Random Acts
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We were at Fantasy Island Resort Jan 5-13, 2008. Here are a few of our impressions:
The resort: it is a pleasant place. Being on its own island, there is a sense of detachment from the world. The island has a troupe of capuchin monkeys, agoutis everywhere, iguanas in the trees, a couple pairs of peacocks and a small zoo with birds and a couple exotic animals. Rooms are clean, well maintained (for the third world), light and airy. Ours, on the first floor, had a pleasant balcony that overlooked one of the two beaches on the island. Buildings on the resort all had a slight air of lack of maintenance, however. Not disrepair, just needing a bit of paint here and there. The common room was pleasant with lots of nice chairs and tables for conversation. There are two computer terminals with internet service, but its slow and, during the week we were there, they were monopolized by some young folks obsessed with Facebook and MySpace. There's also wifi for those with their own computers, but the service is slow and sporadic.
Others have said the food is lacking. However, we found the food, served buffet style for every meal, was excellent. There was always a fresh fish entree, something being prepared on a griddle, plenty of fresh vegetables, interesting salads and fruit. Desserts were disappointing - not being chocolaty or sweet enough for American tastes, but reflective of Central American cuisine. Seafood night on Weds was wonderful.
The island has two beaches that have been constructed with plenty of white sand. There are lots of beach chairs, couches and hammocks among the trees so that one can achieve those 'Corona' moments. On the south side of the island there's a pleasant little grove of pines and a gazebo on a little jetty from which shore dives can be done. The dive shop will transport divers, their gear and tanks to the gazebo by boat, and bring them back if one gives them a time to return. If you do a night dive, you can just leave the tanks there for morning pickup.
The dive operation seemed to be pretty good. There's a dive operation office that issues rental gear and weights. Basic gear to replace lost or broken stuff can be had from a very modest dive sales shop, but don't expect to pick up neat, new gear from it. We didn't use any rental gear, so can't comment on it. they have a neat system for storage of one's gear, though. Each diver can pick out a 'locker'; i.e. a simple cubby in a building for storing gear overnight. they lock up the building at 1900 so it's secure. We left our stuff there all week with no problem.
The resort owns 5 boats that can carry up to about 30 divers each. While we were there (the slow season) they were never full. divers are assigned a boat with the same pilot and divemaster for the week. Our pilot was skilled and personable and the divemaster generally competent and a good tour leader. The boats tend to need some maintenance, though. They need a new paint job and two boats we used broke down during the week. There are three boat trips scheduled every day for each boat at 0900, 1100 and 1430. Each trip is one tank at a site on the south side of Roatan. The boats return to the dock to change tanks. Divers can ride any or all of the trips. Divers can also schedule shore dives from the gazebo on the south side of Fantasy Island. The dive shop will haul divers, their gear and tanks over there by skiff and return them if they give the boat pilot a time to return.
Dives, of course, were spectacular, as expected. The shore dives were good too. There's a wrecked plane and small freighter sunk not far off shore. The best sites were Mary's Place, Valley of the King and Gold Chain. The Mr. Bud wreck was fun, too, with lots of holes and doors to make for relatively safe penetration. The variety of life was very satisfying, although we didn't see any 'celebrity' creatures like dolphins, eagle rays or whale sharks.
A high point of the visit was on Weds. Fantasy Island, in cooperation with Captain Morgan resort has started operating a tour on Wednesdays to the World Heritage Mayan site Copan. It's an adventure: A chartered two-engine 19 seat plane flies into a grass airstrip in the middle of nowhere just across the Guatemala border a few miles from Copan. A local tour company runs small vans on a 4WD road back into Honduras (the border is a common barbed wire stock fence and some white markers. the border guards are a few skinny horses.). The tour includes a visit to the spectacular ruins, the sculpture museum on site, then lunch in the nearby town in a nice restaurant serving local foods. There's some time for shopping or touring the excellent little archaeological museum in town or just seeing the quaint, attactive town of Copan Ruinas. The tour leaves from Roatan about 0900 and returns about 1730. Since the pilots go into town with everyone else and wait, scheduling the return is not hard and fast.
We did a couple side trips while there, both scheduled through the resort. A shopping tour to Coxen Hole and the West End. The bus driver/guide will take you to places in Coxen Hole that give him a kickback. they are mediocre souvenir shops. One, however, is right across from the only supermarket on Roatan where one can buy some first world type grocery goods. they take dollars there, but give back lempiras in change. The best souvenir shop is right around the corner from the supermarket, but the tour guide won't take you there because the owner, an American, won't pay kickbacks. It's called 'Yaba Ding Ding'. It has the highest quality goods and decent prices.
We thought the West End was kind of a bust. it's all bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. If you're a partier, though, it's just up your alley. The restaurants seemed good, but high priced; same goes for the bars.
We also did the Pirates of the Caribbean zip line tour. We chose 'extreme' and it was great. Long runs over the jungle canopy. Only the last two were on platforms. Their young guides were competent, the set-up of the lines was very safe and secure. They use top-quality new harnesses and gear.
The stay at Fantasy Island was generally very pleasant and satisfying. The only negative comment we have is maintenance. it seemed that everything from roof shingles to paint to the ceiling and beautiful marble tile in our bathroom needed a little upkeep.
