Scubasarah81
Guest
So after a grueling 18 hours of travel and delays (thanks you Delta) I arrived in Roatan May 22, 2010. After arriving at the airport, we were greeted by the same eager smiling faces as the last time scurrying to collect our luggage and usher us to the FI shuttle. Carlos, the resort manager, was happily waiting on us to accompany us on our ride to the resort. He greeted us like old friends and off we went in our icy cold AC equipped bus 
Let me just say, I LOVE FANTASY ISLAND! Is it luxury at its finest? UHm, no. It is more like dive camp
But for me, this is just perfect, I do not choose resorts for the accommodations, i choose for the diving, and at FI, you can dive as much as your nitrogen loading will allow. There are 3 boat dives daily with unlimited shore diving. In 6 days I got in 22 dives! My folks, who were diving Nitrox, got in 24 and really could have done more.
Our rooms were all that we needed. Clean, comfortable beds with crisp linens, a small tv with cable (but who watches TV on vaca???) a nice big shower which i found perfect for a post-night shore dive gear rinse off, great big tacky paintings on the walls, and a nice balcony! What more do you need really? Oh and our rooms had AC, some do not.
The diver package includes 3 squares a day, and though its not gourmet, it is tasty and filling. Oh and there is always ice cream at lunch and dinner and it is VERY good Most alcohol is also included, and while i enjoy the typical fruit concoctions that are found at Caribbean resorts everywhere, I really like beer. At FI the included beers of choice are Salva Vida and Imperial. I always drink the Salva Vida. Its a Honduran especial, and when icy cold, it is quite delicious. Mix it with the swim up bar post-dive and its a little piece of heaven. Which brings me to the only crappy part of this trip. The pool was out of commission from Sunday to Thursday for repairs! The resort was only at 25% capacity and I am sure they figured it was the best time to fix it up. This really did not bother me too badly, it just "forced" me to use the time that i would typically be pool lounging to don my fins and mask, pull out the old snorkel, and go hang out in the shallows with the reef fish.
The dive shop is run by a nice burley man named Robert, who i assure you has more bark than bite. He takes his job and responsibility very seriously and makes no qualms about expressing that in his orientation for new divers to the resort. He certainly puts safety first. The dive masters I have had experience with have all been fantastic. Last time we had Derry, this time we had Nelson. Both were very efficient, very friendly, and amazing divers...i think they even have gills. The dive boats are a little rugged, but they get you where you're going and back.
The Dives: *sighs* Did i mention how much i love Roatan?? All of our dives were beautiful. We saw more Marine life this trip than we did last time. I had my first sea turtle encounter, we saw a HUGE group of squid (also a first for me), a Mola Mola (YES REALLY!!), a white dwarf seahorse, multiple Longsnout Seahorses, a balloon fish, an eagle ray, several filefish, and lots of huge green moray eels! And of course the regular crews of parrots, angels, trunks, sgt. majors, blue chromis, snappers of all varieties, groupers, and tangs. The reefs were beautiful and absolutely thriving with life.
I have to share the squid sighting story with you. Initially, it was Nelson, our DM who spotted them, and there were three. It was towards the end of our dive in about 40 ft of water. They were so surreal. To me, they looked like small aliens descending down on us. They were very colorful and graceful with their flowing fins. Everyone watched and took pics, and then most of the group went on to make their safety stop and surface. Well my folks and I like to lag behind and avoid the hustle of getting back on the boat, and I am so glad we did. First, my Dad and I went to take a second look at the huge engine the mooring line was tied off to because we had been told that a nice big eel liked to hang out there, instead we found our gigantic sea turtle! He was awesome, but this story is about squid! We watched him munch away at some coral for a bit and then began to swim up to our safety stop. However, when we turned around and looked to where my Mom was floating, we noticed that she was absolutely surrounded by squid! There were more than i could count all lined up in a perfect row. It was as if they were putting on show for us. It even looked like they were lined up form biggest to smallest. I was awestruck! We stayed suspended there watching them pass by one by one. Its those moments that puts diving in my love life.
