Fantasy Island - Odyssey Wreck

[Kimo Bonaire]

First trip to Roatan - staying at Fantasy Island in June. Couple of questions:

What rooms are best to request? Near enough to dive shop, refurbished, beach front with balcony.

In addition to the FI regular sites, would like to dive Calvin's Crack, Spooky Channel and the Odyssey wreck. Is this easily accomodated? Haven't seen any comments about the Odyssey here.

 

[DeputyDan]

I have never stayed at FI but I don't think they dive spooky channel or The Odyssey.

They do dive the crack as well as Mary's Place.

 

[herbdb]

Plan on spending some night time on the Prince Albert wreck. Dive it during the day to get your bearings on the layout and the ropes to the Gazebo. Then it is a great night dive that you can do every day you are there. I got five night dives in during my stay and 23 dives total. Really loved it.
I can't advise you a lot of advise on the best rooms, the have been doing a lot of renovation. A lot of people like the second floor near the resturant, but the resort is fairly compact anyway.

The dive shop is on the far end of the complex but, you only have to do the equipment bag drag once. Maybe 50-75 yards from the bus drop off. I left everything there except my computer. The only thing that seems to walk off is wetsuit hangers. I think the other divers assume empty one are there for the taking. When you are not using them, stick them in a bag.

A great way to get an extra dive in is to take a second tank on the boat and have them drop you on the Prince Albert or Newmans Wall on the way back to the dock.

I highly recommend the full week Nitrox option. You can get certified there if you don't yet have your card.

 

[georoc01]

Odyssey and spooky channel are on the other side of the island, so you would really need to go out with a Sandy Bay or West End dive op to do those dives.

Both are fun dives, but if I was staying at FI I wouldn't go out of my way to do them.

 

[LynnB]

Were at FI last June.. there are plenty of sites around there that they dive.
Spooky Channel is off of AKR on that side of island.
Have fun....

 

[diversteve]

Coconut Tree Divers lists both Spooky and Odyssey. My friends dove Spooky with them one morning.
http://www.coconuttreedivers.com/locations

 

[Kimo Bonaire]

Thanks for all the info. Great link for Coconut Tree sites.

Looks like we might have to make a second trip to Roatan and stay on the other side to hit all the great sites over there. Hard to give up a day of paid diving to travel to the other side and pay again...

We were planning to do the shark dive - is this worth it?
What do you have to give up to do this dive? A full dive day of FI boat dives?
Is it just a one tank dive or is there a second reef dive with it?
What site is it at?
I see that FI charges $110 pp and Coconut Tree and Coco View both charge $85 all using same dive op. What's with that?

 

[BettyfromToronto]

I was at FI in February and as everyone has said FI is doing major renovations to their rooms. We stayed on the 2nd floor to the left of the main building (Room 216) (dining room, lobby, bar, etc.) and liked it for two reasons. One the 2nd floor had a nicer view of the beach and was close to dining room. The right side is closer to the dive shop but I think alot of rooms overlook the pool area so not as nice IMHO. Secondly I think it was more secure plus no one is stomping around on top of you.

As herdb said you only drag your stuff down once to the dive centre. We left everything there too except our dive computers and yes the hangers disappear so if you're wearing your wetsuit and your bunk looks empty; put your hanger under something or in a bag or it will surely disappear.

Darren runs a great dive shop and you'll love the diving. 2 boat dives in the morning and then a 3rd boat dive in the afternoon. All to different reefs. Then you can dive a 4th dive off the boat on the trip back in.

Hubby & I both got our Nitrox certification when there and I'll admit I was expecting the computerized course that is offered here in Toronto but it was the old one with all the tables and formulas. Yuck! Also make sure you have time to do this with your instructor. We booked it before knowing he was leaving early on Friday and his day off is Saturday so we had to cram it in and lost 4 dives because of it. (Wed afternoon dive, Wed night boat dive + 2 Thurs AM dives.) Wrote our exam in the morning and was back on the boat for the 2:30pm dive with Nitrox. Glad we did it but probably wouldn't do a course while on vacation again.

 

[diversteve]

The dive is off the airport. The site is called Cara a Cara. My buddies did it on a calm day so were able to float among the sharks - otherwise you just kneel in a protected area. They all said it was worth it. It's one dive 3x day. I've read it's about the only sharks you'll see on Roatan. More info: Roatan Shark Dive

 

[georoc01]

We did the shark dive from AKR a few years ago and it was in that $85 price. What's nice about AKR is that you take one of their big boats to the dive site. In the case of FI, I am guessing there is a travel fee to the dive op and back which probably isn't included in the Coconut Tree price.

We were able to swim with the sharks too. That in itself makes it worthwhile. Then they feed the sharks, followed by a mass scramble to find the shark teeth that the sharks leave behind.