The resort: it is a pleasant place. Being on its own island, there is a sense of detachment from the world. The island has a troupe of capuchin monkeys, agoutis everywhere, iguanas in the trees, a couple pairs of peacocks and a small zoo with birds and a couple exotic animals. Rooms are clean, well maintained (for the third world), light and airy. Ours, on the first floor, had a pleasant balcony that overlooked one of the two beaches on the island. Buildings on the resort all had a slight air of lack of maintenance, however. Not disrepair, just needing a bit of paint here and there. The common room was pleasant with lots of nice chairs and tables for conversation. There are two computer terminals with internet service, but its slow and, during the week we were there, they were monopolized by some young folks obsessed with Facebook and MySpace. There's also wifi for those with their own computers, but the service is slow and sporadic.
Others have said the food is lacking. However, we found the food, served buffet style for every meal, was excellent. There was always a fresh fish entree, something being prepared on a griddle, plenty of fresh vegetables, interesting salads and fruit. Desserts were disappointing - not being chocolaty or sweet enough for American tastes, but reflective of Central American cuisine. Seafood night on Weds was wonderful.
The island has two beaches that have been constructed with plenty of white sand. There are lots of beach chairs, couches and hammocks among the trees so that one can achieve those 'Corona' moments. On the south side of the island there's a pleasant little grove of pines and a gazebo on a little jetty from which shore dives can be done. The dive shop will transport divers, their gear and tanks to the gazebo by boat, and bring them back if one gives them a time to return. If you do a night dive, you can just leave the tanks there for morning pickup.
The dive operation seemed to be pretty good. There's a dive operation office that issues rental gear and weights. Basic gear to replace lost or broken stuff can be had from a very modest dive sales shop, but don't expect to pick up neat, new gear from it. We didn't use any rental gear, so can't comment on it. they have a neat system for storage of one's gear, though. Each diver can pick out a 'locker'; i.e. a simple cubby in a building for storing gear overnight. they lock up the building at 1900 so it's secure. We left our stuff there all week with no problem.
The resort owns 5 boats that can carry up to about 30 divers each. While we were there (the slow season) they were never full. divers are assigned a boat with the same pilot and divemaster for the week. Our pilot was skilled and personable and the divemaster generally competent and a good tour leader. The boats tend to need some maintenance, though. They need a new paint job and two boats we used broke down during the week. There are three boat trips scheduled every day for each boat at 0900, 1100 and 1430. Each trip is one tank at a site on the south side of Roatan. The boats return to the dock to change tanks. Divers can ride any or all of the trips. Divers can also schedule shore dives from the gazebo on the south side of Fantasy Island. The dive shop will haul divers, their gear and tanks over there by skiff and return them if they give the boat pilot a time to return.
Dives, of course, were spectacular, as expected. The shore dives were good too. There's a wrecked plane and small freighter sunk not far off shore. The best sites were Mary's Place, Valley of the King and Gold Chain. The Mr. Bud wreck was fun, too, with lots of holes and doors to make for relatively safe penetration. The variety of life was very satisfying, although we didn't see any 'celebrity' creatures like dolphins, eagle rays or whale sharks.
A high point of the visit was on Weds. Fantasy Island, in cooperation with Captain Morgan resort has started operating a tour on Wednesdays to the World Heritage Mayan site Copan. It's an adventure: A chartered two-engine 19 seat plane flies into a grass airstrip in the middle of nowhere just across the Guatemala border a few miles from Copan. A local tour company runs small vans on a 4WD road back into Honduras (the border is a common barbed wire stock fence and some white markers. the border guards are a few skinny horses.). The tour includes a visit to the spectacular ruins, the sculpture museum on site, then lunch in the nearby town in a nice restaurant serving local foods. There's some time for shopping or touring the excellent little archaeological museum in town or just seeing the quaint, attactive town of Copan Ruinas. The tour leaves from Roatan about 0900 and returns about 1730. Since the pilots go into town with everyone else and wait, scheduling the return is not hard and fast.
We did a couple side trips while there, both scheduled through the resort. A shopping tour to Coxen Hole and the West End. The bus driver/guide will take you to places in Coxen Hole that give him a kickback. they are mediocre souvenir shops. One, however, is right across from the only supermarket on Roatan where one can buy some first world type grocery goods. they take dollars there, but give back lempiras in change. The best souvenir shop is right around the corner from the supermarket, but the tour guide won't take you there because the owner, an American, won't pay kickbacks. It's called 'Yaba Ding Ding'. It has the highest quality goods and decent prices.
We thought the West End was kind of a bust. it's all bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. If you're a partier, though, it's just up your alley. The restaurants seemed good, but high priced; same goes for the bars.
We also did the Pirates of the Caribbean zip line tour. We chose 'extreme' and it was great. Long runs over the jungle canopy. Only the last two were on platforms. Their young guides were competent, the set-up of the lines was very safe and secure. They use top-quality new harnesses and gear.
The stay at Fantasy Island was generally very pleasant and satisfying. The only negative comment we have is maintenance. it seemed that everything from roof shingles to paint to the ceiling and beautiful marble tile in our bathroom needed a little upkeep.
We just paid our last $$ for our trip to Fantasy Island Resort. I feel SOOOOOOOOOOO much better now. It was also great hearing how surface interval time was spent as well as where to go and not to go. I've heard the good, the bad and the ugly about Roatan; between your report and a few from others (and pics) I am feeling great about it. I've been innoculated for just about everything and IM READY!!!!