I will return to Fantasy Island over and over again. You cannot beat the price, few and far in between are the resorts that offer as much diving, and the staff is always incredibly friendly. This was my second trip, third for my parents, and we all agreed that going to FI kind of feels like going to visit family.
Now if Delta could just start feeling like seeing family and less like having a run in with your ******* ex
Let me just say, I LOVE FANTASY ISLAND! Is it luxury at its finest? UHm, no. It is more like dive camp
But for me, this is just perfect, I do not choose resorts for the accommodations, i choose for the diving, and at FI, you can dive as much as your nitrogen loading will allow. There are 3 boat dives daily with unlimited shore diving. In 6 days I got in 22 dives! My folks, who were diving Nitrox, got in 24 and really could have done more.Our rooms were all that we needed. Clean, comfortable beds with crisp linens, a small tv with cable (but who watches TV on vaca???) a nice big shower which i found perfect for a post-night shore dive gear rinse off
, great big tacky paintings on the walls, and a nice balcony! What more do you need really? Oh and our rooms had AC, some do not. The diver package includes 3 squares a day, and though its not gourmet, it is tasty and filling. Oh and there is always ice cream at lunch and dinner and it is VERY good
Most alcohol is also included, and while i enjoy the typical fruit concoctions that are found at Caribbean resorts everywhere, I really like beer. At FI the included beers of choice are Salva Vida and Imperial. I always drink the Salva Vida. Its a Honduran especial, and when icy cold, it is quite delicious. Mix it with the swim up bar post-dive and its a little piece of heaven. Which brings me to the only crappy part of this trip. The pool was out of commission from Sunday to Thursday for repairs! The resort was only at 25% capacity and I am sure they figured it was the best time to fix it up. This really did not bother me too badly, it just "forced" me to use the time that i would typically be pool lounging to don my fins and mask, pull out the old snorkel, and go hang out in the shallows with the reef fish. The dive shop is run by a nice burley man named Robert, who i assure you has more bark than bite. He takes his job and responsibility very seriously and makes no qualms about expressing that in his orientation for new divers to the resort. He certainly puts safety first. The dive masters I have had experience with have all been fantastic. Last time we had Derry, this time we had Nelson. Both were very efficient, very friendly, and amazing divers...i think they even have gills. The dive boats are a little rugged, but they get you where you're going and back.
The Dives: *sighs* Did i mention how much i love Roatan?? All of our dives were beautiful. We saw more Marine life this trip than we did last time. I had my first sea turtle encounter, we saw a HUGE group of squid (also a first for me), a Mola Mola (YES REALLY!!), a white dwarf seahorse, multiple Longsnout Seahorses, a balloon fish, an eagle ray, several filefish, and lots of huge green moray eels! And of course the regular crews of parrots, angels, trunks, sgt. majors, blue chromis, snappers of all varieties, groupers, and tangs. The reefs were beautiful and absolutely thriving with life.
I have to share the squid sighting story with you. Initially, it was Nelson, our DM who spotted them, and there were three. It was towards the end of our dive in about 40 ft of water. They were so surreal. To me, they looked like small aliens descending down on us. They were very colorful and graceful with their flowing fins. Everyone watched and took pics, and then most of the group went on to make their safety stop and surface. Well my folks and I like to lag behind and avoid the hustle of getting back on the boat, and I am so glad we did. First, my Dad and I went to take a second look at the huge engine the mooring line was tied off to because we had been told that a nice big eel liked to hang out there, instead we found our gigantic sea turtle! He was awesome, but this story is about squid! We watched him munch away at some coral for a bit and then began to swim up to our safety stop. However, when we turned around and looked to where my Mom was floating, we noticed that she was absolutely surrounded by squid! There were more than i could count all lined up in a perfect row. It was as if they were putting on show for us. It even looked like they were lined up form biggest to smallest. I was awestruck! We stayed suspended there watching them pass by one by one. Its those moments that puts diving in my love life.
I will return to Fantasy Island over and over again. You cannot beat the price, few and far in between are the resorts that offer as much diving, and the staff is always incredibly friendly. This was my second trip, third for my parents, and we all agreed that going to FI kind of feels like going to visit family.
Now if Delta could just start feeling like seeing family and less like having a run in with your ******* ex
