Thinking of going to Fantasy Island

[adjuster-jd]

I'm at FIBR now (We did get Sloeber moved to another room the first night (still not the right size room though) and they moved him to the main building the next day. They said they were full and that building was the only rooms they had that night. Obviously we bitched and it did get resolved the next morning.

As for evening snacks, etc - they serve dinner until 9:30 PM. By that time, after diving 3-5 dives per day, it's time to go to bed... The meals are buffet and you can gorge yourself well. Not gourmet food, but acceptable and plentiful. I can't say I've ever gone away hungry..

FI is a great bargain, but don't expect five star accommodations. The dive operation is great and the shore diving is nice with a wreck just a 10 minute swim away.

 

[CajunDiva]

Hey Adjuster -

Glad to hear it's not ALL bad! How's the weather? Is the diving awesome or what??? And most importantly...is DandyDon behaving himself???

 

[Sloeber]

Hey all,

A large group left and we got moved into a much improved room. 2 beds, working lights, oceanview, the whole 9 yards! LOL

With that said, I'm still pretty upset. There is no way that FIBR should be filling the room in which we were given upon our arrival. There is simnply no excuse for it. None. If the resort is full and they overbooked I can understand that... so tell us that and offer to put us up at another nearby resort at their own cost until a room becomes available. As it stands they shoved us into a room completely unfit for guests. We will speak with the manager before we leave about the issue, and additionally, since the stay was booked through PADI travel, PADI will recieve an at-length detail and photos of situation. Not sure if they can/will do anything about it, but they need to know.

But as it is they made 2 guests very dissatified, and I'll be sure to tell the story in detail with accompanying photos to anyone/everyone considering FIBR.

In regards to the food... obviously everyone has a different opinion in this regard so it really is personal opinion I suppose. However, this is the very first place I've seen place out Kraft singles (OK I doubt they were Kraft but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about at least) still in plastic wrapper as the cheese platter. It was so comical that I actually took a photo of it, too. The breakfast "sausage" is raw hot dogs. 'Nuf said.

Despite this, I'm completely enjoying myself. My father and I just couldn't stop laughing at our original accomadations. That's just the kind of people we are. The diving is good, but the current visability isn't so hot. Maybe that's normal around here, not sure, but I do yearn for the viz of Bonaire or Coz right about now. Last year this time in Utila the viz was easily double what we have right now. I'll be in Utila for a week starting midweek next week, so it'll be interesting to see how the two compare.

In closing, be sure to specifiy you don't want any room in the 500's (they moved us from 503 to 504 which was much the same experience) and you should be ok provided you lack taste buds.

 

[v&j]

JJ - we couldn't resist the same deal, just booked 4/24 -5/1, along with flights on Continental out of Chicago at $666 (ok, so that was tempting fate with a fare like that, what can you do?). Two couples going, one couple (not us) has been there many times, we were there once November '08, but really enjoyed it. Definitely not world-class accommodations (well, maybe third-world class) - I'd put it at a 2+ or 3-. Absolutely hated our room, we were in the 'dive wing' - it reeked of mildew, and was dark & dank, but the diving definitely made up for it. I'm usually a 2-tank a day diver, but I couldn't resist doing 3-4 dives most days, as it was so amazing. No current at all, we did one dive where we let the group go on ahead, and just spent an hour exploring around under the boat - that dive ranks as one of my top ten, for the sheer relaxation of it. Food was acceptable, we didn't really partake of any of the other amenities.

Post if you decide to book at the same time, so we can compare notes.

 

[CODMAN]

V&J, insist on the newer rooms in the main building they are nicer.

Although I agree, no lights, not hot water at all, broken window, etc... is unacceptable, no matter how good the deal, they did finally fix you up (thank goodness). And at those prices, I understand why they are shy about fixing up the place...

We really do get what we pay for...

JJ - we couldn't resist the same deal, just booked 4/24 -5/1, along with flights on Continental out of Chicago at $666 (ok, so that was tempting fate with a fare like that, what can you do?). Two couples going, one couple (not us) has been there many times, we were there once November '08, but really enjoyed it. Definitely not world-class accommodations (well, maybe third-world class) - I'd put it at a 2+ or 3-. Absolutely hated our room, we were in the 'dive wing' - it reeked of mildew, and was dark & dank, but the diving definitely made up for it. I'm usually a 2-tank a day diver, but I couldn't resist doing 3-4 dives most days, as it was so amazing. No current at all, we did one dive where we let the group go on ahead, and just spent an hour exploring around under the boat - that dive ranks as one of my top ten, for the sheer relaxation of it. Food was acceptable, we didn't really partake of any of the other amenities.

Post if you decide to book at the same time, so we can compare notes.

 

[dukedives]

As you get more in to it you may find you want to avoid the big resort scene, especially if its more than just 2 people. We generally try to find a condo and a smaller dive operation. I definitely think its better to dive with 3-6 folks than 20. We're down in April and staying at Villa Ocean Reef (look up on vacation by owner)



Haven't stayed before but walked by on our last trip and it looked nice. We are diving with Anemone which is a grat small shop.

 

[sdiver68]

I was on the same trip as Sloeber (Henry) above and had a great experience. No doubt Sloeber and a couple of others got screwed in rooms the 1st couple of days, and not all the food was great. However, I always found something good to eat, the diving is great, and everyone was very pleasant.

Ask for one of the new rooms, and if you are picky on food then either spend a lot more to stay and dive somewhere else or just plan on heading out for dinner each night because you still won't beat the diving for the price. And when you do go out you'll realize how nice FIBR is for Roatan in comparison to other places.

Detailed trip report to follow.

 

[Cudabait]

Sdiver68,

Very much looking forward to your trip report!!

 

[sdiver68]

The dive operation is great and the shore diving is nice with a wreck just a 10 minute swim away.

or 6 minutes

 

[adjuster-jd]

Well - supposed to be 10 minutes - at least at my pace.