Almost ready to book FI - Feb 14-21

[Doc]

hi just a quick post as I am heading to FI in 6 hours!!!!!!!! I agree that quality is hard to find nowadays, but as you experience more ops, you can see the differences, and know which ones to go back to. On Roatan the shop at Barefoot Cay sets a new high standard for all other shops to be compared to. Their boats and motors are first rate, Their rental equipment is scubapro, Their shop is clean and orderly. Their staff is very competant and serious. Of the many ops I have experienced, they have my best overall recommendation. I am going to FI because of the special price, but I might stop in for a day at Barefoot. That's all for now, Roatan here we come.

You might want to look around... Roatan... and even a bit further afield. You might likely be quite surprised.

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Barefoot Cay sets a new high standard for all other .

What you think Roatanman---obvious he has never been to Parrot Tree?

 

[Doc]

What you think Roatanman---obvious he has never been to Parrot Tree?

There are so many places located on this odd little island of Roatan.

It's what, 17 miles or so long, and about 5 miles wide, maybe more?

You can be on the island for a week, or a month, and not even know what is hidden right next door.

You can dive your brains out for multiple trips on the North and West, then with one day trip to the South side to visit Mary's Place or Cara a Cara (for the Shark Dive)... (You now believe, anyway) to have a real good handle on diving over there, too.

Many people come back from a week long trip, early in their dive career, raving about how this or that dive op was just the bestest ever.

My wife knocked out her first 85 dives at her favorite place, an operation on Roatan that I use a basis yardstick for comparison against all others... then we went off to Tobago and dove with a well regarded operation there. After day #2, she looked up and said, "This place isn't quite right, is it?". Little things were missing, but she knew what she had seen in her dive travel experience, albeit very narrowly based previously.

As we travel, we should try to take the time to look at other dive-ops in the locale, see what else might be available, while always broadening our base of experience.

Roatan is like an elephant...

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL...

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

 

[CajunDiva]

Yeah, but even Barefoot Cay (where you will pay three times what you pay at Fantasy Island) dives the south shore of Roatan. No matter what resort you choose to dive with, the destination is simply AMAZING!!! Hope you manage to have a phenomenal week of diving with the poor folks

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, but even Barefoot Cay (where you will pay three times what you pay at Fantasy Island) dives the south shore of Roatan. No matter what resort you choose to dive with, the destination is simply AMAZING!!! Hope you manage to have a phenomenal week of diving with the poor folks

3 times as much?! Do they give Green Stamps...??

 

[Doc]

3 times as much?! Do they give Green Stamps...??

What's your elephant feel like?

But who knows? The market will likely settle all differences. There is a niche market for lah-de-dah resorts, but as of yet, no one has been able to create (much less sustain) a boutique property on Roatan. This BFC has a bit of an uphill struggle, because the adjacent shipping zone of French Harbour can be a rather ugly wake up call- luckily prevailing breezes carry most all of the noise away.

Once FI brings their rates up to a profit making level form this recent sales give-away, their numbers likely won't be all that much different than anyone else's, likely in the similar $1150++ range, but including diving. FI is going to have trouble ever again charging for nitrox, which has long been a profit center for many other dive resorts. Time will tell, but comparing anything against the $600 promo rate for FI that we all enjoyed... well~ those days are gone. FI is now going to have to step up the plate and deliver on those promises of big improvements so that they can justify market comparable rates that will generate a profit.

The next criteria is the same for everyone... BFK, FI and whoever is making a splash: a consistent reliable product is absolutely paramount.

Here is Barefoot Cay 2010 Rates for Barefoot Cay Resort lodging, meals, and diving It is a little hard to understand, but I don't see that those rates include any diving, and the links provided to the rates for diving in the FAQ are deader than Nixon.

Insider Joke Section: The image on that page of the uber-hottie in the white bikini... I think she might have had some doofus guy with her and they were snorkeling with neon tubes... That was shot in the "Front Yard" of CoCoView. It's marketing, whatever.

DandyDon is right, there had better be at least free foot massages... but there is always room for a boutique niche offering. Time will tell.

 

[RTBDiver]

On Roatan the shop at Barefoot Cay sets a new high standard for all other shops to be compared to. .

Heck, I know of at least a half a dozen or so shops that are considered Roatan's top THREE by some standard or another

 

[BettyfromToronto]

Thanks guys again for sharing top notch advice.

DD: Our computers were bought last Christmas and used once for 9 dives each in Cuba this past September. I guess we should get spare batteries just in case.

I like the idea of not writing in the log books but I get the signature bit. But most of the time (except for his OW & AOW course) we are each others buddies. I guess if a dive shop wanted to see my log...I could a) show him the computer with the last 50 dives....or show him on the netbook that has them all (well all for hubby since he just started counting with his OW). Mine started counting at 120 or something.

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks guys again for sharing top notch advice.

DD: Our computers were bought last Christmas and used once for 9 dives each in Cuba this past September. I guess we should get spare batteries just in case.

It's good to carry spare batteries for everything, and your door key & some silicone grease. I got one of the DMs to change the battery in one of my computers at FI after the one I changed flooded. :silly: Oceanic has a nice, discount replacement program but still! And I forgot to take a spare 9v for my Nitrox analyzer. The more toys I get, the more I mess up.

 

[CajunDiva]

I guess if a dive shop wanted to see my log...I could a) show him the computer with the last 50 dives....or show him on the netbook that has them all (well all for hubby since he just started counting with his OW). Mine started counting at 120 or something.

Betty - you should be able to go back in and enter them manually if you'd like. I wanted to have them ALL in one place on my computer, so I entered the dives I completed before I had my computer manually. The only difference is that the graphs don't display for those entered manually, but at least all the information is still there. I still keep a manual dive log in case anything happens to the one on the computer. I just get my divemaster to use his stamp on all of my dives...hubby/buddy and I never bother signing each other's log books any more - nobody really looks at them, but they will ask you when your last dive was and how many total dives you have