FIBR AI & Dive package - February: $699 pp/do

[DandyDon]

Anyone finding any chepaer deals for there, then...?

It's been tooooo long since I've been back, but finding a suitable roommate & dive buddy who will put up with my somewhat controlled snoring and all is challenging - but single occupancy is going to bump this up significantly, along with 16% taxes, tips, extras, so I am trying to find the best buy. Aren't we all usually tho...?

CARIBBEAN DIVE VACATIONS has the best price I have found so far: Their standard AI, 6 days of 3 boat dives, transfers for $699. I will see what they can do for me in a private room. Roatan, Honduras Edit: I finally learned that this is last February pricing. It says February 2009 but I just was not watching for out of date info. :silly:

Most travel sites offer the hotel only @ $108 a night, with Expedia also offering room & AI @ $146. I doubt that diving could be added for the $188 difference.

Scubaone (whoever that is?) seems to have the same package for $799: Fantasy Island Beach Resort Roatan Specials Edit: This too is February 2009 pricing.

Fantasy Island Vacations lists the package @ $915 or $1265 private room, less 15% advance booking discount = $777 or $1075 private. They're close enough in price that I may talk with them. Fantasy Island Dive Resort - Roatan Bay Islands Honduras - 2010 Rates At least this is current, I think.

I thot I'd ask if anyone has found any better deals for February tho?

 

[adjuster-jd]

We are booking fantasy island for $797 INCLUDING TAX for DO (this is basically $687 plus tax). We may have someone who needs an roommate also.
Our week is Feb 20-27.
PM me for more details.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

You might check with Roatan Charters....they usually have good rates
Roatan Charter presents Honduras and Belize.: adventure and scuba travel in Central America.

 

[adjuster-jd]

Our price for single is $1101 including tax. (basically $949 plus tax). If anyone is interested in joining us, Feb 20-27, we still have some room and would love to have you along.

PM for details.

Ken Teleis,
PADI MSDT #198543

 

[DocYates]

My son and I are going in March, so if any of you are looking for dive buddies, and you have experience in that area, we would love to dive with you. We will be there Mar 13-20.

 

[DandyDon]

Our price for single is $1101 including tax. (basically $949 plus tax). If anyone is interested in joining us, Feb 20-27, we still have some room and would love to have you along.

PM for details.

Ken Teleis,
PADI MSDT #198543

I suggested in PM exchange with Ken that he might want to just post that info on this thread and possibly help others; glad he did. He was courteous to not just PM me initially I think as no one likes spammers and he was courteous to not just post more details here until I suggested. I look forward to the trip if I can work the other details out. His group has a great price on Nitrox too.

I went round and round in email exchanges with a lady from the first site in my now edited post #1 today, quite possibly a one person operation for all I know. She was emailing me from her iPhone which might have been part of the confusion over pricing. I sent her a small screen shot of the pricing listed on her site, but that didn't help; only when I copied and pasted the words did she point out that was a February 2009 price listing. :silly: I just hadn't noticed and was not watching out for out of date listings. The Scubaone listing is out of date as well. The Fantasy Island Vacations site is probly current, but I like Ken's offer.

Hope I don't have to change dates.

My son and I are going in March, so if any of you are looking for dive buddies, and you have experience in that area, we would love to dive with you. We will be there Mar 13-20.

It can be good to discuss future trips with others who have been there, as well as others who may be there then. I take it this is your first time there? I've only been a couple of times, once when I was rather new in Sept 2001 (yeah, that week and it got a little hairy watching chaos back home on live TV, wondering when they would open the skies again so we could get home?), and once with an LDS group while the Spanish owners had it some years back - so my experiences are dated at best. Here are a few thots I'd like to offer tho...

1: I assume you both have at least the mid level DAN dive insurance, or equivalent? You always want to avoid using such, but good to know that you can - and that they have one or two chambers on the island. I visited the one on Utila once; never this one?

2: I didn't used to worry about things that could go wrong far from home but have learned to do so in recent years, maybe too much so - but I like trip insurance too. Never leave the country without it anymore.

3: I don't know your age or your son's experience level but I expect you two will be week long dive buddies? If they still organize the boats like they have in the past, then you two will be on one with the same people all week. If he wants to dive more than you tho, say with the free shore diving - you'll make new friends fast.

