castaways01
Guest
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Roatan - www.castaways-cove.com
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
Returned home yesterday after six days of diving at FI. Purpose of my trip was to become more comfortable in the water with repetitive dives while learning about the sites near FI and CCV, which is about 3 nautical miles west of home (Caribe Pointe Bight). I did 15 dives and GOAL ACCOMPLISHED. Only complaint is that I felt the boat was overly crowded, creating safety issues.
Had a great time. No dishes, No work just dive - sleep - eat!
Scubaboard members Bulrich, her spouse and teen daughter along with ucrtwf and wife Divertut were also at FI this week.
I discussed my one big complaint with Carlos Marin, the General Manager. Most of the time, our boat (Little Dan with DM Miquel and Capt. Steven) had 15-18 including one newly certified (only his 3rd dive) with buoyancy issues. This was too many in the water for ONE dive master to keep track of. And for the most part, he didnt. The first dive the boat left the mooring to pick up divers who traveled too far and didn't turnabout, leaving several of us dangling in the right location in choppy seas for 15 minutes. Other times there was bumping and you had to work hard to avoid getting kicked when something cool was spotted.
I didnt do the night dive, but several said it was a total disaster. There were 15 divers in rough seas getting in each others way on a poorly led adventure. One seasoned couple said it was the worst and most unsafe night dive they had ever done and this sentiment was echoed by others.
Also, the divemaster was going to skip the Calvins Crack site until a mutiny - one of the group told Manager Robert we all wanted to go. As mentioned by other posters, all dives were one tank and we returned to the dock after each, even Calvins, which was the furthest away. There were fresh tanks onboard already but the boat still returned to port.
Our boat and another of the boats broke down during the week. The day our battery went dead we were in rough seas for about 45 minutes. Fish got some chum that trip. But, hey, SHI_ happens! The Gen Mgr said the boats were crowded because one of the regular boats was not working. However, in the past they have leased an extra boat for the week and this could have been done. I dont think there is any valid excuse for having more than 12 divers to a divemaster.
There was ALWAYS fresh fruit (pineapple, apples, watermelon) on the boat, towels and drinking water in a 5 gal bottle with pumper top. Hot showers at the dock are a real plus and I never worried about leaving gear in the open lockers. I wasnt bothered by the no-seeums or sand fleas (maybe immune), but I noticed a few people were bitten up.
Id have to dig deep to find anything to complain about as far as accommodations and food goes. I stayed in the first room (220) of newest wing and it was clean and comfortable. Air Con blew cold and always had hot water. Towels and water (in the small fridge) were replenished daily. Had some large tie wraps in my dive bag so I was able to fix the shower sprayer so it stayed put. Also purchased batteries for the TV remote as they couldnt find any - - but those are non-issues.
Food was excellent all week and there was plenty of it. Dishes were tasty, seasoned with various spices with lots of variety. Plenty of fresh veggies (both raw and cooked) and desserts. Usually 2-3 flavors of ice cream at lunch and dinner. Service was awesome. The entire staff did an excellent job and went out of their way to please guests. The chef had promised turkey for Thanksgiving and he came through. Although dressing, mashed down taters, etc. was missing, the turkey was a nice touch. I had 4 island guests join us for dinner Thursday and they had no complaints. Two women who were guests in March returned this week and they said the food was much improved. The bar also had great service.
There were visitors (maybe the owners?) from Spain, so maybe we had better grub than usual. Whatever it was great and I dont see how anyone could complain about it.
Most of the dive sites were very good and the reef in robust shape. Like mentioned here before, you wont see too many big fish on the southside. There were four large groupers near the top of the wall at the site near French Cay and one of these was the goliath (jewfish). They probably wont be there long though locals keep it fished out. We saw 6 or 7 lionfish during the week and the DM was able to kill two of them and bring them back.
A cold front brought rain Thursday night and now on Saturday its still raining. This hampered visibility on the two Friday morning dives and the boats didnt go out Friday afternoon.
