Fantasy Island resort

[adjuster-jd]

I've just booked a trip for me and some friends to FIBR but looking at some recent reviews on tripadvisor.com I'm starting to get a little concerned. Seems that they have some maintenance issues as well as other complaints - lack of hot water, etc.
Anyone have recent experience at this resort to comment on quality of the resort and diving there?

Thanks.

 

[CODMAN]

ADj,
I went in october 2006, and for the money, it's the best deal I've found! OK, it wasn't the absolute best. But when you consider value, it rates very high! Our room was fine and hot water was not a problem (try to get a room in the new section, near the dining hall). Everything was clean, the diving was great (crew was good). Only 2 things I was dissapointed with:
1- The food. I love good food and cook a lot. The food there, for me, was edible at best. I would give it 3 out of 10. This said, many found the food fine!! I am very picky about food, being a gastronomy lover. So it wasn't up to my standards (which are very high). If you aren't too picky about your food (it was plentifull), you'll be fine on this aspect.

2-Nitrox: If you plan to dive Nitrox, you absolutely need to check every single tank you take, despite what the dive shop tells you. It varied a lot over the week (from 26% up to 38%), when it was supposed to be only 32%. This is OK if you know in advance and personally analyse every tank yourself and set your limits accordingly.

Appart from that, I'd return to FI in a heartbeat! All your diving will be on the south side. This means MACRO animals! Forget the big fishes. Look for the tiny stuff and you'll be amazed! Go slow and observe. It's great diving!

Hope this helps!

 

[BTravlin]

I've been to FIBR twice in recent years and also think it is a great value. Diving was excellent. Rooms in the newer section are large and clean. Food is good but not great. Some menu items weren't the best but there is a nice variety so you can always find something. Yes, hot water can be a problem at times and this is usually in the afternoon when all the dive boats come in from the last dive of the day. Everybody heads to their rooms to clean up for dinner and the hot water goes fast. They do have hot water showers at the dock and they never seem to run out. Go and have a great time!

 

[Peter_C]

We had a great time there. I am not a foodie so to me the food was fine. Diving was decent. There was a water problem when we were there but it never affected us.

We dove off of Lil' Kashi and found the captain to be the best in the fleet along with the DM. The skiff will drop you right on top of the Prince Albert.

Nitrox is the safest air to breathe there, or anywhere for that matter. They had a compressor problem, but compensated us for the dives we missed. We got to do the canopy tour for free, and they covered our bar tab. Fine by us.

As far as other resorts on Roatan, I can not comment, but I heard they all have power issues as does the entire island.

 

[BTravlin]

Fantasy Island has it's own generator so we never had any power problems there.

 

[adjuster-jd]

Is the water at fantasy island drinkable, or do you need to drink bottled?

 

[driftwood]

ADj,
I went in october 2006, and for the money, it's the best deal I've found! OK, it wasn't the absolute best. But when you consider value, it rates very high! Our room was fine and hot water was not a problem (try to get a room in the new section, near the dining hall). Everything was clean, the diving was great (crew was good). Only 2 things I was dissapointed with:
1- The food. I love good food and cook a lot. The food there, for me, was edible at best. I would give it 3 out of 10. This said, many found the food fine!! I am very picky about food, being a gastronomy lover. So it wasn't up to my standards (which are very high). If you aren't too picky about your food (it was plentifull), you'll be fine on this aspect.

2-Nitrox: If you plan to dive Nitrox, you absolutely need to check every single tank you take, despite what the dive shop tells you. It varied a lot over the week (from 26% up to 38%), when it was supposed to be only 32%. This is OK if you know in advance and personally analyse every tank yourself and set your limits accordingly.

Appart from that, I'd return to FI in a heartbeat! All your diving will be on the south side. This means MACRO animals! Forget the big fishes. Look for the tiny stuff and you'll be amazed! Go slow and observe. It's great diving!

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info, Roatan is high on my list for our next dive trip. My LDS just changed from Bay Island Beach resort to Fantasy Island for their Roatan trips due to problems at BIBR.

Just two quick questions. First, how many of the units are in the new section? Second, how much extra do they charge for Nitrox?

 

[Peter_C]

Is the water at fantasy island drinkable, or do you need to drink bottled?

They give you a pitcher with purified water in the rooms. Do not drink from the faucet.

 

[JDog]

I would stick to bottled water, just because the locals can drink it with no problem doesn't mean I can.
I enjoyed my stay at Fantasy Island, we even saw a whaleshark one day (my first and only).
You should have fun. I was thinking about doing the zipline thing but decided to just do the ultralite floatplane flight instead, and kick back the rest of the day.
Even the whole airport thing was pretty easy and straight forward.

 

[BTravlin]

I don't know how many rooms there are in the newer section but there are many. On both trips I requested the newer section prior to arrival and was put there both times.