Going to Fantasy Island - Roatan Dec 28 to Jan 4

[sft109]

Hello all,

First of all happy holidays!

Booked a last minute vacation and am eager to dive again! Have some questions about the resort and operations there. I'm flying out of Toronto Canada with my girlfriend and booked a package through Sunwing via Expedia.ca arriving on Monday Dec 28th. Firstly, the Expedia package was a good deal although it is only the beach package (cost us CAD$610 each for the week for the beach package as opposed to US$850 on their site) and not the dive package. I have emailed the resort about purchasing the diving as a seperate package from them which includes 3 tank dives a day, 1 night dive and unlimited shore diving. What would be a good price for this based on opinions here?

Can I use Canadian currency there or is it US dollar and Honduran Lempira only? I assume a credit card is accepted fine at the hotel and for diving operations.

Also, although I do have a wetsuit, masks, fins and all that I don't have a BCD or regulator so I will need to use their equipment. Is it generally in OK shape (functioning properly) or is the equipment falling apart? I'm not bothered about the latest and greatest - I'm a simple guy so long as everything works.

Last thing is I haven't been on a dive in over 2 years, have around 25 total dives (including 2 night dives) and am advanced open water certified, in good shape and 25 years old. I also leisurely free-dive and am extremely comfortable in water with or without the scuba-gear but I am wondering will they make me take a refresher course or will they simply just do a check out dive and if I look OK let me dive?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Doc]

You're leaving in three days! Wow, that will be a nice warm relief for you!

The website shows that the difference between "dive package" and the "beach package" is and add-on of $180 (USD) Dive and Beach Packages 2009 | Fantasy Island Dive Resort

It would be advisable to nail this down in advance if you can, as they have been known to be a bit difficult to deal with in regards to customizing lengths of stay or "additional items" after the initial purchase of any discounted fare.

A quick here in this SB Forum can be your best friend. You will see several very recent reports (within the last 14 days) that answer many of your questions, including a fairly critical appraisal of their rental gear, the initial dive check-out procedure, currency, credit cards and more.

 

[BEM]

US dollars are accepted - not Cdn.

Only 25 dives and over 2 years ago (and renting unfamiliar equipment) - see if you can get a dive master to take you on some shore dives first. You'll get an instant buddy on the boat and are you confident enough to provide emergency assistance if necessary? Have you got open ocean experience and remember the dive master is there for a guide not to look after you.

Snorkelling is a lot of fun there and maybe throw in a couple of easy shore dives - don't dive beyond your skill level, experience and new environment.

Have fun and stay safe!

 

[CODMAN]

Rent your gear here and bring it with you... I wouldn't dive with the gear I saw if you paid me to...

I don't think they'll force a refresher on you. But they'll surely do a check out dive (the first one). If you're confident on your diving abilities, no sweat... It will come back in no time. If not, a refresher, even ig not forced to do it, would be a good idea; you'll be more confident after that and enjoy your diving even more... (or do a refresher in a pool here before you leave (if you can).

Just my 0.02$

 

[sft109]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to call the resort and ask to add on the dive package. The 2010 rates indeed show a difference of $180 between the dive and beach package. The 2009 rates show a difference of only $100 only. I talked to reservations yesterday and pointed out the $100 difference (hadn't checked out the 2010 rates) and said I would pay the difference but he didn't seem certain that was the cost of diving. I will call again today and see how it pans out.

My girlfriend is also advanced open water certified and has the same number of dives so she will be my buddy. All our diving has been open water (max of 105ft) and we have previously done Florida (west palm & keys), Turks & Caicos, St John - USVI and a couple dives in Mexico. Looking forward to Roatan, I hope it will rival Turks & Caicos which was our favorite! Glad I won't need a refresher, a check out dive should be fine for the both of us.

As for gear rental, I will most certainly like to do it and try some stores tomorrow but then I'll have to rent for 9 days (Sat-Mon) and wer are kind of on a budget (trip wasnt exactly planned out - we booked it 2 days ago and are leaving in 3 days!) and I think it will come out nearly twice as much to rent gear here that way. So long as things don't stop working underwater (is that a realistic possibility?) I won't mind the condition. I will look into this and talk to some local stores here tomorrow to see if I can get a decent deal where it would only cost me a little more to rent here and take it.

I'll also make sure to take some US dollars but obviously all the banks are closed until monday, I'm assuming exchanging Canadian $ to Lempira can be done no problem at the airport on Roatan? I'll also call and ask if they can exchange at the hotel if needed too.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Doc]

Looking forward to Roatan, I hope it will rival Turks & Caicos which was our favorite!

Please on SB for the unique specific macro creatures that you are going to get a great chance to see. FIBR is located smack dab in the middle of this very unusual environment, a small zone of the South side of Roatan that is unique in the Caribbean. Combine the locally very shallow vertical walls with their direct exposure to a Southern sky and Sun track... that's the magic of this area.

If you dive it as one would T&C, you'll miss what is there. TC diving is very similar to other zones on Roatan, not the South side. Stay shallow and go very slowly. Stick with your DM. If he isn't showing you a SeaHorse on every South side dive, or at least a Pipefish every two dives, get another DM. Look for the coin sized Crabs, look for the juveniles. Did I mention to go slowly and stay shallow?