Management at FI reads Scubaboard and TripAdvisor so maybe when they see the complaint about the crowded dive boat, they will consider setting a limit or adding an extra DM when there are more than 12 divers. Kudos to FI for every other aspect! With the specials they run, you get great value for your money.
If anyone has any specifics to ask, please feel free to PM me.
Had a great time. No dishes, No work just dive - sleep - eat!
Scubaboard members Bulrich, her spouse and teen daughter along with ucrtwf and wife Divertut were also at FI this week.
I discussed my one big complaint with Carlos Marin, the General Manager. Most of the time, our boat (Little Dan with DM Miquel and Capt. Steven) had 15-18 including one newly certified (only his 3rd dive) with buoyancy issues. This was too many in the water for ONE dive master to keep track of. And for the most part, he didnt. The first dive the boat left the mooring to pick up divers who traveled too far and didn't turnabout, leaving several of us dangling in the right location in choppy seas for 15 minutes. Other times there was bumping and you had to work hard to avoid getting kicked when something cool was spotted.
I didnt do the night dive, but several said it was a total disaster. There were 15 divers in rough seas getting in each others way on a poorly led adventure. One seasoned couple said it was the worst and most unsafe night dive they had ever done and this sentiment was echoed by others.
Also, the divemaster was going to skip the Calvins Crack site until a mutiny - one of the group told Manager Robert we all wanted to go. As mentioned by other posters, all dives were one tank and we returned to the dock after each, even Calvins, which was the furthest away. There were fresh tanks onboard already but the boat still returned to port.
Our boat and another of the boats broke down during the week. The day our battery went dead we were in rough seas for about 45 minutes. Fish got some chum that trip. But, hey, SHI_ happens! The Gen Mgr said the boats were crowded because one of the regular boats was not working. However, in the past they have leased an extra boat for the week and this could have been done. I dont think there is any valid excuse for having more than 12 divers to a divemaster.
There was ALWAYS fresh fruit (pineapple, apples, watermelon) on the boat, towels and drinking water in a 5 gal bottle with pumper top. Hot showers at the dock are a real plus and I never worried about leaving gear in the open lockers. I wasnt bothered by the no-seeums or sand fleas (maybe immune), but I noticed a few people were bitten up.
Id have to dig deep to find anything to complain about as far as accommodations and food goes. I stayed in the first room (220) of newest wing and it was clean and comfortable. Air Con blew cold and always had hot water. Towels and water (in the small fridge) were replenished daily. Had some large tie wraps in my dive bag so I was able to fix the shower sprayer so it stayed put. Also purchased batteries for the TV remote as they couldnt find any - - but those are non-issues.
Food was excellent all week and there was plenty of it. Dishes were tasty, seasoned with various spices with lots of variety. Plenty of fresh veggies (both raw and cooked) and desserts. Usually 2-3 flavors of ice cream at lunch and dinner. Service was awesome. The entire staff did an excellent job and went out of their way to please guests. The chef had promised turkey for Thanksgiving and he came through. Although dressing, mashed down taters, etc. was missing, the turkey was a nice touch. I had 4 island guests join us for dinner Thursday and they had no complaints. Two women who were guests in March returned this week and they said the food was much improved. The bar also had great service.
There were visitors (maybe the owners?) from Spain, so maybe we had better grub than usual. Whatever it was great and I dont see how anyone could complain about it.
Most of the dive sites were very good and the reef in robust shape. Like mentioned here before, you wont see too many big fish on the southside. There were four large groupers near the top of the wall at the site near French Cay and one of these was the goliath (jewfish). They probably wont be there long though locals keep it fished out. We saw 6 or 7 lionfish during the week and the DM was able to kill two of them and bring them back.
A cold front brought rain Thursday night and now on Saturday its still raining. This hampered visibility on the two Friday morning dives and the boats didnt go out Friday afternoon.
Management at FI reads Scubaboard and TripAdvisor so maybe when they see the complaint about the crowded dive boat, they will consider setting a limit or adding an extra DM when there are more than 12 divers. Kudos to FI for every other aspect! With the specials they run, you get great value for your money.
If anyone has any specifics to ask, please feel free to PM me.