4: If they charged as much as Cozumel for Nitrox, I might just do one tank, second dive a day before lunch, but they probly still offer a good all you can use week rate. If so, I like that a lot for the extra safety margins so far from home. Hits are rare, but I have seen some.​

I don't know the current owners or what has changed so I won't go on here. There are probly recent FIBR report threads here, and I'll be looking for them too. I was glad to see the Captain and DM from my first trip there still working there on my second one as I had long felt like I really under tipped them; I gave them a $20 each the first day: "Hi, you may not remember me, but I owe you money." I doubt that they remembered my small tips anyway, but they seem to like the gesture. Advance tipping is not my style, but it fit my need this time.

Hope you have a great trip. ilot:

 

[adjuster-jd]

I think the folks at Fantasy Island Vacations (Fantasy Island Travel Service - FITS) have been ousted by the owners of FIBR. They used to be the main (exclusive?) booking agent for FIBR (everyone else booked through FITS). The new web site for Fantasy Island says that FITS is no longer the agent as of 2010. That's unfortunate because Nick at FITS was always very quick to respond to inquiries. I was said to see that he's apparently out of the picture for next year.

I do think the price goes up by $100 as of February 28. We had thought of going a week later but stayed with the earlier week due to the price increase.

There is a nice recent trip report on FIBR posted by another user which provides very helpful info.

 

[DocYates]

Thanks for the info. My son is 21, he has been certifed for a few years, but is in college, so we don't dive as much as we like. A few years ago we took off down thru the southeast trying to dive as many freshwater springs and things as we could. It was a great time. I recently signed up for the DAN program with the insurance coverage, so it is good that you are recommending it. Our goal is to one day be able to go and dive Truk or some of the beautiful places in the far Pacific (hey, a guy can dream can't he...LOL). In any case the Fantasy Isalnd trip sounded pretty good, and what we were looking for, and though I have read a read bad reviews, most seem to be pretty good, and the shore diving sounds accessible.
I doubt he will want to dive without me, unless he finds some little lady that needs a partner, and I am up for every minute I can spend in the water.
Since we both have a good bit of experience, and took refresher courses during the summer, do you think it would be "OK" to attempt to get the AOW certification during our week at FIBR? WOuld be nice to add another notch to our belt and gain the experience.

 

[DandyDon]

Since we both have a good bit of experience, and took refresher courses during the summer, do you think it would be "OK" to attempt to get the AOW certification during our week at FIBR? WOuld be nice to add another notch to our belt and gain the experience.

Well, the AOW course is not known for teaching all that much, but it does help - something you should do sometime, so yeah might as well. I guess you'll study the book in advance that they will send an Inst along on 5 of your dives, but you can discuss actual points to learn about with him. If you wish to get the Nitrox card, that can now be done in a 3 hour class at a local dive shop in many US cities for as little as $100 inclusive. Even tho the dives are multi level and your computers should stay happy enough on air for 3/day, that kind of diving is close enough to the areas where Nitrox really rewards. I see from you profile that you survived a Blackbirds once so you should find this week much more comfortable and safer than that, but do also work at hydration during the week.

 

[robint]

Thanks for the info. My son is 21, he has been certifed for a few years, but is in college, so we don't dive as much as we like. A few years ago we took off down thru the southeast trying to dive as many freshwater springs and things as we could. It was a great time. I recently signed up for the DAN program with the insurance coverage, so it is good that you are recommending it. Our goal is to one day be able to go and dive Truk or some of the beautiful places in the far Pacific (hey, a guy can dream can't he...LOL). In any case the Fantasy Isalnd trip sounded pretty good, and what we were looking for, and though I have read a read bad reviews, most seem to be pretty good, and the shore diving sounds accessible.
I doubt he will want to dive without me, unless he finds some little lady that needs a partner, and I am up for every minute I can spend in the water.
Since we both have a good bit of experience, and took refresher courses during the summer, do you think it would be "OK" to attempt to get the AOW certification during our week at FIBR? WOuld be nice to add another notch to our belt and gain the experience.

absolutely! Places like this are a great way to get in some training time with an instructor and boost your self-confidence as a diver! The AOW course can easily be done without missing any of your scheduled boat dives, too. Deep and Navigation are the 2 required dives, then you do 3 more dives that you and your instructor agree on - like Night, Boat, Fish ID, etc. I highly recommend the Night dive, especially if you haven't done one before. The course doesn't make you an "advanced" diver, it just makes you more comfortable in different situations and it is also the required stepping stone to Rescue, which I feel EVERY diver should take.