Here's what you'll be seeing: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=3139 ... if you take your time! (FIBR Boats are prominently featured)

Here's the "shore dive"....

I'm assuming exchanging Canadian $ to Lempira can be done no problem at the airport on Roatan?

Nope.
Welcome to Honduras.
Assume nothing.
the Island works well off of US Dollars, Lempiras are not required for most transactions. Bring small bills.
FIBR hosts a lot of Canadian travelers, maybe others here have personal experience in that regard?

So long as things don't stop working underwater (is that a realistic possibility?) I won't mind the condition.

It's just that when things stop working when you're above water, you tend to not notice as much.

Unrelated SCUBA discussion (but since you asked) follows:

This topic of "faulty rental gear" is a pretty common thread. When a regulator fails, it fails "open", meaning all you have to do is slowly do a controlled ascent. You can debate how to handle the over-pressure in your mouth until the cows come home, but you can simulate this by pressing the purge button. It's not a big deal. A BC can either leak air, which means you have to notice that and compensate, or air might sneak into it by a stuck inflator which you will also have to notice and thus purge the extra. Either way, hand it back to the dive shop and get a new one.

That is everything that can go wrong with rental gear... including the stuff you get back home in Canada, eh?

 

[sft109]

Thanks again for all the great dive site info! Very useful. I'll also look through the gallery. Shallow and slow (and smaller creatures vs big fish) is fine with me, I like looking closely and slowly too. I might do the shark dive if we get in the mood for some more adventure and bigger fish!

The snorkel areas look nice and shallow, I will be able to spend a good amount of time at the bottom. The max I have done is 60ft while snorkeling though I won't push myself like that, I can comfortably do 30-40ft and spend a little time at the bottom no problem but it seems that will even be unnecessary as all the spots seem to be in the 5-15ft range. Equipment I might just take my chances and go with it there. I can deal with a free-flowing regulator when I'm in the water but I will try to do a good check on it before the dives anyway. BCD issues I can deal with also.

As for exchanging money this might be a problem since I won't be able to get US$ here as my flight on Monday is at 6.20am! I might be able to exchange CAD$ to US$ here at the Toronto airport but not sure if they will be open at 4AM. Something I'll have to figure out.

I will do some searching on the forum and peek through the gallery now!

 

[diversteve]

As for exchanging money this might be a problem since I won't be able to get US$ here as my flight on Monday is at 6.20am! I might be able to exchange CAD$ to US$ here at the Toronto airport but not sure if they will be open at 4AM. Something I'll have to figure out.

I'd do it in Toronto if at all possible. The airport in Roatan is pretty small and I don't recall seeing a currency exchange (not that I was looking), I've been through there twice in the last 2 years. Are you connecting through San Pedro Sula? there's an exchange there afaik. At least there was a couple years ago when a friend went through there.

You might be able to change money at the HSBC bank in French Harbor which is a few minutes away in French Harbor but I'm not certain of this. Banking in Roatan on the Bay Islands of Honduras

I never had a problem using a credit card at any larger restaurant/bar - even some of the smaller ones. But there's a fee - (I believe it was 18% but I could be wrong). At a couple of places - including my diveshop, I was given the option of paying via PayPal which you can do with any credit card - whether you have a PayPal acct. or not.

I think the ATM at the airport also dispenses U.S. Dollars. There's two in the lobby, only one of them speaks English. I think it was the one to the right of the shops as you're exiting the main lobby area. And it has pretty high daily limit, I was able to get $300 once in lemps.

 

[sft109]

Thanks, I will probably get US dollars here. I should be able to find some exchange places open in the city tomorrow, worst case I will try the airport as I'm not too far from it actually. We fly direct Toronto-Roatan.

18% seems very high for credit card charges! Usually I get charged 2-3% or something like that by my credit card company. I think I read in another thread on here that FI doesn't charge a fee for card use and the rest of the places I'll just do US$ cash.

I am getting frustrated talking to them about adding the dive package. The guy speaks very awkwardly and keeps saying he will email me with the info and we can then charge my card but he has yet to send anything. I ask him if he sees our reservation as I want to request a king bed instead of 2 queens and he keeps mumbling and whatnot. He quoted me 250 dollars for each person to add the diving package to our beach package which seems high. Although we did get the beach package for $600 instead of $850 so basically we get the dive package at the price of the beach package at $850 (saving of $100). He did say I can pay when I get there and we can arrange it then but with these kind of places you never know. I might get there and they may say sorry, if you didn't book a dive package you will need to get a la carte diving or something so I am trying to get written confirmation but they are very very difficult to deal with...

 

[diversteve]

Correction, it was 12% not 18%. A la carte dives are generally $25-40 depending on how many dives you book. That was our experience both at Coconut Tree (20 dives) in the West End and Barefoot Cay on the South Side (we dove Prince Albert/Mary's Place with them) I don't know if it's true or not but somebody told me that you get a better deal if you pay with lempira than dollars. We had a CPA in our group so she did all the financial conversions before we paid.