rental gear anywhere. I like to know my gear well from my practice dives before the trip at least.

All that said, still - many vacation divers do dive rental gear as they don't want to own and service it. An alternate approach would be to rent from you LDS at home, practice dive it in their pool at least, and take it with you. That second bag is on $25 each, each way, and if it's only scuba gear - Continental will allow it to be up to 70# without penalty, but have a print out of that with you at check-in just in case the agent forgets.

And many vacations divers don't want to mess with that. They want the gear furnishes at the resort. Best wishes on that on your travels. Consider taking your own regs or LDS regs at least.

What did you need your credit card for anyway? Thanks for the heads up on the 20% add-on, which is not so surprising. Travelers Checks have become a less desirable alternative tho, making cash more needed - with that increased risk. :depressed:
 
What did you need your credit card for anyway? Thanks for the heads up on the 20% add-on, which is not so surprising. Travelers Checks have become a less desirable alternative tho, making cash more needed - with that increased risk. :depressed:

DD, I don't know who's adding 20% credit card fee, but I suspect it must be someone else on the island. I have always used my credit card to settle up at the end of every trip at Fantasy Island...they have never added anything. On the other hand, your credit card company will tack on a percentage for international usage...that's why I use one that only charges 1% when I go out of the country - I haven't found one yet that's free :eyebrow:
 
DD, I don't know who's adding 20% credit card fee, but I suspect it must be someone else on the island. I have always used my credit card to settle up at the end of every trip at Fantasy Island...they have never added anything. On the other hand, your credit card company will tack on a percentage for international usage...that's why I use one that only charges 1% when I go out of the country - I haven't found one yet that's free :eyebrow:


What card do you use that is 1%? When checking mine all seem to be in the 2-3% range. Although it seems like a minimal fee, it adds up after a while. You know, a million here a million there it adds up after a while:rofl3:
 
What card do you use that is 1%? When checking mine all seem to be in the 2-3% range. Although it seems like a minimal fee, it adds up after a while. You know, a million here a million there it adds up after a while:rofl3:

I hear you! Every little bit counts...

The credit card is issued by World's Foremost Bank through Cabela's.
 
Most of the time we could find something we liked eating. Breakfast was consistent and good. I'm not a pasta eater and they had it available for lunch and dinner most days. The wife seemed to like it just fine so it wasn't like we went hungry. The food was very plentiful but I'm pretty much a meat and potato's kind of guy and the meats were ok at best. :cool2:

Several of us went to the West End 1 evening to buy a few gifts & t-shirts. We also did the shark dive and some people had to charge it. I guess I should have said "up to 20%" because some places didn't get that high. I can't remember what the FI gift shop added because we took plenty of cash and didn't need to charge things.
 
In 2006 when we were at FI, the only add on we were charged was the Honduran sales tax. 16% I believe. No credit card surcharge...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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